Mayerlyn A
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Austin aqua farms will carry some nice colonies . I have had great luck with them.
WHERE are all the COLONY'S at ? VENDORS?
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The Aquatic Arsenal
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Acan Colony A210-2019-10-04 | Aquatic Arsenal
aquaticarsenal.com
Acan Colony A217-2019-10-04 | Aquatic Arsenal
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Aussie Dragon Soul Favia S A136-2019-09-22
RFA's, LPS, SPS, Softies, BTA, weekly auctions, WYSIWYG, saltwater coral, saltwater fish, clownfish
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Blue Acan Colony A236-2019-10-11 | Aquatic Arsenal
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I have some smaller acan colonies for less then $100 as well.
Heabel7
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I had a local shop trying to sell me a WD that was 1/4 high off the plug and about half encrusted. The price was very high and I said for that little frag. He said and I quote “FRAG! That’s nearly a colony look how much it has encrusted, starting to base out and branch up”. I left shortly after.
MixedFruitBasket
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You can buy by the box from Livestockusa.com They import from Vietnam, Tonga, and Australia. It can be hit or miss, but I've bought from them, and had friends by from them, and over all I've been impressed. Yes there were some losses, but minimal. And in the end there were often far more than would fit in a tank many of which sold for 80-125 at the reef store, overall you pay about 35.00 each. The ultra boxes are worth every penny. I haven't been all that enthused with the regular Vietnam boxes.
MixedFruitBasket
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P.s. dear vendors. Please get more soft corals. PLEASE--get more soft corals. There are people out here who want them and can't find them except from a very small niche of suppliers and selection can be very limited.
Heabel7
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Do you have some shots of what you got and how they turned out. Before and after? Some absolute beauties that are your own personal collection now.
tehmadreefer
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Wayyy more money in frags, just like the drug trade, the more you chop it up the more profit.
MixedFruitBasket
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Yes. I will take some shots of what I have in my tank. I have a MUCH smaller tank now, so I don't have what I used to, but I will photograph the ones I've gotten recently. I have some photos already with the ones I split with a friend, lots and lots, and lots of yuma but I'm a big yuma fan.
The Aquatic Arsenal
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Anything in particular that you are looking for?
Scurvy
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Good Luck @siggy .... Never had to ship anything back to a vendor and not sure I would. In my case it would probably die on its way back and I'd be out even more than I was originally. Nice looking Lobo though!
Who would've believed justa couple of years ago an SPS tank would be the budget way to go?!
Who would've believed justa couple of years ago an SPS tank would be the budget way to go?!
MixedFruitBasket
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*
Heabel7 said:
Do you have some shots of what you got and how they turned out. Before and after? Some absolute beauties that are your own personal collection now.*
First 4 photos are of my tank from almost 3 years back, before it crashed. All these Zoas and leathers came from Vietnam and livestock USA.
Sorry for the blue lights. I was running actinic and chrome with coral plus. Which looked whiter to the eye but wasn't to the camera.
I stopped keeping so many zoanthids when I realized they make me sick when I handle them.
Blue pictures 2.5 years old.
White light, taken today.
Like I said, my new tank (lights are, coral plus, purple plus, 10K coral plus, coral plus and coral plus and kessil accents turned up on 100% white) is mostly Yumas. The one deflated leather is getting ready to shed and puffs up real fuzzy when happy. The one with brown algae on it is having a personal crisis, but will eventually get over its pity party--but that one did not come in a box. I'd say 98% of my mushrooms (minus the fl recordia and a hairy one) are from Vietnam boxes (including the green all bubble) that I split with a friend. Most of the Zoe colonies are as well except for the big red paly with blue centers.
With shipping, the rocks (including the orange yumas) came to about 35.00 each. I did not get to choose any of these corals. It was a pot luck. You tell them X number of mushrooms out of a box of 24 corals (I think that's the minimum from Vietnam) and they pick and choose. Same with Zoas and leathers. Different times of year give different corals. My best batch of zoas (that I had before the crash) was in the summer but I lost most of the discomas due to the heat. The 99% of the recordia lived though and the zoas did great.
None of the tree corals pictured came from Livestock USA. A few of the toad stools did as well as the pink finger coral (I think I took a photo) that's just not fluffed but very nicely colored.
He does Aussie boxes too, and Tonga. Both with SPS and LPS. Never ordered from them. But I know they can cost more and there will be fewer in them due to the needs of the SPS and LPS. You can pick and choose on the Tonga box but you can't see what they send. It's still a bit of a gamble.
This is not for everyone because it's a crap shoot. And heaven forbid the airport destroy your shipment because the airport will never reimburse you for the losses.
