Let's all break the rules!

[plyle02]

So a LFS can illegally purchase livestock from a hobbyist, but want to turn around and contact FWC when the hobbyist tries to make a few bucks to support the hobby, and in many cases the $ end up in their store anyway...hmmmm...... Double standards irritate me to no end, and unfortunately, if this is how the LFS feels about hobbyists making a few bucks, then why in heck do they sell frag plugs, glue, frag tanks, and other fragging supplies?

 

[robthorn]

Birtikidis you can bring your wife by to get some xenia anytime. Straight from my tank instead of the ditch. It grows very well for me. I actually don't throw coral in ditches. I throw it in the trash can.

 

[robthorn]

Another thing if Fwc tries to take an endangered species from your tank they can't legally do that. You can keep these corals as pets if you already have them. You just can't sell them. If someone was made to actually destroy an endangered species I would imagine they were previously warned or they should have called the police to get that person out of their house.

 

[Birtikidis]

Birtikidis you can bring your wife by to get some xenia anytime. Straight from my tank instead of the ditch. It grows very well for me. I actually don't throw coral in ditches. I throw it in the trash can.

I was just trying to throw some humor out there to ease the tension.. though she may twist my ear until I we have some lol. How far are you from the Tyrone Square mall?

 

[robthorn]

Haha. 15-20 minutes. Pm me if you want to keep anymore of that off this thread.

 

[rogergolf66]

I read most of this thread till I got tired of it. Lots on this thread. First off lets just call it out. U guys are pointing out ****.

I get you have to start some where, but even if you can't sell here then you move to eBay, Craig's list, the other large reef community that sells a lot more corals on it then this forum does. There will always be places for hobbiests to sell corals. Legally or not. Fish stores will always have this problem.

The whole system is broken. That its legal to throw live anamils in the trash is legal but selling them for a few dollars is illegal...try that with a dog c what happens. Come on FWC yes I'm calling you guys out. I have called you out a few time online and in person. To lump all hobbiests in with commercial venders is just plan dumb. You guys are smart enough to know your system is broken. Get with it and fix this.

Making money selling corals is very hard. Maybe u get enough money together to buy a nicer skimmer or a cool new pump but to pay your mortgage.... I don't think any one on here has done that for any length of time.

Removed.

Maybe I'm off topic a bit but that's my rant and my frustrations.

FWC this doesn't take a rocket scientist. Make it legal for us to sell corals into the lfs and sell a certain amount of corals a year before needing a license. I know it's more difficult then that, but that's only because you made it more difficult . Fix your mistake already.

Roger

***edited to remove names

 

[Reefpilot11]

Woohoo roger just nailed this! I think this conversation can now be ended lol

 

[mlivvy]

I read Roger's post with a minnesotan accent I don't know why. Well said sir.

Sorry Brian D about the gif. I just like to sit back and read. :love1:

 

[BobbyV]

I have noticed that sales on Tampa Bay Reef Central publicly have gone down considerably as of three years ago. (You should have seen the traffic back in the day.)

Three years ago, threads were started of attaining aquaculture licenses.

I encourage those to make the effort to attain a license so you have done everything required to be legal in your potential transactions. There is a $100 annual fee. Pay the fee so you sleep good at night. No transaction is worth the grief of a potential fine.

After that, if people still have a problem with you selling corals that is on them. Same as people liking someone's personality. I personally tend to have relationships with those who enjoy my company. I also have a right to be selective as to who I want to deal with on my end.

I personally support "open trade" within regulation. We live in a free country. If I own a piece of coral and if I want to share it with the community legally, I am well within my rights to do so. I can set any price I want and make it available to the "open market". I believe it is the buyer's choice to ultimately support my behavior.

I support everyone equally on this forum. You never know when you will need their support. Plus it is nice to make new relationships.

I am going on 4 months of me starting my tank completely over to confidently know that I have an AEFW free system. This was my choice out of respect toward our local community. Huge set back, but I am in this hobby for the long run. I am glad that it was pointed out and I am glad that it is now behind me.

When I have a frag of something I intend to let everyone know about it so everyone has an equal opportunity to enjoy cultivating that particular species in their own fashion.

