Throwing coral away....say it isn't so!

revhtree · Mar 25, 2019

So apparently there comes a time when your coral grows so much that you run out of room and you have to start "cutting it back" just to keep it in check.

Also it seems that some people actually have to just throw the coral clippings away because there isn't anyone local reefers or stores to give it to!

So that leads us to today's poll and question.

Have you ever thrown away coral clippings and how does it make you feel?

image via Robert James

Bob Weigant · Mar 25, 2019

Sadly Ive had too from time to time

Ludders · Mar 25, 2019

Sadly do it every couple of months. I tried posting here to try to establish people close by that might benefit from free coral, with no luck.

Shaummy · Mar 25, 2019

Yep...I've done it since even the LFS aren't really looking to take stuff in. Didn't want to..but had to toss some heads of my frogspawn since it was overgrowing everything.

Jet915 · Mar 25, 2019

I usually do this to my xenia, gsp and kenya trees...

acro-ed · Mar 25, 2019

I've had to throw away less and less over the past few years. It seems there is more hobby interest than ever. I still occasionally throw stuff out, but it's because the pieces were ugly/tiny/stung/etc. In the past I've thrown away square feet of zoas, monti cap, chalices, xenia, etc. etc. I've thrown away plenty of acros too, but it was usually because the piece fell and got stung or shaded or whatever and it just didn't make sense to keep around long enough for someone to come pick it up. I still feel bad throwing it away, but plenty gets destroyed in nature too and I still do my best to grow it, not kill it.

ZoWhat · Mar 25, 2019

I've thrown away entire cover filled rocks with boring green brownish palys....tried selling on CL with no interest

I always put in an airtight plastic bag so no one gets sick. Figure it's better than scraping to keep the rock and flushing the palys.... and the water treatment plant has to deal with palytoxin

.

homer1475 · Mar 25, 2019

I've thrown away plenty of LPS, and softie clippings. My LFS is a 2 and a 1/2 hour drive, and they won't take anything in on trade. I have no reef club close by, and no one around me is a reefer. There are a few FOWLR tanks around, but they do not want to get into corals.

I've thrown away so many clippings and dead skeletons(when I first started out) in the woods next to my house, in a 1000 years scientists will think this part of upstate NY was once covered in a dense reef. lol

Zeal · Mar 25, 2019

My first coral was the Hollywood stunner, have many frags that nobody wants not sure what to do with them.

I have thought about throwing them out

Sod Buster · Mar 25, 2019

homer1475 said:
this part of upstate NY was once covered in a dense reef.

Where are you again homer? I'm between Syracuse and Rochester. I'm an hour away from the stores, but for free, I could take a Sunday drive for a rescue.

DarkSky · Mar 25, 2019

I used to with zoas and pallys, but I haven't been fortunate enough to worry about doing it with SPS.

link81 · Mar 25, 2019

@homer1475 whereabouts upstate are you? I know a few people out this way that are looking.

@revhtree what about making a special section of the for sale section devoted to coral give away? make it free, and local pickup only? then people can peruse it to see if anyone close is donating anything interesting?

therealman1 · Mar 25, 2019

homer1475 said:
this part of upstate NY was once covered in a dense reef

Sorry to join in as well, I'm in upstate and may also be interested rather than it going to waste.

Geebs19 · Mar 25, 2019

Wow, this kills me to read so many people do it. I would love for someone local to give me clippings haha.

declanisadog · Mar 25, 2019

I've thrown away probably ten pounds of GSP in the last few years and lots of zoas.

Elliot Buss · Mar 25, 2019

Well I guess I'm starting to get in the same boat here, anyone interested in some nice zoas, got tons over here lol.

LovesDogs_CatsRokay · Mar 25, 2019

link81 said:
@revhtree what about making a special section of the for sale section devoted to coral give away? make it free, and local pickup only? then people can peruse it to see if anyone close is donating anything interesting?

That's a great idea!

gtrider · Mar 25, 2019

i just had to clip my birdnest from running into my monti-cap. just dropped the piece on sand-bed thinking maybe it'll find a new home and grow.
It's looking like i'm going to have to trim my ff red robin stag from growing into my wwc yellow-tip in the next couple weeks.

dansreef · Mar 25, 2019

Sadly, I have thrown out a lot over the years. I used to try to sell stuff... but then only to get either scammed by someone who turned around....fragged the piece and then resold it for stupid prices.... or in a couple of cases... offered to sell it to someone... but then the person demanded "free shipping".... I kid you not. I have even stopped giving stuff away...again. I saw some pieces being resold. I had one guy ask me to drive an hour to "drop off the corals to him and place it in his tank"....otherwise he didnt want it. Again.... I kid you not.

Perhaps as you get your new marketplace running here on R2R... we will have the opportunity to trade and sell amongst ourselves a bit more / better. I hate throwing stuff away....

Billdogg · Mar 25, 2019

I don't very often. So far, my LFS has been happy to take a few "extras" off my hands - for instance the birdsnest that wouldn't fit in a 5g bucket, a huge hollywood stunner, etc etc. He always gives me a reasonable amount of store credit for them so win-win!

Smaller frags (2-4" mini colonies, actually) go to any local reefer for $5-$15 depending on what it is. I also toss in "freebies" whenever I can just to make room in the FT.

I agree that a sub-forum for freebies is a GREAT idea.