In my experience the best way to do a big box is to have friends to split it with and draw straws or whatever to who picks first. That way if the box does arrive DOA (and that can happen although not the norm) the loss won't hurt as badly. The large majority of cost for the box is shipping.
None of the gorgs came from any boxes either.
Heabel7 said:
Do you have some shots of what you got and how they turned out. Before and after? Some absolute beauties that are your own personal collection now.*
First 4 photos are of my tank from almost 3 years back, before it crashed. All these Zoas and leathers came from Vietnam and livestock USA.
Sorry for the blue lights. I was running actinic and chrome with coral plus. Which looked whiter to the eye but wasn't to the camera.
I stopped keeping so many zoanthids when I realized they make me sick when I handle them.
Blue pictures 2.5 years old.
White light, taken today.
Like I said, my new tank (lights are, coral plus, purple plus, 10K coral plus, coral plus and coral plus and kessil accents turned up on 100% white) is mostly Yumas. The one deflated leather is getting ready to shed and puffs up real fuzzy when happy. The one with brown algae on it is having a personal crisis, but will eventually get over its pity party--but that one did not come in a box. I'd say 98% of my mushrooms (minus the fl recordia and a hairy one) are from Vietnam boxes (including the green all bubble) that I split with a friend. Most of the Zoe colonies are as well except for the big red paly with blue centers.
With shipping, the rocks (including the orange yumas) came to about 35.00 each. I did not get to choose any of these corals. It was a pot luck. You tell them X number of mushrooms out of a box of 24 corals (I think that's the minimum from Vietnam) and they pick and choose. Same with Zoas and leathers. Different times of year give different corals. My best batch of zoas (that I had before the crash) was in the summer but I lost most of the discomas due to the heat. The 99% of the recordia lived though and the zoas did great.
None of the tree corals pictured came from Livestock USA. A few of the toad stools did as well as the pink finger coral (I think I took a photo) that's just not fluffed but very nicely colored.
He does Aussie boxes too, and Tonga. Both with SPS and LPS. Never ordered from them. But I know they can cost more and there will be fewer in them due to the needs of the SPS and LPS. You can pick and choose on the Tonga box but you can't see what they send. It's still a bit of a gamble.
This is not for everyone because it's a crap shoot. And heaven forbid the airport destroy your shipment because the airport will never reimburse you for the losses.
In my experience the best way to do a big box is to have friends to split it with and draw straws or whatever to who picks first. That way if the box does arrive DOA (and that can happen although not the norm) the loss won't hurt as badly. The large majority of cost for the box is shipping.
None of the gorgs came from any boxes either.
MixedFruitBasket
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MixedFruitBasket
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And before anyone asks, why I wish other vendors would get soft corals if LivestockUSA.org (see I remembered that time) is so great, it's a very simple answer. REAL ESTATE. I have a 90 gallon tank now vs over 200 gallons in the past. And I am looking for very specific items that I cannot be guaranteed from them because, like I said, it's a grab bag as to what you get.
But a lot of vendors CAN pick and choose from suppliers (not all but some do) and the could fill requests if they had interest in ordering soft corals. So few do though and it's sad. A few private sellers and a couple of bigger ones have made some good money off me over the years because of wanting specific items(as well as others).
I tell you one thing I've learned with the private sellers and online stores, I know who I trust to send me what's pictured vs who I would sell me a horse turd.
But a lot of vendors CAN pick and choose from suppliers (not all but some do) and the could fill requests if they had interest in ordering soft corals. So few do though and it's sad. A few private sellers and a couple of bigger ones have made some good money off me over the years because of wanting specific items(as well as others).
I tell you one thing I've learned with the private sellers and online stores, I know who I trust to send me what's pictured vs who I would sell me a horse turd.
OP
OP
siggy
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Well I know who not to trust!
Well I tried a new online source and after some haggling I bought two. The Lobo was advertised as a 5-6"
and the trachy 4"
AND THEN the arivial
A bit small are my thoughts, but the colors has me even more teed off! Lobo after 2 days settling in, The trachy I can live with. That is some Photoshop BS
Heabel7
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I’d agree on size, don’t think they measures when closed. Is there a standard?
However, DSLR pictures with mix of filters and or light adjustment to get the most colors for a specific coral is poor representation and dirty play. I know the majority of vendors do it regardless of the industry. But I’d rather see the real deal with a iPhone pic. Much closer to reality.
OP
OP
siggy
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The trachy is close now it is opened, the lobo is at 3" opened up, far cry from the advertised 5-6", But its the colors again that bothers me the most.
sfin52
So many pedestrians so little time
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