$10 Acros... Do they still exist?

[Dennis McGrath]

Check to see if there are any LFS doing auctions in your area on Facebook. I have 2 in my area that do and this past weekend I won 2 auctions for frags that I got for $5 each !! Most of the time I win around the $15 range though, this time I was the only bidder on each, so I got lucky.

 

[dnyceli]

Back in the day when I had my SPS tank up and running I used to order from Mr. Coral. I know they caught a bad rap and I guess were eventually ran out of business but I did it for fun more or less.

You never knew really what you were buying with them, everything came in brown but I would just buy 10 frags for $100, place them in my frag/grow out tank and leave them. Some made it some didnt and the ones that did always colored back up over time. I had quite a collection of odds and ends over time and you really couldnt beat it for the money.

Now days with all these $75 to $100 single frags that are not even grown out but just freshly glued on, does anyone else know of a place where you know the deal is shady but you still cant beat it for 6-10 frags for $100 bucks?

Advanced Marine Aquatics in Albertson, NY has $10, $20, $30, $40 all the way to colonies. Most colorful SPS I've seen around these parts

 

[Gmerek2]

lots of $10 acros in our area for the common stuff that is proven to do well in captivity. It’s best to find them local since shipping is getting expensive which makes the frag price go up.

 

[Rakie]

The problem is money is worth less. "Back in the day" $10 is worth more than today $10. So pretty much these $10 corals are now $20-25. They're the same thing, more or less, but adjusted for today's money.

I remember back in the day when I first started keeping. You could get big colonies of SPS for $50-75. Today the same colonies are $150-200+. Everybody likes brownies, but inflation is a thing and it sucks for hobbies lol.

 

[Vin's Reef]

I think all you need is at aquariumdepot.com. Look at their 50% off coral offerings. They are a great company with free next day air for $200 purchases. You can get 30 frags for that! They ship great and have a 14 day live guarantee. I love them. And if you send a pic of your tank or corals they give you an additional 10% off. Best place for nice inexpensive frags hands down.

 

[Ibn]

I’m in Sacramento, where is this? About to take a trip. I have a few local stores but they’re all garbage. Only bought a few pieces and both came with pests

If you're coming from the Sacramento area, then start from the south and work your way up. Neptune (San Jose) to check out their selection, then hop over to California Reef Company (Newark), and then finally Aquatic Collection (fish selection). Neptune has a great selection at every available price point and CRC has some of the named stuff (they used to be the ReefRaft of the North before ties were cut off). Neptune is dangerous for me since it's only 10 minutes drive from work. Had a friend visit from SoCal this past weekend and took him to Neptune and CRC.

From Neptune out of their $20 tanks. The frag prices are based on size and not on how much they can get out of the frag.

Promising coloration with the orange polyps.

From CRC, picked up these two.

Fresh cut from a wild Aussie table. $20

This was being held for a customer, interestingly from Sacramento, but they never came back for it. Large grown in frag with a very unique blue green on it. $40

 

[OriginalUserName]

I think all you need is at aquariumdepot.com. Look at their 50% off coral offerings. They are a great company with free next day air for $200 purchases. You can get 30 frags for that! They ship great and have a 14 day live guarantee. I love them. And if you send a pic of your tank or corals they give you an additional 10% off. Best place for nice inexpensive frags hands down.

I've had great luck with their zoas.

 

[Goby-won]

At my house they do. Come on over.

 

[Dom274]

True, but to my earlier point, customers must pay for that quality. Adam's corals, while spectacular, are some of the priciest in the business. With due respect to your selection, it's also very nice, but it's nowhere near the prices we used to see in the hobby 10+ years ago when I first got in. SPS in the $20 price range used to be a category, not a "rare find" or "limited time sale."

To answer your question, yes a LFS near me has a "mystery acro" tank where everything costs $5-$10. It's absolute junk. It's no wonder nobody does this anymore. It's a mystery box where you don't get to see what you have for months/years. Not to mention the cheap price is completely negated by intangible costs - Running a tank, having space and caring for a coral for months/years costs money too. Screw that noise, just go buy scratch off tickets if that's what floats your boat.


I am not picking on anyone in particular, but I am so freaking sick of hearing people complain about how "xxx used to be so much cheaper/better/prettier xxx years ago".


What is the point of saying something like that? To prove seniority? To prove to others you can still remember 10 years ago? To be condescending to "younger" people out there?


I'm being serious - If you can remember how much frags cost 10 years ago, surely you have heard of this thing called "inflation". Your $100 acro pack from 10 years ago is going to cost $120 nowadays. If you haven't increased your income proportionally to inflation, things would appear to cost more. This isn't an issue with the hobby, it's a you issue... Don't worry, you're in good company though. 99% of the population is in the same boat as you, we would have regular group meetings, but couldn't find a venue to hold us all...

 

[TL Reefs]

I dont venture much from LR but I know the Fish Tank people very well.... I dont mind paying $30 or even $40 for a frag from them because I know where they come from. I still cant do more than that. I mean, my budget would allow for much larger purchases but my gut and my logical side says no... about $60 for anything is my top dollar.

I have never been to Worlds Under Water even though I have made the trip to Memphis some, this is the first I am hearing of TL reefs. As far as the local club, I used to be a member but it seems most everyone I knew is no longer members. I have asked on their forums about some before to no avail. I dont know where the stick guys went around here. 6 years ago we were everywhere.

Send me a message and we can make a deal! Would be great if you could make it up here, as I have lots of $10 frags for in-store purchases. In-state shipping is only around $20, whereas, anything sent out of state is more like $50-$100. This is probably why you are not finding many $10 frags online. If it costs $50 to ship them, it's not even worth the time and money to pack them.

 

[Dave3112]

Local reefers are the best place to go for low priced Frags. I know H@rry does the 10 for $100 if you catch him at a frag swap and they are nice Corals. Myagi Tort level Frags. I personally don’t understand the $200 micro frag fad that is going on now days. Most of the time the coral looks pretty common when it’s grown out to a colony. If it even makes it that far. Most people try to chop it up once it gets to an inch tall and end up killing it.