Fragfest

[despot101]

Just a couple of questions. Me and a buddy of mine are thinking on driving down for fragfest. Neither of us have been to any type of frag swap with more than like 20 frags for sale so we have no idea what to expect. Anyone want to fill me in?

How many people are expected to attend?
Do alot of people bring frags?? Do they look to sell or trade?

Any info would be appreciated.

 

[goat585]

Last year we had over 600 people show up. There were 30 local fraggers and at least 5 local fish stores/internet retailers that had tanks setup. Fish stores had 100's of corals to choose from.

Here is pictures from last year.

http://www.midwestfragfest.com/gallery.html

I am sure others with chime in. If you have any other questions let us know.

Thanks

 

[despot101]

Thanks for the link.
So does stuff usually go for a pretty good price?

We've thought about bringing in frags and setting up, but are a bit worried about selling thru without having to cut prices super low.

Looks like most people used aquapods(?) last year. Was that just coincidence?

 

[goat585]

We had 30- 29 gallon Biocubes that fraggers got to sell out of and then take them home after the event.

Prices seem to vary but a typical frag is $10-15. I think most people did pretty well last year. You never know what the hot thing is going to be sometimes it's the high end stuff, other times it xenia. Anyways this year will be a great event with the additional workshops and a nice lineup of speakers. There will be plenty of coral and a huge raffle

By the way how did you hear about the event?

 

[despot101]

Will there be biocubes setup again this year? That was one of the main things we were wondering about. Is where do we store our corals and like would be bring our own ro unit, salt all that stuff? Could really bring some nice stuff, we have alot of rics, some sps, some acans, other lps.

I saw a link to it on another forum and had heard about it on rc last year.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[goat585]

At this point we are not planning to have the biocubes this year. When I go to shows to sell I have a 12 gallon nano that I use. I bring 15 gallons of premixed saltwater with me. I setup the nano, plug everything in and am ready to go. It is really not too bad to setup. I have also seen a lot of guys using standard 10-20 gallon tanks and running powerheads/heater and using some sort of light.

At this point the sellers are responsible for there own setups including water.

I really like using a little nano to sell out of. Alot of times at least in our area you can pick them up pretty cheap and they work great for shows.

 

[NancyC]

If you are staying and selling the whole weekend, you will be able to set up Friday night and leave everything at the Clock Tower. If you do set up a tank, make sure to bring a timer for the lights.

 

[RobTop]

As mentioned it is bring yor own tank. If you do not have a set up this can been done very cheaply. 10gal tanks are about $10 now, a heater and powerhead, some egg crate to put the frags on and some extention cords/outlet strip you are at about $50 and only need a light, There are plenty of options here. Personally I like the t-5 options out there. Easy to move around and set up, plenty of light and very useful. You can get your self into a very nice 24" unit for a couple hundred bucks.
If this is your 1st event and you plan on going to more, and investment of a couple hundred bucks will easily be recouped at this event, may take 2 events to do depending on what you have to sell.

If possible the best thing to do is look at the space you have at home, and you set up a frag tank? If so what would it be? Plan your purchase to be something you can run at home for your frags, then take down and haul away to a show. This way your invetment is working for you continuly.

Selling at frag swaps can be a great way to expand your hobby and collection. I know several fraggers that make a grand at an event. That covers for them a big swap set up, custom tank and lights and ect ect. I know others who sell everything for $15, use a basic set up and still clean house. And still more who put thier frags in bagies and sell them that way and sell a lot. This baggie method is not recommended for a two day event like FragFest though.

I have a couple prefered ways depending on the event, with good pics of your colrals the baggiee method does very well for the amount of work it takes to get ready, but again not for 2 day events.
Bio cubes or something of the sort are great as well. As Tom pointed out it is all self contained and easy to set up.
At some shows I bring a 2x4' tank and go to town. This goes require a lot of water and prepwork, but depe3nding on the show it too is well worth it.
There are so many ways to go about this. Really I think what the best advice is would be to look at your home system and see if you can add afrag tank to it. If so plan off of that and use that tank at the swaps.
Best of luck!

 

[despot101]

I think what we will do is setup a couple 10's side by side and light it with a 48" coralife fixture (2 150mh and some pc's). Should work out, we'll get down on friday and setup right away. Like I said we'll bring down a bunch of florida ricordea, and some lps.
We'll order out tickets(?) tomorrow.

 

[goat585]

Glad to here that you are coming down. Posting some pictures of what you are bringing, that usually helps get you some pre-sales.

 

[despot101]

Foolish question. But if you are a seller do you just leave your spot if you want to go to the workshops and/or hear the speakers?

 

[BenjieC]

Sure - that happened last year. You could leave a note with what time you'll be back in case someone sees something they want to buy. If you know some other attendees they might be willing to sell from your tank while your gone.

 

[despot101]

Ordered out tickets...or well whatever you would call them.

I'll start a another thread with some pics of what we plan on bringing down.