What do I need to know for my first reef expo?

[SallyWho]

As the title states, I'm going to a reef expo for the first time (assuming it doesn't get canceled)! It's not a big one like one of the "paloozas" and it's a couple of hours away. I know there'll be coral vendors there. If I wanted to buy some frags, how does that work? Do I purchase what I want, have them set it aside, and then pick it up as I leave? Do I carry around a little lunchbox cooler for the duration of my visit, and then transfer them to a bigger cooler in my car? I'd like to maybe buy a frag or two depending on prices, but I don't want to kill them on the two hour drive home!

 

[Max!]

Cooler is the way to go. Remember corals go days in shipping no problem. Just don't let them get too cold or too hot.

I have this cute little backpack lunch box thing I wear at frag swaps. Not very manly but it's efficient. I also bring corals home from NC all the time which is a 6 hour drive and I don't do anything but put them in a box.

You'll have to try to kill them, honestly.

 

[SallyWho]

Cooler is the way to go. Remember corals go days in shipping no problem. Just don't let them get too cold or too hot.

I have this cute little backpack lunch box thing I wear at frag swaps. Not very manly but it's efficient. I also bring corals home from NC all the time which is a 6 hour drive and I don't do anything but put them in a box.

You'll have to try to kill them, honestly.

Thanks! I have a bigger styrofoam cooler for the car- do I also need one to carry around the expo? Or do I just....stick the frags in a bag to carry around while I'm in there and hope nothing leaks?

 

[Opus]

Take an insulated lunchbox type cooler with you or a backback cooler if you have it. Yes, you buy the frags and then carry them around with you. Some vendors will hold them for you but some will not. Some just don't have the room or just don't want to constantly be telling others, "sorry, that one is not for sale". Don't worry about your driving time. I go to swaps at 10am and don't get my coral into my tank until midnight with no issues. As long as you don't subject them to big temp swings they will be OK.

Some tips. Bring cash if possible. Usually when I ask for a deal they will say yes if I pay in cash, or a cash transfer such as paypal. Another big one for me is, don't stand around and chat with the vendors if there is a crowd. Most vendors have a small setup that maybe 2 people can browse at once and there always seem to be that one person that feels like he needs to tell the vendor his tank's life history. This just creates unnecessary long lines.

Finally, most will not post prices. Almost every frag will be priced differently and you will have to ask the price of the ones you like. Just the way it is. The vendors usually have several colored acrylic sticks by the tank that you can use to point to the corals you want the price on.

 

[scubasteve020]

wear a hazmat suit so you don't contract the coronavirus ;Vomit

 

[Opus]

Thanks! I have a bigger styrofoam cooler for the car- do I also need one to carry around the expo? Or do I just....stick the frags in a bag to carry around while I'm in there and hope nothing leaks?

I have this that I use. My wife got it a few years back to use at Silver Dollar City.



If you are hip then you will want one of these.

 

[Opus]

I have this that I use. My wife got it a few years back to use at Silver Dollar City.



If you are hip then you will want one of these.

 

[SallyWho]

Take an insulated lunchbox type cooler with you or a backback cooler if you have it. Yes, you buy the frags and then carry them around with you. Some vendors will hold them for you but some will not. Some just don't have the room or just don't want to constantly be telling others, "sorry, that one is not for sale". Don't worry about your driving time. I go to swaps at 10am and don't get my coral into my tank until midnight with no issues. As long as you don't subject them to big temp swings they will be OK.

Some tips. Bring cash if possible. Usually when I ask for a deal they will say yes if I pay in cash, or a cash transfer such as paypal. Another big one for me is, don't stand around and chat with the vendors if there is a crowd. Most vendors have a small setup that maybe 2 people can browse at once and there always seem to be that one person that feels like he needs to tell the vendor his tank's life history. This just creates unnecessary long lines.

Finally, most will not post prices. Almost every frag will be priced differently and you will have to ask the price of the ones you like. Just the way it is. The vendors usually have several colored acrylic sticks by the tank that you can use to point to the corals you want the price on.

Cool- I was planning on bringing cash anyway, just to force myself to stay on budget! LOL! I'll see if any friends have a lunchbox/minicooler I can carry around.

wear a hazmat suit so you don't contract the coronavirus ;Vomit

LOL, I work in healthcare! Luckily I have no patient contact, but down in the Lab we get all the testing! Those swabs? We're the ones sending them to the state labs. We have had so. many. emails. about COVID-19 testing, handling, shipping, disinfecting, etc.

 

[Max!]

Thanks! I have a bigger styrofoam cooler for the car- do I also need one to carry around the expo? Or do I just....stick the frags in a bag to carry around while I'm in there and hope nothing leaks?

The vendors will likely package the corals for you in leak proof bags of some sort. It's pretty neat what they come up with. You can do whatever you feel necessary just know its more for your piece of mind than the corals if it's a quick-ish trip like this.

