Neon Frogspawn Questions

[kimsie]

Hi - I bought this neon green frogspawn about 5 months ago.. The LFS I bought it from said it was a 'show' piece and charged me $120 for it - it was 2 heads about 5 inches across when fully opened.

Well - it's still 2 heads (one looks like it might be splitting) but they've grown considerably and it's now easily 8-10 inches across when opened...

I need to either sell the whole thing - or attempt to frag it and keep the smaller piece... It's just too big for my 30g as it is - and it's getting hard to keep other corals as it's just so big...

Here comes my 2 questions.

1. How do I go about fragging it? Do I just break it between the 2 heads or is it more complicated than that? (I'll try to take a lights out picture tonight detailing the piece I'm working with)

2. What is a gold value to put on this? I may have overpaid when I got it... but I loved it so it was worth it to me. But if I'm selling it or 1/2 of it to a local reefer - what do I begin to charge? Any insight would be so helpful.

Below is an older picture - about a month and a half ago...

 

[stunreefer]

Frogspawns are generally easy to frag - just take side cutters and chop one head off! It can be more complicated when the heads are very close togather, or they dont have much of a "stem" beneath them. A table saw or dremel is probably ideal, because they have very weak skeletons, and sometimes you can crush them with side cutters. This is also the reasoning behind fragging a head with a longer stalk on him, it gives you more "le-way" in case some of the skeleton does crush it will be below the main head (tissue). The lights-out pic should help a lot, and we can "draw" a line on your pic that would make a good clean cut.

Charging wise, when I worked at an aquaculture facility the highest price per head I saw was $50. generally they were around $20-25, but did not look as good as yours (or at least your pic). HTH

 

[catfisher]

I got a 5 head piece for $40, I think you might have been ripped off.

 

[kimsie]

Stunreefer - I'll definitely try to get a lights off pic to help. There's not much of a stalk - it doesn't look like other frogspawns that I've seen with the stalks - it's two heads (each skeletal head is probably 2.5 inches by 3 inches) are simply connected at the bottom. It doesn't look like the branching frogspawn that I've seen before.

Catfisher - I easily could have been ripped off, but it's really a beautiful piece and I still haven't seen any other with coloring like it. Online or in person. So to me it was worth it...

 

[kimsie]

Well - I fell asleep before I remembered to get the picture! Hopefully tomorrow I'll have one...

 

[Poisonus Yeti]

Great looking frogspawn, Kim. I'm just following along to learn where to cut for future reference.

-Yeti

 

[kimsie]

Well thanks Yeti! I'll try to remember to actually take the picture tonight!

When I do - will you guys let me know what to cut with? I haven't fragged anything before...

 

[Flavum]

$120 is a little bit more but ive seen them usually go around 100-120 for the "neon" frogspawns, you didnt get ripped

 

[kimsie]

Well fine... I get up extra early take pictures (although they're not great ones) uploaded them to imageshack - and BAM! My company started a new internet policy and imageshack is blocked!

Guess I'll have to get you the pictures over the weekend...

Kim

 

[kimsie]

Hi! I just thought I'd update this thread - I managed to break this in 1/2 and traded the smaller half into my LFS for $50 store credit.

Then today I got this email from Blue Zoo about their Neon Sale and saw their pricing sheet for the exact frogspawn that I have. Based on their prices I don't think I got ripped off at all! I bought a 6 inch one from my LFS for $120 - that's what their 3-4 inch ones usually go for!

Here is a link -

http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/productDetail.asp?did=3&cid=54&pid=1315

Description
Metallic Green Wall Frogspawn Corals are one of the prettiest of the Large Polyp Stony Corals. It is relatively hardy, grows easily and requires very little attention. The color of Metallic Green Wall Frogspawn Coral varies due to lighting and feedings. With the proper lighting and diet you can enhance the coloration of your Metallic Green Wall Frogspawn Coral over a period of time.


Item # Description
Price

Quantity

Stock Status
003813 Frogspawn-Wall Metallic Green, Small: over 2.5-3", Jakarta

$109.95
$54.97


In Stock
005991 Frogspawn-Wall Metallic Green, Medium: over 3-4", Jakarta

$139.95

Email Me
003815 Frogspawn-Wall Metallic Green, Large: over 4-5.5", Jakarta

$174.95

Email Me