Is buying encrusted frags to be expected?

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

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.

 

[RileysReef]

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.

That seems pretty butt backwards to me but I guess its all supply and demand. We sell Blue legs for 75 cents here in FL

 

[tyler1503]

My bad, it was a scarlet, not a blue leg. I took a screenshot because I had to get someone else to read it for me. I honestly couldn't believe my own eyes [emoji23][emoji23]
And it was $50, not $49. My memory is getting worse...

 

[largepolyp]

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.

i agree , i think alot of people acclimate too long, thus causing more undo stress on the coral.

 

[largepolyp]

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.

man i seen some youtube vids showing what is in the Australian reef shops and you guys have it made. we get frags the size of a french fry and you get colonies on the cheap. not to mention some beautiful corals. i think it was reefbreeders or something like that on youtube he went to Australia like a month ago.

 

[tyler1503]

man i seen some youtube vids showing what is in the Australian reef shops and you guys have it made. we get frags the size of a french fry and you get colonies on the cheap. not to mention some beautiful corals. i think it was reefbreeders or something like that on youtube he went to Australia like a month ago.

Haha most of our nice livestock is sent overseas, but there is some good stuff around occasionally. Just a hunch, but I think they keep most colonies here and export mainly frags. I guess to keep costs of shipping down. Plus there's more money to be made when you cut up a colony as opposed to selling it as a whole.
America seems to love its frags though, pretty much every thread I see is about frags, not colonies [emoji23] I don't know why though, I think large colonies are much more appealing than small frags glued to a plug!

In the last few days I've seen multiple people say because of reefapalooza a lot of the nice stuff is being exported. I've been after a nice rainbow trachy, but it's difficult to find at the moment. You guys are getting them all though!

If you live in a major city, particularly on the east coast it's not too much of a challenge to find some nice corals or fish, but if you live outside of a major city you'll struggle to find much. Most coral you'll see outside the major cities are the most common species in the trade. Caulestra, duncans, mushrooms, acanthophyllia etc and for the most part are green and red or green/brown.

Sure we get some nice stuff, but most US buyers cherry pick the good ones and the rest is either kept in Australia or exported to other countries.

 

[C0kadoodledood]

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

Do you live in a holler in the Ozarks? Just curious...

 

[tyler1503]

Do you live in a holler in the Ozarks? Just curious...

Hahah after a quick google search I wish I did. I looks beautiful!

 

[sde1500]

My bad, it was a scarlet, not a blue leg. I took a screenshot because I had to get someone else to read it for me. I honestly couldn't believe my own eyes [emoji23][emoji23]
And it was $50, not $49. My memory is getting worse...

Yea, but that price is in dollarydoos so it really isn't that bad..

 

[tyler1503]

Yea, but that price is in dollarydoos so it really isn't that bad..

Yes, but 50 dolleridoos is still nearly $40usd.
At least it's not 900 dolleridoos haha

 

[Sir Chris]

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.

That's insane. A 1$ hermit for 48$ more. I will send u 500 and we'll start a blue leg only selling buisness. Lmk when 2 sent 1st batch

 

[sde1500]

after another look, that seems to be a giant hermit crab, not some regular small scarlet. Price seems more reasonable now.

 

[dankreef]

i agree , i think alot of people acclimate too long, thus causing more undo stress on the coral.

I used to acclimate slowly until I was rushed one day & put frags straight into my water with bayer right out of their bag and never had an issue. Now I float and then just put them in.