Stars Frag Tank?

mistaflicksta

New member
Stars Frag Tank? I have been reading other clubs forums ie. comas forum and they have a club frag tank. Would members on our club be willing to start one? It seems like a good idea, im sure there would be people willng to contribute to this idea.

I have been reading this

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1744748

Im sure most people have frag tanks but this is an opportunity to donate a frag, let somebody else have an opportunity to own and grow that coral then bring a frag back to allow somebody else to do the same.

Lets get our heads together maybe we can get this going.
 
I sent a pm to the person who is running the COMAS frag tank Lytehouse, requesting info on how their frag program is run. Hopefully Lytehouse will respond soon and willgive us info on how to run a similar program.

please post if you are interested, Steffen is in the COMAS area right now, if we have a descent amount of people interested in starting a program like this, we could probably get Steffen to go out and talk to Lytehouse.
 
great idea. i was sorta also had been thinking of a stars official tank made up completely of donated equipment and stocked. thought that would be cool. but we should also reach out to one another now to swap frags. or what your saying, im in just let me know. my frags are barely growing out also but i will be getting more sps soon for sure.
 
We can further discuss it in the next meeting but we do need a strong interest in setting this up so we can get the ball rolling. frag donations and frag hand outs will be documented so the club can know what is coming in and what is going out. I have equipment i can donate and frags i can donate to start it off I'm sure other people have something they can contribute to it.

Lets get some input on this please. It can be yay or nay, i see that over 20 people have looked @ this thread but no input has been posted. no pressure on the members but lets get something going so we can talk about it in the next meeting
 
ok so i got a response, this is word for word what Lynn from COMAS wrote, it seems to work as the have been doing it for a while with only minor modifications.

Erik,

I'm happy to tell you anything I can. To start with, I am the 4th keeper of the program and the second keeper of the tank. When the program started, people contacted the donor chairman to bring frags and they basically swapped on sight with people requesting frags..... You can guess quickly the problem, not everybody has the best tank husbandry and somebody gets home with a frag with a frag with a pest and words hit the board..............

So the tank was purchased. The basic premise is this: To request frags from the program you must meet these basic requirements;
-- must be a paid member for the current year;
--must have a tank with appropriate water chemistry and lighting for the frag you are requesting (ie, no pc lights for sps);
-- must be willing to grow the frag till it naturally splits or it can be fragged (we'll help you if you need it) and return at least one frag to the program)-- then the coral is yours;

However, we highly solicit members for donations of corals they have received from the program and those they haven't to keep the program growing. We aren't shy about hitting up people who have been around awhile or even lfs for pieces since most of our requests come from people in their first year.

That said, all 4 of us have done it different from there. 1 or 2 were militant and hounded people if they didn't return frags. I see it more as a club benefit to new people. If they kill them or don't bring them back, they may not get to take more out for awhile, but not forever.

We have a website that includes a section on the donor program. It has a page for each coral with a picture of a mother colony and description along with a care guide-- flow, lighting etc.....

It has been down for a while, under construction for updating, so I started putting up a thread each month. Our meetings are saturday night. I start a thread on the monday before and add to it each day till friday. I put up pictures of actual frags. When I get a descent macro shot, even dog pieces fly out the door. I feel like one of those online stores except I don't photoshop( I know, don't they all say that). It is labor intensive to take new pics each month, because I get new pieces in and stuff grows or I frag it. My the response is awesome, in person and on the forum. So, I'll keep it up even when the website is back up.

I do not bring people to my house. I only receive and give out frags at the meeting. I take a styrofoam fish box with frags in bags just like they came from lfs. I have 2 clip boards. People sign in corals they are donating on one and sign out corals they are taking on the other. The give their name, their RC/COMAS name and name of the coral(s) they are giving/taking. Their individual bags go in a paper sack(local grocery store donates the small ones in 2 sizes), folded over and stapled with a half sheet of paper with a disclaimer about trust no one, even me---- dip your corals, etc.....

It looks promising. As I was the one that suggested the idea I will be the first one to donate equipment and coral to who ever ends uptaking charge of the program (if we decide on a program)
 
Sounds like a great idea to me!! :cool: I like the controls they have in place and agree they would be needed. Great thing to add to the agenda and discuss at the upcoming meeting!

Jay
 
A frag propogation program is a great idea! I'm trying out a different approach with NMOK called DBTC (which has been wildly successful in the founding club, Bay Area Reefers).
http://www.bareefers.org/home/node/13 I'd be happy to talk about it in gory detail if anyone wishes:p

Perhaps you'll like the idea right out, perhaps hate it, perhaps get some ideas from it to improve your current idea of the Stars frag tank :)

Regardless of how you go about it, I wish you guys the best with the prop program :-D

One thing I would suggest, is educating the club about pests. How to identify them before introducing a pest into the tank, how to treat it if they do. Assuming every frag is a plague containing every beastie is a good way to start :p Nothing worse then things like AEFW going virulent in the club etc.
 
gomer thanks for the link, it does look interesting. Hopefully one of these sugestions comes to life after the Dec meeting.
 
Erik--I think this is a great idea. It will bring in more new members and interest to this club once word gets out that STARS has a frag tank of its own. I think that it is great marine husbandry.

