What happens to corals no one wants??

[ninjamyst]

What happens to all the ugly corals that no one wants? I see so many encrusting corals leftover during live sales. Do stores end up just throwing them away to make room for money making corals??

Even for myself that occasionally sell corals locally, I have trouble finding people to take freeee corals sometimes. Green birdsnest, nirvana zoas, palys, etc.

 

[sixty_reefer]

The coral hype grew so much in the past few years that it put off many to carry on the hobby, most of the people who left the hobby used to be the ones that would by that kind of coral.
Me including I don’t do coral anymore there’s many interesting things to keep in as saltwater aquarium besides coral.

 

[Tamberav]

I frag things and put it in the garbage..

I want a simple colt coral.. not easy to find local.. or maybe everyone else is putting them in the garbage too


But to answer your questions, they put them in bags as freebies?

 

[Spare time]

I haven't seen stores throw them out, but often either give them away for super cheap or in very large pieces, feed them to fish, toss them in a sump with macroalgae (specifically xenia), etc. Sometimes they are sold as a starter coral for like 5 bucks or given as a tester coral

 

[Spare time]

I once took a tiny piece of xenia and made coral jerky out of it during a very hot day on some concrete lol

 

[ninjamyst]

The coral hype grew so much in the past few years that it put off many to carry on the hobby, most of the people who left the hobby used to be the ones that would by that kind of coral.
Me including I don’t do coral anymore there’s many interesting things to keep in as saltwater aquarium besides coral.

Yea, now everyone only wants the high end stuff and making stuff even more expensive. People buy for hype instead of figuring out what corals will do best in their tank. I think green birdsnest is beautiful and easy to care for but people rather spend $100 on some ugly green acro that will die in their new tank instead. Blah

 

[ninjamyst]

I frag things and put it in the garbage..

I want a simple colt coral.. not easy to find local.. or maybe everyone else is putting them in the garbage too


But to answer your questions, they put them in bags as freebies?

Yea I think I have to do the same soon....sad. Coral reefs are being destroyed yet we have to throw away corals. Sigh.

 

[Spare time]

Yea I think I have to do the same soon....sad. Coral reefs are being destroyed yet we have to throw away corals. Sigh.

That would be cool to live by the reefs and go out and toss overgrown coral into the water haha.

 

[Tamberav]

Yea, now everyone only wants the high end stuff and making stuff even more expensive. People buy for hype instead of figuring out what corals will do best in their tank. I think green birdsnest is beautiful and easy to care for but people rather spend $100 on some ugly green acro that will die in their new tank instead. Blah

Ya.. I saw someone call toadstool a weed on facebook in a not nice way... made me sad. I like my toadstools... why do they have to call my pretty flowers weeds our hobby has some snobbery to it. It isn't like I am incapable of growing acro's...I have a few left, one huge! I just rather grow some weeds I guess...

 

[sixty_reefer]

Ya.. I saw someone call toadstool a weed on facebook in a not nice way... made me sad. I like my toadstools... why do they have to call my pretty flowers weeds our hobby has some snobbery to it. It isn't like I am incapable of growing acro's...I have a few left, one huge! I just rather grow some weeds I guess...

I’ll let you in on a secret, Xenia is the most amazing coral ever… if Xenia was all the sudden to become rare and expensive you would see every one going crazy to try and get hold of some. Someone on here has a rare piece of red Xenia and the list to get some is already crazy.

 

[sixty_reefer]

Yea, now everyone only wants the high end stuff and making stuff even more expensive. People buy for hype instead of figuring out what corals will do best in their tank. I think green birdsnest is beautiful and easy to care for but people rather spend $100 on some ugly green acro that will die in their new tank instead. Blah

Most still live in a instagram life instead of just enjoying life unfortunately.

 

[X-37B]

Im mostly into sticks so if I cant give them away I recycle them through my calcium reactor.

 

[Lavey29]

Ya.. I saw someone call toadstool a weed on facebook in a not nice way... made me sad. I like my toadstools... why do they have to call my pretty flowers weeds our hobby has some snobbery to it. It isn't like I am incapable of growing acro's...I have a few left, one huge! I just rather grow some weeds I guess...

Big toads look awesome in reef tanks.

 

[Reefer_punk]

Give them away for free... Dutch love that, ugly corals or not

 

[Auquanut]

I always thought that corals that nobody wanted went to the island of misfit corals, where King Poseidon kept them and scoured the earth looking for good boys and girls to give them a home. Then one day, Nemo with his nose so bright...

Wait. Never mind. I was thinking of something else.

In all honesty, I am guilty of disposing of corals that I couldn't find a home for.

 

[Wasabiroot]

Something to consider is the frags can grow into colonies. So even if they don't sell I'm sure there is a use for them. I'm that guy that buys them though...gimme a your boring leptos, psammacoras, leptastreas, and stylos. Heh

 

[JCM]

I’ll let you in on a secret, Xenia is the most amazing coral ever… if Xenia was all the sudden to become rare and expensive you would see every one going crazy to try and get hold of some. Someone on here has a rare piece of red Xenia and the list to get some is already crazy.

Fully agreed. A large colony of xenia that actually pulses is a super cool thing to see.

GSP is another. Super saturated purple and green but no one wants it because it's deemed "uncool".

I love SPS but for people that don't want to put the work in, a xenia/gsp/mushroom tank can look very impressive when grown in. (Which it will do very quickly even without optimal conditions)

 

[Wasabiroot]

I think gsp is a harder sell because it a. Grows like wild and B. Can smother other corals.
I got a basketball sized rock of it from my LFS for a hundred bucks. Maybe overpriced but...guess where I look the most when I'm on the couch?

 

[Auquanut]

GSP is another. Super saturated purple and green but no one wants it because it's deemed "uncool".

One of the coolest tanks I've seen was a nano with a meadow of GSP completely covering the bottom. The way it swayed in the current was really something to see.

 

[JCM]

I think gsp is a harder sell because it a. Grows like wild and B. Can smother other corals.
I got a basketball sized rock of it from my LFS for a hundred bucks. Maybe overpriced but...guess where I look the most when I'm on the couch?

That's true. But when it's competing with Xenia, mushrooms, toadstool, and ricordias it's not so bad. Those can all hold their own pretty well.

I agree not much draws the eye from 15 feet as much as a big section of gsp. That green!