The "Score..."

[uniquecorals]

We’ve all heard this before: The “Aquarium Urban Myth.†You know, the reefer that spotted a Centropyge interruptus at Petco, mismarked as a “Yellow Tail Damsel†for $3.00, or the The guy who scored the “Krakatoa†Paly at the LFS for $3, mislabeled “Eagle Eye Zoa†or something like that. “Steve Tyree bought 8†off of the colony in the LFS display tank, because it was a rare “LE†morph.â€

"Really, it was listed as a "yellow Tail Damsel..."

Stuff like that. It keeps the hobby moving, talking, and inspired us in strange ways…Much like the elusive winning lottery ticket bought at the local liquor store, such tales have motivated countless reefers over the years to keep looking, keep digging in the LFS and petshops around the world, looking for that elusive, as yet-un-named rarity that is staring us right in the face.

You know how it feels to score something like that, too, right? After your discovery, you compose yourself, then nonchalantly ask the LFS employee to grab it from the tank and bag it up for you, all the while pretending to stifle a yawn, while inside, all that your thinking is “Please don’t let my buddies from the local club show up right now!†You know that they’ll be the first to say, “WOW! How much are you paying for that ‘Red Dragon’ frag? That’s like $90…you didn’t get it from the ‘All Frags $5†tank, did you? That must have been a mistake!â€

No, no no!

You rush home with your new found acquisition, all the while praying that you’re not being followed by the LFS employee, who suddenly realized his/her mistake…You even vary the route home, just in case there is someone tailing you…Yeah, you’ve watched all of the “Bourne†movies…You race online, and confirm what you already knew: That was a SCORE!

A mixture of guilt and contentment, right?

We’ve all had this guilty pleasure before; this moral quandary…The exhilaration, dashed with a tinge of guilt at having beaten the system…Of course, you rationalize that it’s better that the coral or fish end up in the hands of the person best suited for its care: YOU!

SO, time for confessions…Who has had such a score? What did you score…And how did things work out?

Pics and stories encouraged!

Take it from here…

And as always…


Stay Wet.


Scott Fellman
Unique Corals

 

[benny z]

$25 from my lfs. it was a free-floating clump swirling in a corner of a small dirty retail display.

*i make no apologizes for the blue/violet-only led photos.

 

[stylaster]

Not me personally but was with a friend the day he scored an oregon mummy eye colony for 40.00. We spotted it in a small cube tank and lucky for us the store owner was gone and a guy working there had no idea what it was or worth so he said how about 40.00. I dont think my friend could get his wallet out fast enough! Great score for him, in reality it should have been sold for about 400.00

 

[FishLipz]

Unfortunately with the quality of the LFS that don't require multi hour drive in this area, I consider getting anything without a disease a score :second:.

 

[Reefltx]

I got a colony of SSC acro 4"+, price was $299. The kid that bagged it label the bag with the wrong ID, I got to the counter and the girl there told me my total was $114, of course I was shocked and kept my mouth shut. On the ride home, I checked out the receipt and the label read "rainbow acan". Apparently the girl at the counter couldn't tell the difference between between LPS/SPS. Best score I've ever had, 2wks later I went back and told a couple of the guys that worked there and they just laughed!

 

[GHill762]

buddy of mine got a blue hippo tang the size of a fingernail for like $6, it was marked as a damsel..

 

[PaulKreider]

Saw a $500 efflo mini colony one day at the LFS, they wanted around $150, left it, came back a couple weeks later and it was still there, colored down a bit but no biggie, owner wasn't there and asked one of the employees for a price, guy said it had been sitting for couple weeks with no buyers so hed take $25.... Jumped on that!

 

[Genesis Corals]

Unfortunately with the quality of the LFS that don't require multi hour drive in this area, I consider getting anything without a disease a score :second:.

Haha, sadly I don't think you are alone and the reason I put everything in a QT.

I have snagged some nice zoas from time to time as my one LFS doesn't really pay attention to fancy names. It is refreshing that he only wants to make a small profit on what he paid and not mark them up 1000% because someone named them along the line.