However, the logistical nightmare to get through all of the issues that are associated with such a "free" frag tank would be problematic.
  • Who is going to watch the frag tank?
  • Are the officers of STARS going to look after the tank?
  • Is the frag tank going to be mobile (are STARS members going to take turn looking out for it )?
  • Is there going to be a "minimum" monetary donation given to STARS in order to be able to have frag?
  • Which city is this frag tank going to be located?
  • What hours is the frag tank going to be available for the paying STARS members?
  • Is there going to be a minimum amount of membership time in STARS in order to receive a frag?
  • How long must a person have kept a marine setup, 1, 2, more then 3 years in order to prove that you can properly care for a marine animal (can prove proper marine husbandry)?
  • Not everyone shares the same marine husbandry skills, so what kind of frags will each individual be able to take or will it be based on the type of system they care for ie LPS, SPS, softies?
  • If more then one person wants a particular frag that has arrived to the frag tank, is there going to be a rank and file system of who gets to have it, or first come first served type regardless of how many years or contributions she/he has made to the club?
So many more questions. Is this a logistical nightmare to even get of the ground? Yes. Can it be done? I think it can but it has to have the full support of everyone including the STARS officers. They ultimately have the say whether this is even conceivable to do. Nonetheless, I think this would be a great tool to get new members into the club. It has my support but the rules has to make sense to everyone in the club.
 
Hans, that is what we have to talk about in the meeting and Lynn from COMAS could give us more info on how to run the program. They have been running it for quite some time now. I lkie the fact people are interested, lets keep this alive.
 
If you decide to go with a club frag tank, I would suggest trying to get at least 2 of them running. Yes it is more work, but if something goes bad, you don't lose everything.
 
Erik--this has my full support and should be talked about at the next meeting. We are always speaking of getting membership up in the club and this could prove to be an invaluable tool. I think all ideas and questions in regards to a STARS frag tank should be talked about here. That way, when we go through the formal process such as in a meeting, the logistics of the frag tank can be discussed.
 
  • Who is going to watch the frag tank?
    We can all apoint someone who is not only knowledgeable but also has time and the space to handle the tank
  • Are the officers of STARS going to look after the tank?
    [preferably, as they are who regluate the club
  • Is the frag tank going to be mobile (are STARS members going to take turn looking out for it )?
    The way COMAS has run it is, once someone has been established to run the tank, they run it until they can't anymore, or until somebody else offers to take it over
  • Is there going to be a "minimum" monetary donation given to STARS in order to be able to have frag?
    Well this is where we run into a bump in the road, since our club does not require any type of dues, I guess we can establish a minimmun monetary donation for tank maintenance.
  • Which city is this frag tank going to be located?
    It doesnt matter what city it ends up in. Frag pick ups and frag donations will only be held @ meetings ( well maybe frag donations can also be scheduled and publicly anounced) that way the system is fair.
  • What hours is the frag tank going to be available for the paying STARS members?
    No one other than RC officers are allowed to go where the tank is housed (unless there is a meeting being hosted there) once again all transactions will be conducted @ meetings. there will also be a running forum or sticky stating what corals are comming in or out of the tank
  • Is there going to be a minimum amount of membership time in STARS in order to receive a frag?
    As far as I know the way COMAS runs it is first to post request on the forum ( I am using COMAS as an example because I am currently in contact with the person who is running it)
  • How long must a person have kept a marine setup, 1, 2, more then 3 years in order to prove that you can properly care for a marine animal (can prove proper marine husbandry)?
    That will have to be determined as a group, but at bare minimum the person requesting the coral donation should have the adequate equipment ei: lighting to properly care for the coral.
  • Not everyone shares the same marine husbandry skills, so what kind of frags will each individual be able to take or will it be based on the type of system they care for ie LPS, SPS, softies?
    It comes down to having the proper equipment to house the coral the are requesting
  • If more then one person wants a particular frag that has arrived to the frag tank, is there going to be a rank and file system of who gets to have it, or first come first served type regardless of how many years or contributions she/he has made to the club?
    Like I stated before, first to publicly post on the forum/ sticky or we can come up with some kind of draft system.
So many more questions. Is this a logistical nightmare to even get of the ground? Yes. Can it be done? I think it can but it has to have the full support of everyone including the STARS officers. They ultimately have the say whether this is even conceivable to do. Nonetheless, I think this would be a great tool to get new members into the club. It has my support but the rules has to make sense to everyone in the club.

This is just a proposal to the officers in the club, they are the ones with the authority to start something like this for the club.

I will also shoot these questions to Lynn from COMAS and see what they did in those situations.

If there are other questions or conserns we can talk about them now that way we have something strong to propose to the club officers in the meeting.
 
I recently gave away all the extra equipment I had laying around the house to support something like this. It appears I will have the next meeting off and if it is a go will make a decent green paper with faces on it donation.
 
mistaflicksta, good idea. It is always a great help when members are thinking like this and more start to join in. I was already reading all about what Gomer is trying to do with that club with DBTC. Have any of you read that? I kind of think that is more the way to go and with a lot less trouble and or work for any one person to take care of and look after. Not only are all the questions already mentioned out there but so many more.

We already have so much to try to get done for the next meeting I hope we can try to at least touch base on this and see if we can get it off the ground.

Please read what Gomer mentioned and see what you all think about it.
:wave:
 
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