1/2" frags? Cmon.....

[johnnstacy]

I guess like everyone, I would like to have a tank of nice sps colonies but sheesh. I have looked at a few of the well known sps vendors online and most of the frags I am seeing are 1/2"-3/4". Is that really how you get started? That seems awful small to me. What kind of success rates do you guys have with frags that small? That just seems insane to pay$80+ for a frag that size. Frankly, I'm just to scared the thing will die. Shoot, by the time I get the blue on and mounted in the rock, what will that leave...about 1/4".
Sorry for the rant but there must be alternatives. I have bought a few corals from reefermadness, etc but they ended up turning brown or died. Was hoping to find some place that actually grows corals and doesn't just sell them. The few I have bought from the LFS have done well but limited selection.

Your thoughts?

 

[rleechb]

I completely agree. I've always had good success with small frags.. however, it's painful to wait a year for a 1/4" frag to turn into a 1/2" frag. That's why I prefer to go to a local reefer and pick up frags, or to a local shop, so I can see the frags in person.

However, if you're having issues with frags turning brown on you, it isn't going to be a product of the size of the frag; you probably need to look at your water quality.

 

[murphreef]

find a local reef clun in your area and then ask to trade or buy some frags from them....

i got some awesome frags on here from a local reefer in my area for dirt cheep!

i got a 4" green slimer $10
a neon green birsdnest about 3" wide and 2" tall with about 8 branches for $10
a sour apple milli about 2" tall with 2 branches and lots of new ones.... $10
a shawn bennet cali tort for $30 2" piece!
some free monti pieces
a 4" orange monti cap for $10
a small colony of purple pocciliopora
and more in all i spent $120

and all his pieces were great and have aweseome color with nice PE.... no bugs at all ....

hope that helps

and yeah i wouldnt pay that kinda money for a 1/2" frag of any kind like u said id be affraid id kill the darn thing!

 

[Hef]

Small frags are fine if they are healthy. They always tend to be my favorite, when I frag my own corals and watch the frag grow. I've taken the smalles piece of Efflo. Less than a 1/2" long by about a 1/4" wide. It grew kind of wierd, about an inch high now, but about 2" wide.
I know what you mean though, when you have to buy it, it's nice to get a bigger branching frag.

 

[neyugn0w01]

best is to find a local reefer that is willing to do a trade or be generous with their frags.
about the chance of keeping them alive, that is really hard to judge due to the many possibilities.

 

[jt_redmist]

I agree with all that have posted above. Find some local reefers and buy from them. They are usually cheaper, and from my experience I've always received a free frag or two. You can't beat that. Plus you get to meet other people who share the same interest and you can compare notes.

JT

 

[johnnstacy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7946987#post7946987 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rleechb
However, if you're having issues with frags turning brown on you, it isn't going to be a product of the size of the frag; you probably need to look at your water quality.

The couple I have bought that turned brown were apparently from wild colonies. When I called the vendor, they simply said, "Well, it's alive right? Sometimes corals do that. You may have to wait weeks or months to get it to change back." This is not what I want to hear when I pay almost $100 for a frag. This was just one lesson I learned about wild versus captive raised corals.

Anyways, good idea about the club. We have a club here and meet monthly. I have never heard of anyone interested in swapping frags but maybe I should bring it up. Even though I don't have much to swap yet....:rollface:

 

[raddogz]

It also really depends on the "rarity" of the sps as well.

I think the most expensive "frag" I bought was a superman monti a few years ago $65 for a half inch or so. In my case, the tank so happened to flourish for awhile before I slacked off a bit and the main colony (it had grown to the size of a half-dollar) died. Luckily, I had saved a frag of it for a friend.

Local reefers will be your best bet for good sized frags.

 

[slojmn]

I would definately find local or not so local (many hobbyists are willing to ship) hobbyists to purchase pieces from. I have gotten some nice size frags of spectacular corals for reasonable prices. If you are looking for the more rare pieces you might have to take the small frags and pay a premium or find those hobbyists who have the rare stuff and are willing to sell larger pieces for less money than the online retailers...you can find them, good luck

 

[clkwrk]

the 1/2 -3/4 inch 80 dollar frags aren't your run of the mill either .

 

[MCary]

I guess I have to weigh in here. The price of anything is what someone is willing to pay. If I have a Acan blue monster bottle brush tort that I can get $200 per frag for, then the price is going to be $200 per frag. The question is, what kind of a moron would pay that? Make no more sense to me than $1500 Prada handbags that women want so much. Rare? Who says? Because a retailer names something and then calls it rare? I don't think so. Ricordias, Torts, and Acan's were never rare. But they all had their day. The high price of this hobby tends to cure sticker shock and make some people stupid. Its like the year that Corvettes tripled in price. They weren't 3 times better. The company just wanted it to be taken seriously as a sports car. Sales went up because self proclaimed collectors bought it. I think sometimes the high price of corals is just to lure would be collectors into thinking they're really getting something.

Here's the deal. Especially for new SPS keepers. If a frag has an $80 price tag, Walk! It's not better or rarer and even if it was, why do you care? What are you looking for? I'll bet you want something blue. Or orange or red or puple. What difference does it make what it is as long as it thrives in your tank. You may want a certain shape. Staghorn or tabling. You can get nice colonies for $50. Reefermadness has frag packs 30 frags for $270 including shipping. That's $9 per frag delivered to your door. Now tell me why a 1/2 inch frag is worth $80 again. Maybe in 5 years you can even start to enjoy it. Then you can tell all your friends the great back story of how this coral is only found in a small reef of a remote part of bali and must be fed champagne and russian caviar once a week.

Okay I'm done.