 

[1.0reef]

CL Score: 28 Gallon NC HQI good condition with an established pair of clowns, 2 YCG, a green chromis, some mushies, and all the equipment for free. Oh and a stand.

 

[Davesgt]

I was walmart checking out their freshwater fish section (Wall-O-Death) and spotted a gold nugget pleco and flipped out. I went and got a employee who told me it was $3.99 and bagged it up for me. I was absolutely thrilled. I got it home and Quarantined it, after a few weeks he colored up nicely and was thrilled to be in a pleco haven lol.

 

[Railcar79]

Scored this beautiful Babies breath favia from a LFS, it was in a tank, unmarked, the owner dodnt even know it was there, so he gave me a frag.

and scored these 2 on a trade

last one, acan maxima or Hillae, got it for a steal at a LFS I count 9 mouths on this

 

[Velodog2]

This was 10 or so years ago and I never really knew if it was a big score, but found a gorgeous bright yellow dwarf fuzzy lion in a tank with about 5 brown and reddish ones. One price on the tank - something like $35. I said I'd take the yellow one please. No problem. This one was better than most of the pics you see of them. Never even seen another one for sale since so I don't really have anything to compare to for price.

 

[mkindsfather]

I got a Gold Flake Angel for $25 instead of $250. It was about 4 inches.

 

[Waterchange]

I scored 41 Rastas on a rock mixed with what was labeled "misc red zoas." I asked if those green ones came with it (playing dumb) "they sure do as long as they are attached!" $75 later I laughed my butt off to the car

 

[All Delight]

Over 20 years ago I was deep into cichlids. I always had my route of lfs I would visit every week. My score came at a store called Hills Pet and Feed in Gardena. I will never forget this trip. They just got in a very cool orange pike that the fish guy referred to as an african pike. I immediately asked how much and was told he is not for sale. I went every week for the next month or so, and the guy continued to tell me that it's not for sale because of it's rarity. By this time I had at least 10 years of cichild care under me and I had never seen one before, anywhere. One day I went in and the wasn't there, so I got one of the cashiers to help me, asked her how much and she nervously looked on the tag on the tank that had the names and prices and proceeded to randomly pick one that was $7.99. I replied man thats kind of a lot of that fish, but I think it's a really cool one I guess I'll go for it. She bagged it up, all the while I'm thinking where is the resident fish guy. Is he on break? Is he coming back soon? I was nervous as heck. It seemed as though it took forever for her to bag it up and write the price on the bag. I immediately followed her to the register where she rang me up, I paid and I split. I didn't go back for months. I'm sure that guy knew it was me.

 

[Waterchange]

One day I went in and the wasn't there, so I got one of the cashiers to help me, asked her how much and she nervously looked on the tag on the tank that had the names and prices and proceeded to randomly pick one that was $7.99. I replied man thats kind of a lot of that fish, but I think it's a really cool one I guess I'll go for it. She bagged it up, all the while I'm thinking where is the resident fish guy. Is he on break? Is he coming back soon? I was nervous as heck. It seemed as though it took forever for her to bag it up and write the price on the bag. I immediately followed her to the register where she rang me up, I paid and I split. I didn't go back for months. I'm sure that guy knew it was me.

Lol!!

 

[Pmark]

Great steal Darrell!

 

[Fishman793]

A man came into the fish store as I was checking out and tried to trade his Crocea clam for store credit. The buffoon employee said it was worthless and they couldn't take it for anything. The man said he just needed to get rid of it because an angel was bothering it. I offered him $5 on the spot and he took it. I walked out of there so happy! A year later, it is now 4" and colored beautifully.

 

[Davesgt]

That's what im talking about! Id love to find some clams at steal prices!

A man came into the fish store as I was checking out and tried to trade his Crocea clam for store credit. The buffoon employee said it was worthless and they couldn't take it for anything. The man said he just needed to get rid of it because an angel was bothering it. I offered him $5 on the spot and he took it. I walked out of there so happy! A year later, it is now 4" and colored beautifully.

 

[82engineer]

Got three eyes of a convict chalice for $15.