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

[Bpb]

Threw away these acropora nasuta stags, as well as an equal biomass of montipora capricornis about a month ago. They were healthy. No pests or problems other than just being way too massive for my tank size and nobody even wanting them for free

 

[Fercho]

Yes. Ocationally.
I like the idea of making a thread or forum for trading corals with reefers around your town or city.
So for example, next time i trim my corals, i will post on the thread specifying my nearby location and saying free frags.
And anyone interested near that point could contact me and meet to get them.
I dont mind giving my frags away for free, since it isnt likely i will become rich if i sell them.

 

[vanpire]

We should start a freebie give away section. Recipient would just have to pay for packaging and shipping. I would do that for some stuff, like forest fire digis. I love those, but they don't grow well for me. Green, red, purple, etc are fine but not forest fire....

I gave away a bunch of zoas last month because they grew too fast for my tank. I would be willing to give stuff away. I know that GSPs, monti caps, some zoas and some mushrooms are frequently available but I am surprised people don't take acros for free.

 

[Bpb]

Problem with sps is if you’re in a smaller town it’s difficult to give them away. My town has maybe 10-15 saltwater hobbyists out of around 150k population. Most the hobbyists in my area are beginners and either completely uninterested in sps because all they want is “movement!” Or they’re terrified of them. Nearest cities are 1.5-2 hours away and people frankly aren’t willing to drive that far for basic stuff. Even acropora that aren’t the flavor of the week. Oh well. Nothing is truly wasted. Anything I cull and cannot sell or give away gets broken up and recycled as calcium reactor media

 

[cperry7467]

We should start a freebie give away section. Recipient would just have to pay for packaging and shipping. I would do that for some stuff, like forest fire digis. I love those, but they don't grow well for me. Green, red, purple, etc are fine but not forest fire....

I gave away a bunch of zoas last month because they grew too fast for my tank. I would be willing to give stuff away. I know that GSPs, monti caps, some zoas and some mushrooms are frequently available but I am surprised people don't take acros for free.

I'd take free acros all day long. I'd pay for shipping, supplies, etc. Wish we had that problem here, I think most will sell to the LFS.

 

[Blackice615]

I'm in MD if anyone is donating...

 

[TriggerFinger]

Where are the St. Louis people who have so much coral they must trash the cuttings??! We can make a deal

 

[Darkhorse]

I Need coral if anybody has free extra coral my station(90gallon) Aquaruim and (200 gallon)Home Aquarium.

 

[Darkhorse]

I Need coral if anybody has free extra coral my station(90gallon) Aquaruim and (200 gallon)Home Aquarium.

 

[Darkhorse]

I can use some if anybody has free extra corals. My station aquarium (90 gallons) and my home aquarium (200 gallons). NYC!

 

[Johnnyg.]

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.

Frogspawn ??

 

[AcroCrush]

Funny I don't see threads that say, "Free corals, you pay shipping". Sounds like some "deep stuff" to me or else the price of corals would be going down. Had a motivated buyer send me the box and prepaid overnight shipping label for some corals he bought. That is why you don't see posts for any interesting free or super low cost corals; they don't exist.

 

[Westside Guy]

@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?[/QUOTE]

There may be people that have fish that outgrow their tanks and would like an option like this.

 

[AcroCrush]

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....

What is the problem with someone selling what you don't want to fool with selling?

 

[Ratsinmyhead]

I do like the idea of a part of the market dedicated to free. Trust me if someone offered I wouldn’t refuse. But going along with some of the earlier posts, I can totally see how it would be more of a burden for the person giving the pieces away. With demanding people it would be tough. The old saying give them an inch they want a mile. Or something like that . Or not having anyone close. Or having way too many people interested. I could see all becoming nothing but a headache for those who would be trying to do nothing more than help out a fellow reefer. The heading for the thread should be.
FREEBIES. BEGGARS CANT BE CHOOSERS

 

[Bpb]

Funny I don't see threads that say, "Free corals, you pay shipping". Sounds like some "deep stuff" to me or else the price of corals would be going down. Had a motivated buyer send me the box and prepaid overnight shipping label for some corals he bought. That is why you don't see posts for any interesting free or super low cost corals; they don't exist.

Correct. Nobody is giving away the latest R.R. or vivid acros. Because those are easy sells. But if I have a no name stag that looks nice, grows fast, but just simply got so heavy it broke off its base, and I had nowhere else to stuff it, I had no choice in this instance. Dont have the space or patience to store and give away 20-30 frags, and I’m not carrying a 35 pound bucket to attempt to ship the whole colony in. If it was a bubblebath unicorn acro that was growing wild in my tank, trust me, I’d find buyers.

 

[Medical_Reef]

We should start a freebie give away section. Recipient would just have to pay for packaging and shipping. I would do that for some stuff, like forest fire digis. I love those, but they don't grow well for me. Green, red, purple, etc are fine but not forest fire....

I gave away a bunch of zoas last month because they grew too fast for my tank. I would be willing to give stuff away. I know that GSPs, monti caps, some zoas and some mushrooms are frequently available but I am surprised people don't take acros for free.

I would take all of those and whatever you had!

Speaking from “experience” here as a newbie recovering from a total tank crash followed by a broken tank (it’s been rough), I think it would be a great idea to donate excess corals for the price of shipping. I am constantly looking for good frag packs in preparation to stock my tank, but it’s not cheap. Heck, I’d even name any frag I got after the person who donated them, and when I got to the point that I had too much growth, I would gladly donate my “named” frag to the next newbie. That’s how we should name corals.

But, I think the person receiving the corals should put forth some effort, by either going and picking up/helping with the trimming, or paying for shipping. I think most reasonable people would. It’s also a chance for newer hobbyist to see a successful tank and get some valuable reefing advice.

 

[Chasing-Coral]

If anyone in South Florida would like to give away or sell cheap frags please let me know. I would be willing to drive anywhere from West Palm to Miami. My parents just got a small tank, they don't have a ton of money, so I would like to help them out by adding a few corals. I think they would be interested in anything from zoas, leathers, xenia, even beginner lps and sps. I think they have watched every BRS video on youtube (lol..) so I think they are ready to start adding color to the bare rock!

 

[KittenChiu]

I joined r2r to get rid of a nonphotosynthetic black tube coral that came with a pre-owned tank. Still haven't reached the amount of posts necessary to post on the marketplace yet, I think. But if anyone wants a black tube coral and lives near Chattanooga, TN, let me know. I'm giving it away for free, but obviously frag trade would be accepted. Just can't care for a nps coral the way it needs. It's surviving in my tank, but not thriving.

 

[Rick.45cal]

I’ve got an anacropora colony that’s approaching beach ball size, at some point some of it is going to end up in the trash.

 

[mich2599]

@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?

I was going to suggest the same. Sad hearing all these stories...