 

[scubasteve020]

Cool- I was planning on bringing cash anyway, just to force myself to stay on budget! LOL! I'll see if any friends have a lunchbox/minicooler I can carry around.


LOL, I work in healthcare! Luckily I have no patient contact, but down in the Lab we get all the testing! Those swabs? We're the ones sending them to the state labs. We have had so. many. emails. about COVID-19 testing, handling, shipping, disinfecting, etc.

Its starting to get worse, I'm tired of people downplaying it on facebook. Like yea the mortality rate is higher for people with respiratory issues and elder but people don't seem to have the common sense that the more people that contract it the more people are exposed to coming in contact with it. I already heard that they already found a mutation of it already. Lol people are going nuts about toilet paper. like yes have enough for a month but people are going crazy like it's an apocalypse. I have a lot of family in healthcare and I'm a software engineer I worked at a med school at one point. More people need to use common sense. From data modeling and predictive machine learning they are predicting a worse case of 50 million deaths by next winter from the virus. I don't think it will reach that point but hey you never know.

 

[SallyWho]

Its starting to get worse, I'm tired of people downplaying it on facebook. Like yea the mortality rate is higher for people with respiratory issues and elder but people don't seem to have the common sense that the more people that contract it the more people are exposed to coming in contact with it. I already heard that they already found a mutation of it already. Lol people are going nuts about toilet paper. like yes have enough for a month but people are going crazy like it's an apocalypse. I have a lot of family in healthcare and I'm a software engineer I worked at a med school at one point. More people need to use common sense. From data modeling and predictive machine learning they are predicting a worse case of 50 million deaths by next winter from the virus. I don't think it will reach that point but hey you never know.

I agree, both that it's really nasty and that some people are overreacting. Some folks don't understand that it's in their best interest not to buy all the soaps/sanitizers/etc. Other people need to be able to wash their hands, too. And we can pass it along without knowing it, putting others at unnecessary risk. It would be way more helpful if we had better testing here in the US. If our administration had agreed to use the test kits offered by the WHO and international health groups, we could have been testing at the rates of South Korea and Italy from the get go, but we're still laggging behind. Only the rich can afford to get tested at will- the rest of us have to qualify for testing first. It's probably a lot more widespread that we know, simply because we can't test for it! And don't get me started on unpaid sick leaves, and how horrible school closings are for kids who rely on schools for meals or college students without homes to return to or literally anyone without internet access for online classes.....

*carefully steps off soapbox*

 

[Opus]

As the title states, I'm going to a reef expo for the first time (assuming it doesn't get canceled)! It's not a big one like one of the "paloozas" and it's a couple of hours away. I know there'll be coral vendors there. If I wanted to buy some frags, how does that work? Do I purchase what I want, have them set it aside, and then pick it up as I leave? Do I carry around a little lunchbox cooler for the duration of my visit, and then transfer them to a bigger cooler in my car? I'd like to maybe buy a frag or two depending on prices, but I don't want to kill them on the two hour drive home!

So which expo are you going to.

 

[Rilo]

Hey! I've done many trips back and forth with coral. I've gone as far as a 6 hour drive and have also had them in plastic bags for as long as 12 hours by accident(No cooler, just plastic bags). I've never lost any coral. The coral where from the hardy gsp to large colonies of trumpet and some acro frags.

I'd recommend a cooler for peace of mind but don't get to worried of them not making it.

I'm going to keep an eye on this thread. I think there is a reef expo near me happening soon.

 

[SallyWho]

So which expo are you going to.

Tornado Alley Reef Expo in Tulsa

 

[homer1475]

Just keep them warm.

Seriously I've gone to reefapalooza a couple times and any frag I buy on saturday, just stays in it's bag in a warm cooler(those little hand heat packs work great!) for 48 to 60 hours before I get home on Sunday night/Monday morning. Have yet to have any die.

 

[Opus]

Tornado Alley Reef Expo in Tulsa

I thought about going last year but it was too close to Aquashella. Only have so much money. Just found our our swap in Dallas for this weekend was cancelled. Guess that means I will have more money to spend at Aquashella in May assuming all this has blown over by then.

 

[Opus]

Tornado Alley Reef Expo in Tulsa

Do they have a vendor list out yet?

 

[Pickwun]

wear a hazmat suit so you don't contract the coronavirus ;Vomit

Just stick with Modelo and you'll be fine.

 

[sp1187]

prices are negotiable with most vendors depending on the item.
doesn't hurt to counteroffer. be fair with your counter.
bring cash. some vendors will take plastic but cash is king.

 

[SallyWho]

Do they have a vendor list out yet?

They cancelled. :/ Probably because the venue was the Hard Rock Casino, and most casinos and large gatherings are now shut down in Oklahoma. Oh well. Guess my first reef expo experience will have to wait until there's no longer a global pandemic going on.