Mike

 

[Frankysreef]

1/2 inch frags suck. The success rate with many small frags is not that promising.. You need to have the perfect tank for a 1/2 inch frag to survive...

1 inch is a lot better .. more surface area for the coral to generate enough food for itself..

I would never buy a frag that small.... Find local reefers, or go in person to swaps... and pick what u want.

 

[RichConley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7953394#post7953394 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MCary
I guess I have to weigh in here. The price of anything is what someone is willing to pay. If I have a Acan blue monster bottle brush tort that I can get $200 per frag for, then the price is going to be $200 per frag. The question is, what kind of a moron would pay that? Make no more sense to me than $1500 Prada handbags that women want so much. Rare? Who says? Because a retailer names something and then calls it rare? I don't think so. Ricordias, Torts, and Acan's were never rare. But they all had their day. The high price of this hobby tends to cure sticker shock and make some people stupid. Its like the year that Corvettes tripled in price. They weren't 3 times better. The company just wanted it to be taken seriously as a sports car. Sales went up because self proclaimed collectors bought it. I think sometimes the high price of corals is just to lure would be collectors into thinking they're really getting something.

Here's the deal. Especially for new SPS keepers. If a frag has an $80 price tag, Walk! It's not better or rarer and even if it was, why do you care? What are you looking for? I'll bet you want something blue. Or orange or red or puple. What difference does it make what it is as long as it thrives in your tank. You may want a certain shape. Staghorn or tabling. You can get nice colonies for $50. Reefermadness has frag packs 30 frags for $270 including shipping. That's $9 per frag delivered to your door. Now tell me why a 1/2 inch frag is worth $80 again. Maybe in 5 years you can even start to enjoy it. Then you can tell all your friends the great back story of how this coral is only found in a small reef of a remote part of bali and must be fed champagne and russian caviar once a week.

Okay I'm done.

Mike

word.

 

[murphreef]

that is exactly it i was wondering why my acros arent happy ive been missin the caviar and champange lol!!!

u said it best !!!

 

[Versus]

Re: 1/2" frags? Cmon.....

The prices arent bad , you have to remember they are limited collector rare HD widescreen directors uncut edition cut frags.

The best thing you can do also is though , like many people have said .. Try your local reef club . And dont pay for anything that has the name tyree , bennet etc in it .

or purple nurple monster juju bee super doodie , I love how so many people supposidly do this for the "save the reef" aspect .. yet shell out hundreds for a frag that was ripped off of a reef instead of like a cultured frag .


These people search around in reefs and find something unique and colorful and rip it right off then sell it . Bleh hehe thats my rant anyway .

I feel your pain , if you want just wait a year and the prices will drop even more , kinda like how people paid 350 for a polyp of a acan last year now you can get colonies of 50 gorgeous polyps for like 75 bucks.

( besides bottle brushes , stupid things grow too slow heh )

 

[Corn]

I think that if you want something and you know that you tank is stable to handle it then go for it. I have a frag of pink lemonade and it is doing grate the polyps are all the way out and it is pink and yellow. another is a cal tort I got a frag that was 3/4 inch about 6 month + ago and now it is at least 3 by 2 inch + and it is doing fine and may need to start to be fraged. so if you want something get it. also those people in the local frag swaps that have that have "rare" coral must have got them form some where and more the likely not from the LFS some of them are vary hard to get. so they took a chance and it paid TMO

 

[poknsnok]

I agree that its walking time when tempted by an 80.00 frag.. I was tempted by the sirens and dropped 60.00 for a small "supposed" Garf Bonsai frag. Came in a little yellow and has never colored up although it grows. These small frags often wont color up. not too mentipn you dont always get what you see in an onlive vendors pic. I ordered from a wysiwyg from a well known onlive vendor. I wanted the chartruse with pink/purple polyps monti in the pic I paid 90.00 dollars for and got a drab yellow with light green polyps. while the vendor says they will make good "on my next order" I have to pay at least another 150.00 just to get what I ordered in the first place. moral is to try and find local sources.California reefers are lucky because most of the big rare coral vendors are out there.

 

[Jovreefer]

Hey! I have that caviar & champange coral! it eats better than me

Anyway... I must say, most of my corals I got were less than an inch when I got them... I have a 20G though so you can still see them. I enjoy watching them grow from little nubs... and prices are cheaper...most of the time.

I admit though... I've paid $60 & $100 for 2 frags under 1 inch... not at all what they looked like in pics, I'm super disapointed in them. I would have been perfectly happy paying that price if they looked like the pictures though. If its "different" (notice I do not use rare, I dont care if its "rare" or not) and its got a higher price I dont mind paying as long as it looks good.

Unfortunatly the color on my $10 pink milli looks better right now than my expensive frags

 

[tnyr5]

even more than the price tag, the size of the frags is just too small anymore. there should be no such thing as an "extra small" frag, yet i see that exact wording on many sites. i would rather pay 110 dollars for a frag that's big enough to IDENTIFY what it is, PLACE IT reliably in my tank, and at least be able to have a 3" colony 18 months later. Unfortunately it seems frags only come in three sizes anymore -
small, extra small, and for the really cool ones " so tiny that it doesn't have a chance in hell of surviving so you'll have to buy it 3 times over to get it to live - but shhh that's the point"

 

[pk1]

I have bought a lot of frags...I would stay away from the small branching stony corals with small populations of polyps, deep water's, bottle brush's, etc...they have a bad survival rate. IMO/IME. Milli's, Stags, the "hairy" ones do much better. The more you move them around, the browner they get. As for $$ of a frag..well that's all relative isn't it? For the amount of $$ I dropped into the equipment, 80$ frags are the least of my worries. But I think the original poster had an issue with the size, not the $$.

PK