Frags Please oh please

[beaupierce]

Hello,
I am looking for Frags. I have my tank all ready to rock and roll and want to see if you, Reef Central Community, will get my tank up to being gorgeous.
I want to have a tank of completely of donated corals, inverts, sps. lps. etc. I know that I am asking for a lot, but hey I was told you guys here on RC are the best. And so far you all have been awesome. So if you would be so kind as to give me a little piece of your ocean, once it matures I promise to spread the goodness to others. Kinda a pay it forward type of thing. Thanks

[papagimp]

Originally posted by beaupierce
I want to have a tank of completely of donated corals, inverts, sps. lps. etc. I know that I am asking for a lot, but hey I was told you guys here on RC are the best.

While I"m sure everyone here on RC appreciate the compliment, good luck on this. You'd probably have a better chance finding donors locally than people willing to ship corals for free. Just a thought.

But allow me let you in on a little secret....I joined a local fish club here in Oklahoma to try and better my understanding of the hobby as well as learn all I could. Luckily for me, my local club (Central oklahoma marine aquarium society) has a "donor coral" program. This basically entails a member donating a species of coral to the club, this coral is passed onto the next name on the list, they keep it until it's propogatable (is that a word?) and then pass on more frags to the club again. This program alone completely filled my 55g mixed reef tank in about 6 months. Since I've not had the need to receive more corals due to the amount I already have, tank is full. so I'm in the process of selling off/re-donating stuff to make room for the bigger,better, flashier corals that we all long for. May want to find a local fish club near you and see if they have something simlar in the works. RC has a list of many local clubs, each with their own RC forum.

Hope that tidbit helps some.

[smcnally]

Are you serious? If so, this isn't the place to be sticking out your hand for free frags. I would suggest joining a local club and meeting some people in the hobby that can help you get started, but asking people to donate all the corals for your tank is just silly. We all wish we could stock our tanks for free, but unfortunately this is far from a cheap hobby.

[dcombs44]

I would go the local reef club route. I sure wouldn't pay $15 or $20 to ship you a coral, nor would I take the time to pack it and ship it even if you were paying the shipping. That's quite a bit to ask someone to do for free.

I guarantee that if you find reefers or a club locally, you'll have better luck. Then you can trade in person, no shipping involved.

[beaupierce]

Thanks guys for the advice. I do understand that this is not a cheap hobby and this is why I think we should be passing along our "goodies" to one another.
This hobby is about bringing a piece of the ocean to live in your own home. And what better way to let others experience that than by passing along a small piece of your "perfect ocean" to others.

This is not about getting something free. It is about sharing this wonderful hobby with others.
Pay it Forward!

[steri]

Check the Reef Club Forums on this site. I'm sure there is something in the San Jose area, and I'm sure people in your area may have a few frags they can give you if you drive out to their place (like Xenia).

I get aa lot of my frags from local people, but even then, I usually do pay people for their time and genorosity. BTW, I got some Xenia you can have, if you want to drive out to Chicago to get pick it up

[papagimp]

Intentions sound good, in theory, but just not as practicle as we'd want. After all, the business side of the hobby definalty brings in new and rare species that we'd normaly not have access too. If we all shared and no commerce then I'd think alot of our tanks would look identical. And that would take so much of the fun out of the hobby.

Definatly keep your eyes open for local clubs, local frag swaps, things along that line. There is a forum here on RC for trading I believe. That may be a good spot to ask around. Better chance of finding people to "trade" a coral with you vs. giving you one.

[dcombs44]

Originally posted by beaupierce
This is not about getting something free. It is about sharing this wonderful hobby with others.
Pay it Forward!

I'll agree that it's great to share the hobby with others. That's what this site is all about. I'm not against fragging my corals and giving the frags away, but if somebody wants them bad enough, they'll come get them. That's why everyone is suggesting to trade locally. Life's too expensive to pay $20 to give something away all the time.

[beaupierce]

Thanks guys for your advice. I guess it was more of a good thought and good intentions type of deal.....

[steri]

Hey beaupierce, I found this Reef Club for you. I don't know how close it is to your area, but at least it's a good place to start. I'm sure, you can post in there and get some advice as to what or who is in your area that can help you out

Just click on the link and post in there the same as you would in teh new members forum. I believe this one was called Southern California Reefers.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/fo...?s=&forumid=50

Enjoy! Good luck.

[beaupierce]

Steri your awesome. Glad to see at leat a few people here on RC are nice!

[mikemartinez]

I dont think anyone is trying to be a jerk but what your asking is just way past the being nice part.

I understand what you're trying to do and dont blame you (Who doesnt want a tank full of free corals?) but there is just no way that anyone is going to want to take their own time and money to ship someone some corals. That is what it boils down to.

I'm sure some of these guys wouldnt mind helping you out if you lived near them to where you could actually pick it up yourself.

I think the local reef club is definitely the way to go. I have already recived a couple of free frags my my local club from members that had way too much in their tank and were trimming some off.


Good luck on your tank.

[ACBlinky]

Originally posted by beaupierce
Glad to see at leat a few people here on RC are nice!

That wasn't necessary - don't say people here aren't nice because they're not willing or able to pay to ship their corals to a total stranger. This is a fantastic community and I've seen some incredibly charitable acts here, but the difference is that none of those were initiated by the recipient. It's one thing to receive a gift or helping hand when you're in need; it's another thing all together to put a hand out and ask for something just because you want it.

Just a few things I've seen RC members do - hardly the acts of unkind people:

One man posted saying he was flat on his back with a serious injury, and needed advice for directing his wife on how to complete a water change. Several people in his area (people who didn't even know him) stepped up and offered to go to his house and do it for him.

There have been lots of threads about horrid tank crashes, accidents, power outages or tank breakage that cost someone an entire tank full of beautiful corals. Next thing you know, there are members lined up willing to send them frags to rebuild their reef. Often it's people who once received frags from them - what goes around comes around.

Then there are those who spend hours posting answers to questions they've probably seen a hundred times, to help out someone new who is confused.

Pretty nice folks if you ask me.

Sorry if this came out harsh, but it really rubs me the wrong way to see someone call anyone in this community unkind.

[ahullsb]

I don't think people are trying to be mean here. But I'm not sure you realize what you are asking exactly. Shipping coral requires that you package very carefully. You need a decent amount of water so that the coral doesn't die, and that gets heavy. You must also make sure the frag is insulated against heat/cold etc. Packaging can take a hour or more easily, and you need to ship either fed ex or UPS 2 day or you risk the coral dying in transit. I've never paid less than 40-50 dollars to receive a coral frag through the mail. That is a lot to ask someone, especially when we have no idea how long your tank has been setup, what size it is, what your water parameters are, or if you can keep it alive. But if you want to pay for shipping, I will send you some soft coral frags that are taking over my tank for free. I have xenia, anthelia, and kenya tree frags that I can get rid of, provided you answer some of the tank questions I just wrote about. And I have seen a lot of people posting in the San Jose area, so I would get into the reef clubs there, I'm sure they will give you some free stuff, or at least a good deal.

[ahullsb]

Yours is a good idea that does work within local reef clubs, but mailing frags is expensive and time consuming!

[beaupierce]

thanks for all your help i just want to help share this wonderful hobby with as many people as I can. That's all!