Trade frags, not diseases, dip everything
9 members · founded by @reefwitchShipping a few zoa packs to the midwest this week and the forecast there is 40s at night. Packing in a rigid cup with newspaper insulation, but I keep going back and forth on whether a heat pack is worth the risk of cooking them in a warm truck. What are you doing for shipping frags in fall, 40g pack or skip it?
Moved a couple of torch frags to a new shelf in the frag rack yesterday and the heads are tucked in tight all day. Flow is a bit stronger there and I think that's most of it. Pic below of the dip bucket I use before anything goes on that shelf. Normally they open up within a day for me, how long do you give them before you start moving them again?
I've got a five morph zoa pack on the trade board and keep getting offers that feel lopsided. A healed hammer head with 3 or more heads usually runs more than a 3 polyp zoa frag, but a named zoa can climb fast. How do you guys weigh these when you trade? Even value on what you'd pay retail, or do you add cash when it's not close?
Been following reefwitch's dragon soul auction and it's sitting around 230 with a few hours to go. Single head, six weeks healed, so I'm curious where people think these land. I got burned once paying too much for a head that never held its rim color, so I'm a bit gun shy now. What do you look at before you bid on a WYSIWYG torch?
Setting up for a few incoming frags this weekend and I realized my dip bucket habits have drifted over the years. I'm doing a coral dip for 10 minutes with an air stone then a rinse in clean saltwater before the frag tank. Curious what everyone else runs, and whether you dip everything or skip it for zoas that look clean. Pic below of my current dip station.
Pic below of the drip acclimation bucket I use for new arrivals, which is how I noticed it. Hammer I've had for about a month, one edge of the skeleton is showing through and the tentacles on that side look thinner. Nothing obvious in the tank bugging it. Flow is moderate, nitrate around 8. Am I overthinking it or should I dip it again?
Had a torch head with a small patch of brown jelly near the base of the skeleton, so I did a 3 percent peroxide dip at about 3 ml per liter for 10 minutes in a separate cup with an air stone. Head closed up hard afterwards and still hasn't opened 5 hours later. Normal after a dip like that or did I go too long? Not planning to do it twice.
Not mine, a friend's. They had a torch that went down to a bare skeleton with one little patch of tissue left and kept it in a jar for months. Eventually it came back. Curious what the longest comeback story is here, or if most of you cut your losses way sooner.
Got a trade package today after about 36 hours in transit. Heat pack was still warm and everything was dipped, but about half the polyps are shut tight and a couple look a little stretched. Pic below of the rack where they're sitting at low flow. I'm planning to leave them alone under dim light overnight. Anyone do anything different after a long box?
Cleaned out my freezer drawer tonight and realized half of it is fish food and the other half is the stuff I actually eat. Pic below. I'm running mysis, brine, a cyclops pack and some chopped clam for the clowns and the torches. Curious what everyone rotates, I feel like I've been stuck on the same three cubes for a year.
Picked up a pack from a local swap yesterday, dipped and acclimated slow. About half the polyps are still shut after 24 hours, the rest are open a little. Flow is low and light is turned down to 30 percent. Waiting it out or should I do something?
Dipped a pack of new zoas Friday night and they have been mostly shut since. Today is Sunday and about half the polyps are still pulled in, the rest are puffy but not fully open. Pic below of the frag rack right now. Flow is moderate and the light is the same as where they grew. I know it can take a few days but at what point do you start thinking something is wrong?
Watching a nice torch auction sit at zero bids with a few hours left and it got me thinking. For a high end frag, do you think a high start price scares people off, or do serious buyers just wait for the last hour anyway? I've seen plenty of my own auctions get all their bids in the final ten minutes. Curious how others read it.
I dip everything on arrival but I'm curious how long people actually hold frags in a separate tank. I've been doing about two weeks, mostly because of zoa pox and the odd pest. Is that overkill for soft corals, or do you go longer when something comes from a trade?
Two liter bottle, rigid airline, a lamp, done. Stop buying the fancy dishes. My hatch rate has been identical for three years.