I chose to make the effort to acquire an aquaculture license.

Even if I don't exceed $100 in annual sales, I choose to live a life of better safe than sorry.

If anything, me being an animal lover in general, the $100 helps support Florida Wild Life preservation. (Even if the money doesn't go to this, it helps me justify my annual contribution.)

Respectfully, my personal opinion - it isn't Reef Central's or FWC's ultimate responsibility to police ALL sales of corals. They have bigger issues to manage. It is up to the buyer to take some responsibility to ask the right questions.

As we all know, this hobby is very expensive.

If people make the effort to jump through the hoops of attaining legal licensing, allow people to do what they want. They deserve to do so. Allow people to off set the expenses of this hobby and support others interested in attaining certain species.

This is an incredible hobby, cultivating and sharing coral frags is just another level of enjoyment. If someone is successful at something, become their friend so they can help you equally become successful. I promise you, they will teach you how to become better at this hobby in general.

Frag sales encourage people to make personal visits and talk "reef" and indirectly encourage education onto others.

There is always a positive to everything.

 

[BrianD]

Edited post to remove names.

Please don't "call people out".

 

[rogergolf66]

Woohoo roger just nailed this! I think this conversation can now be ended lol

Thx

I read Roger's post with a minnesotan accent I don't know why. Well said sir.

Sorry Brian D about the gif. I just like to sit back and read. :love1:

Thx

Edited post to remove names.

Please don't "call people out".

I thought he already called him self out with his post but ok. U deleted more then just his name. What was deleted in summery was the person this thread was started for has a small tank and no frag tank. That's no a business .

 

[rogergolf66]

I read most of this thread till I got tired of it. Lots on this thread. First off lets just call it out. U guys are pointing out ****.

I get you have to start some where, but even if you can't sell here then you move to eBay, Craig's list, the other large reef community that sells a lot more corals on it then this forum does. There will always be places for hobbiests to sell corals. Legally or not. Fish stores will always have this problem.

The whole system is broken. That its legal to throw live anamils in the trash is legal but selling them for a few dollars is illegal...try that with a dog c what happens. Come on FWC yes I'm calling you guys out. I have called you out a few time online and in person. To lump all hobbiests in with commercial venders is just plan dumb. You guys are smart enough to know your system is broken. Get with it and fix this.

Making money selling corals is very hard. Maybe u get enough money together to buy a nicer skimmer or a cool new pump but to pay your mortgage.... I don't think any one on here has done that for any length of time.

Removed.

Maybe I'm off topic a bit but that's my rant and my frustrations.

FWC this doesn't take a rocket scientist. Make it legal for us to sell corals into the lfs and sell a certain amount of corals a year before needing a license. I know it's more difficult then that, but that's only because you made it more difficult . Fix your mistake already.



Roger

***edited to remove names

I know what they removed at the to0. the part at the bottom that says removed I don't recall what they removed I thought I was very thoughtful in the way I wrote this so it wouldn't get deleted.... I guess I failed

 

[robthorn]

If coral sales got banned here it would shut this forum down. It used to be a place for information and discussion but that rarely happens anymore. I figure Rc will leave non business sales as they are and as they should be to keep people here instead of fb or other forums.

 

[TheAquatect]

I like what you said roger, that's the real issue. The rest is idle conversation and opinion sharing that I would hope no one should take personally.

 

[CuzzA]

Now I'm confused... How does the FWC aquaculture tax have anything to do with how Reef Central moderates "their" website?

 

[BobbyV]

If coral sales got banned here it would shut this forum down. It used to be a place for information and discussion but that rarely happens anymore. I figure Rc will leave non business sales as they are and as they should be to keep people here instead of fb or other forums.

+1

I think one of the reasons new threads for conversations don't come up as often is simply because a majority of the main issues have already been discussed.

I know I have multiple questions in any given week, but RC is very good with keeping an archive, as soon as I google my question. 9 out of 10 times, Reef Central already has a thread already established with solutions.

So to spare people's attention, I try not to repost questions or topics of conversations already hashed out previously. ie classic: "So what type of salt do you like using and why." Pretty sure there are about 100 threads on this alone. But if I have time, I still read some of them.