Reefapalooza any good?

rags111875

New member
Was thinking about going this weekend. $20 admission.
Is it worth it?
Worth= being able to pick up some exotic corals for a lower-than-usual price
 
I've been to the Orlando RAP for the past few years and it's always been worth it. You will see some great vendors offering cool things. The biggest deals are on the last day when vendors are trying to off load stock. The really cool stuff though goes fast on the first day and you pay for it, but generally it is less pricey than what you normally see.
 
IMO, having went last year it's both good and just not that good.

It was cool to speak with various techs from companies you are accustomed to seeing online. Ecotech, coralvue, dr Tim's, etc. Last year the guys from tanked were therez so that was a neat novelty.

To actually buy stuff is less than something to be exciting for. I think the prices are in fact higher than what most are used to, simply because A. They charge the vendors a ton of money to be there, and B. Because of its close proximity to Manhattan, the feeling must be big spenders attend. You won't see the usual basement frag guys there, more like the big names that travel a good distance to sell there. Most would think they are there to get there name out, but prices dictate otherwise.

I go to many sorts of shows, and I always ask about pricing. I feel some guys start high to give them some room to come down. Doesn't hurt to ask.
 
Thanks. I got a couple buddies going on saturday and they're gonna give me the scoop afterwards. Yea, i would think prices would be slightly higher, just due to the overhead they must account for.
I am not much of an equipment guru, so i dont find that part of the hobby too exciting.
 
Just heard back from 2 of my buds. Both said prices were high, not many deals to be had on live stock. Another said SPS selection was weak. Since that is what i am looking for, i think i'll stay away and get some sun instead.
 
Just heard back from 2 of my buds. Both said prices were high, not many deals to be had on live stock. Another said SPS selection was weak. Since that is what i am looking for, i think i'll stay away and get some sun instead.

They are spot on. Was there a few hours today, Pacific east aqua had some.nice deals, other than that, not so much
 
I agree, from my RAP experiences you have to find the vendors furthest from home around the last 2 hours of the show and you'll score some great deals. That is if you don't spend all your money in the first 2 hours like i usually do..
 
We got some great deals at the end. Overall very happy and would go again next year. Best to wait until near the end as litvin mentioned when they try to get rid of everything.


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I went on Saturday, we looked around for a while and did find quite a few good deals and ended up getting 8 frags,which for me is a lot. It was a lot of fun I would highly recommend, some coral you see in person a picture truly doesn't do justice and just seeing them is amazing. Imo some vendors were higher than normal but others did have some great deals even on Saturday, the trick is to look to see if they have extra frags that aren't on plugs, I think it was hydra aquatics or something had a Tupperware full of ricordeas to the side that were just on small pieces of rock but not yet on plugs and they gave me 3 nice ones for 50$.
 
I will admit that sps were not as thrilling as I would have liked but there were some nice ones, I your looking for acans and zoos though they had hundreds of gorgeous varieties. My favorites of the day were an insane lemon drop anemone for 800 and a sunburst for 1500 I believe, these nems were honestly insane
 
Was thinking about going this weekend. $20 admission.
Is it worth it?
Worth= being able to pick up some exotic corals for a lower-than-usual price

this totally depends on your definition of exotic.

there were some $400+ SPS frags still available on Sunday @ 4PM. but you're not going to get a deal on super high end pieces just because he has to bag them up.

the real savings is buying from vendors you normally have to pay shipping for/order a minimum. Also the smaller booths that are from FL/CA & don't want to pack their stuff. but this will generally be mid level items(normally 50-100$ frags going for 30-60 and sometimes lower)

If you bought anything on Saturday, you either paid full retail or you wanted something SUPER exotic. go Sunday and look for all the deals.
 
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