MammothReefer
Active member
Other reefers is the way to go, MOST of the time. Granted you will run into shady people who are just looking to make a buck and have no problem bending the truth to sell you a frag for an inflated price. However unlike most stores, the general group of hobbyist you see selling frags are just doing it because they enjoy it they aren't sell frags to pay the rent (maybe the electric bill thought 
) so they don't have the motivation to cut up a mari lokani and associate it with the name of another piece and then request 60$-100$ a frag. To me that is SHADY. I will readily admit, when I used sell corals I had good markups built in to my "top end" pieces, but I had to cover the costs of the stuff that didn't sell, overhead etc. What I never did was try to pass something off as what it isn't. If I got a wild/mari "tort" I sold it I was very clear that these were wild/mari piece.
When I deal with other reefers, and frags from there tanks especially established people with well grown in tanks you know what you are getting. I trust when I get a Red Dragon piece from a guy a like Copps, or many other reefers. It's going to be the real deal and honestly if it's not. I don't care because I know it's going to be from his tank, captive raised and not frags of a 2 week old mari, with photos from the day it was imported. I know that it will do as good or better then a piece from any other source because it has been in his tank for years. It's easy to tell to just look at pictures of the tank, or check it out in person. Are corals growing, or do they look like they were just added. This is why I like atlantis you go to the store he has a huge display and you get stuff clipped right out of the tank and you can see healed corals, growing stuff, things that have been there for years. How many local reef stores are simply just temporary holding bins and can't keep the corals they sell alive for more then a a few weeks? Who wants to buy a "LE" piece from that environment?
To me. When I value corals/frags I look for a few things
1) Do I find it interesting. - This could be a combination of colour, growth, species one of the 3 or all of the 3. I have brown corals that I really dig and I'm ok with that
2) How hardy is it, and I weigh the hardiness vs 1. Meaning something that I find Exceptionally interesting that may not be hardy. I may be willing to take a risk on If the price is right, and the oppisite is true. Take green slimer, and red monti caps for example they are neat pieces nothing "amazing" but nice enough but there hardiness makes them appealing to me. I don't want a finicky reef of it's going to be finicky it better damn well be worth the effort.
3) How fast does it grows? For me this is a big deal. I'm impatient. I've had tanks for a decade or so now. I sold everything off a few years back and I started over. I did the "dt - frag tank" thing for years, and honestly I want my tank to reflect my time in the hobby. I want a nice lush reef. A garden of .5" sticks for 2-3 years just don't do it for me anymore. However there is no getting around a lot of best looking and hardiest pieces come as 1/2" sticks which is why I weave them between my larger pieces, or look to buy fast growing captive pieces that fit the above qualifications and grow fast like Red Dragon, Green Slimers, different stags, birdsnests, and montis.
4) Uniqueness. This one is not as important as the rest but I'd be lying if I didn't admit it that I value pieces that the less people have higher the more common stuff. It's silly I know but I think we all do it.
(man this post got long, and is SO off topic ha)
) so they don't have the motivation to cut up a mari lokani and associate it with the name of another piece and then request 60$-100$ a frag. To me that is SHADY. I will readily admit, when I used sell corals I had good markups built in to my "top end" pieces, but I had to cover the costs of the stuff that didn't sell, overhead etc. What I never did was try to pass something off as what it isn't. If I got a wild/mari "tort" I sold it I was very clear that these were wild/mari piece.When I deal with other reefers, and frags from there tanks especially established people with well grown in tanks you know what you are getting. I trust when I get a Red Dragon piece from a guy a like Copps, or many other reefers. It's going to be the real deal and honestly if it's not. I don't care because I know it's going to be from his tank, captive raised and not frags of a 2 week old mari, with photos from the day it was imported. I know that it will do as good or better then a piece from any other source because it has been in his tank for years. It's easy to tell to just look at pictures of the tank, or check it out in person. Are corals growing, or do they look like they were just added. This is why I like atlantis you go to the store he has a huge display and you get stuff clipped right out of the tank and you can see healed corals, growing stuff, things that have been there for years. How many local reef stores are simply just temporary holding bins and can't keep the corals they sell alive for more then a a few weeks? Who wants to buy a "LE" piece from that environment?
To me. When I value corals/frags I look for a few things
1) Do I find it interesting. - This could be a combination of colour, growth, species one of the 3 or all of the 3. I have brown corals that I really dig and I'm ok with that
2) How hardy is it, and I weigh the hardiness vs 1. Meaning something that I find Exceptionally interesting that may not be hardy. I may be willing to take a risk on If the price is right, and the oppisite is true. Take green slimer, and red monti caps for example they are neat pieces nothing "amazing" but nice enough but there hardiness makes them appealing to me. I don't want a finicky reef of it's going to be finicky it better damn well be worth the effort.
3) How fast does it grows? For me this is a big deal. I'm impatient. I've had tanks for a decade or so now. I sold everything off a few years back and I started over. I did the "dt - frag tank" thing for years, and honestly I want my tank to reflect my time in the hobby. I want a nice lush reef. A garden of .5" sticks for 2-3 years just don't do it for me anymore. However there is no getting around a lot of best looking and hardiest pieces come as 1/2" sticks which is why I weave them between my larger pieces, or look to buy fast growing captive pieces that fit the above qualifications and grow fast like Red Dragon, Green Slimers, different stags, birdsnests, and montis.
4) Uniqueness. This one is not as important as the rest but I'd be lying if I didn't admit it that I value pieces that the less people have higher the more common stuff. It's silly I know but I think we all do it.
(man this post got long, and is SO off topic ha)
