Is buying encrusted frags to be expected?

[tyler1503]

Hi everyone, I'm taking the plunge into SPS very soon! I'm already putting my order together with a seller.
I bought a frag a few months ago from a different seller and received a frag that hadn't encrusted the plug at all and the glue still looked very clean. That made me think they've chopped the frag off the mother colony, glued and shipped all on the same day. There's wasn't a speck of algae on the glue.
The frag only lasted a day, but my tank was still fairly new and I had some nutrient issues. I'm not sure what exactly caused the death, but I'll take the loss and blame my eagerness, nutrient issues and my tank not being very established.
But I'm wondering, is it expected of a seller to sell fully healed and encrusted frags, or are non-encrusted/unhealed frags the norm and receiving anything better is just good luck?
What are people's thought on this?
Thanks

 

[Tahoe61]

No it's not expected, for some hobbyist it's preferred. You can ask some vendors for encrusted pieces. Personally I like encrusted but other sps keepers may not because the frag is harder to remove from the plug.

 

[Reef Pets]

I don't feel that encrusted is expected but healed is certainly expected. Generally 7-10 days after cutting I see flesh started to creep onto the glue, I consider that fully healed.

 

[Acro maniac]

I bought a couple frags from one of the most well known designer coral sellers on ebay only to lose 2 of the 3.
1 was broke off the plug ( no flesh on glue) reglued and rtn ed over the night. The other didnt make it through the night either. Both after a 4 hour drip acclimation. 200$ lesson
Needless to say ill only buy from dealers that let there frags heal.
Sad thing is i know better and bought them anyway. Cant blam the seller cause people keep buying them

 

[CoralWealth]

I don't feel that encrusted is expected but healed is certainly expected. Generally 7-10 days after cutting I see flesh started to creep onto the glue, I consider that fully healed.

I would recommend looking into Reef Pets corals, just got 15 today and almost all of them were encrusting and had great PE in the bags and packaged great. Great prices too.

 

[happyhourhero]

I have gotten mixed on my WWC ebay orders. They were all as pictured and 100% survived and kept color. I always buy WYSIWYG so I know what I am getting into. I feel like a fairly fresh cut would be ok as long as it is shipped well.

 

[hybridazn]

I don't feel encrusted frags are needed. And honestly fresh cuts don't bother me either. If they are shipped properly and your tank is capable of keeping the coral alive than it shouldn't matter how long ago it was cut. It's more along the lines of personal preference

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Many prefer to remove the frag from the plug to insure no unwanted hitchhikers or algaes get into the tank.

 

[Centerline]

I have gotten mixed on my WWC ebay orders. They were all as pictured and 100% survived and kept color. I always buy WYSIWYG so I know what I am getting into. I feel like a fairly fresh cut would be ok as long as it is shipped well.

Total agree. I have scored MANY MANY corals from wwc. Always top notch and healthy regardless of how encrusted.

 

[Ocelaris]

I have had the best deals locally, though admittedly I live in the huge metropolitan area. If you have a local reef club that's the cheapest way to get great frags and you know they've only been in transit as long as it takes you to drive home. Plus I hate buying an expensive frag when I know that the lighting is almost like photoshopping. I have a lot of respect for places like reefcorner.com who display they're wysiwyg corals under normal lighting. I've never purchased from them, but I've almost pulled the trigger on the few times.

http://reefcorner.com/sps-corals-for-sale/

 

[tyler1503]

Thanks everyone! It's good to know what I should expect when I receive my order

 

[N4sty T4te]

IMO the longer frags sit in a bag the worse off they are. I do 15 Min float for temp. Then double the water in the bag wait 8 mins, pour out half the water, then double the water again. I do that 3-4 times over the course of 20-30 mins. I'm yet to have an issue, and I'm dipping mine in bayer at the end. Haven't had a single piece die overnight.

If a frag completely dies overnight, it was honestly probably already dead in the bag.

If your just wanting to sample an sps to see how it does. Buy a local Cheapo monti or birdnest and see how it does.

 

[tyler1503]

IMO the longer frags sit in a bag the worse off they are. I do 15 Min float for temp. Then double the water in the bag wait 8 mins, pour out half the water, then double the water again. I do that 3-4 times over the course of 20-30 mins. I'm yet to have an issue, and I'm dipping mine in bayer at the end. Haven't had a single piece die overnight.

If a frag completely dies overnight, it was honestly probably already dead in the bag.

If your just wanting to sample an sps to see how it does. Buy a local Cheapo monti or birdnest and see how it does.

Unfortunately my nearest LFS is 5 hours away so buying local isn't really an option. It's two-three days in a bag or nothing for me.
I think it was perhaps a combination of temperature fluctuation and my eagerness to put sps in a newly setup tank that killed it.
Now that the tank is nearly a year old, I think I'm ready to try sps again

 

[N4sty T4te]

2-3 days in a bag isn't going to work... It needs to be overnighted and immediately acclimated upon delivery. Should be less than 24 Hrs in the bag. Not sure if you meant overnight, but most any online vendor should be shipping out in the late evening to arrive at your door the following morning before 10:00 A.M. (if that isn't the case where your ordering use someone else)

 

[tyler1503]

2-3 days in a bag isn't going to work... It needs to be overnighted and immediately acclimated upon delivery. Should be less than 24 Hrs in the bag. Not sure if you meant overnight, but most any online vendor should be shipping out in the late evening to arrive at your door the following morning before 10:00 A.M. (if that isn't the case where your ordering use someone else)

They don't do overnight shipping where I'm from. They only do express shipping which is 2-3days. That's just how it is. Plus with my work schedule the package can be sitting outside for up to a further 6 hours on occasion. I've had great success with all sorts of LPS taking so long between tanks. Some hardy, some more finicky.
I'm not worried about the times it takes though. It's certainly not ideal, but it's working for me

 

[Rakie]

Many prefer to remove the frag from the plug to insure no unwanted hitchhikers or algaes get into the tank.

Right here -- Troofs.

Anybody who cuts their frags off a plug had 1 of 2 things happen; They learned a lesson about why you should always do that.. Or they knew someone who lived the nightmare of invasive devil bugs. Or algaes. Generally tank aids.

So what I'm saying is: Cut them off, for the love of god kill the plug to be safe!!!

 

[N4sty T4te]

They don't do overnight shipping where I'm from. They only do express shipping which is 2-3days. That's just how it is. Plus with my work schedule the package can be sitting outside for up to a further 6 hours on occasion. I've had great success with all sorts of LPS taking so long between tanks. Some hardy, some more finicky.
I'm not worried about the times it takes though. It's certainly not ideal, but it's working for me

Where do you live? Alaska? Just curious now.

 

[tyler1503]

Where do you live? Alaska? Just curious now.

Australia

 

[Sir Chris]

Australia

U got Aussie corals right next 2 u. Waaaaaa

 

[tyler1503]

U got Aussie corals right next 2 u. Waaaaaa

Lol all our good corals get sent to you guys in the states and we get left with the dregs. If we get nice stuff here it costs an absolute fortune. I saw a blue leg hermit for $49 recently.