Can we please treat corals for what they are?

[KrisReef]

Oh c'mon, you gotta vote!

i will not cast votes for the hangman to count.

I was correct about the trajectory, but I don't like the categories.

I want another option.

 

[Ben549]

I thought it started dicey but has evolved into some semi-interesting/entertaining banter.

We are here for your entertainment. Welcome to the internet

 

[Ben549]

you said you "throw corals in the trash", seems you should buy the corals you want and not participate in these kind of games.

they were much nicer than I would have taken that, how do you do the cry face followed by hug emoji?

I probably could have phrased that better. For example, I know some people find inverts on their corals and consider them freebies (like bristleworms), I use a white list approach to my tank in that if it's not planned for, it doesn't go in.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I jumped ahead to see if the mods had been required to step in yet. I don't think I will be able to get the BBQ started until the fire has erupted and consumed the question beyond all recongnition.

What side am I on? I forgot to vote.

your on the right side! don't you dare go left on us!!!!

 

[Ben549]

What good is a reef website if we can't bash each other around for killing GSP and aiptasia without thinking about it?

And we need to discuss the evils in the other guy to purge the bile that is stuck in our own souls as we head into eternity begging for righteous judgement from the creator that most have denied existed and replaced Him for ourselves.. It's just a rehashing of the garden story.

sometimes the painful discussions are the most impactful!

 

[Ben549]

i will not cast votes for the hangman to count.

I was correct about the trajectory, but I don't like the categories.

I want another option.

what would you like? Aliens? Teapots? Jello?

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

That's awesome, I wish my dog was like that. I swear, I could die next to him and he would still boop me to pet him. He is incredibly oblivious/

Tons of work to get a dog to be like that. All of our sentient pets appreciate us if we treat them with respect. But to earn your dogs love is pretty special. He and I are very in tune with one another. A lot of it is just his breed. Giant schnauzers are extremely loyal out of the gate. But he and I do literally everything together, so long as he's allowed. He doesn't get to go to the grocery store with me. But he does get to come out of leash and walk with me while I mow.

It's rewarding.

 

[KrisReef]

what would you like? Aliens? Teapots? Jello?

Thank you for considering my plight in the original poll. I had to answer a poll from my workspace last night and I replied then that I didn't think the results desired would flow from the categories offered in that poll, or something like that. The outcomes don't always follow the categories provided, I am used to that.

BTW< I am sorry you had a difficult time with the contest results. I love our vendors but they are just human and they don't always understand what we are trying to communicate when we ask them to divert from the common trajectory.

I had an opposite experience to yours, twice in the last month. I ultimately got nothing and i am happy to have played or been offered a couple of sweet prizes. I really don't need more coral but I certainly hope the vendors are allowed to keep offering them to future generations who want to enjoy reef keeping at home. I don't believe it is a crime to reef but it seems there are a few folks who completely dissagree with captive creatures at home, claiming an ethical breech for us who do.

Truth may be, that I want to keep a human being under my bed but i reef instead. Does that make me a bad person?

Captivity of the mind isn't the same as captivity of the soul, but it's related in many cases.

The Pharoh ruled the world but never had red jello in a mason jar for a snack. I feel like a pharoh when I enjoy red jello.

 

[zoomonster]

I agree somewhat but companies are in business to make money by making customers happy and luring them to make a purchase so they can get what they won. Unlike most business giveaways "purchase is required" and you don't get to pick what you won. The real truth is fish and corals are a traded commodity (no different than say a big fat red snapper at market) and treated as such from collectors or farms, to distributors, to stores and to your tank. Now on my side things are well fed, cared for and fish even have names like the rest of my pets.

 

[pepper89]

I'll be honest this has been a very entertaining read, though the answer I believe is purely philosophical, and so no specific right or wrong answer could fully be made. Sure they could do it differently, I'm sure there are a billion ideas that could be made to sort of fix issues like this that the people running the games could adjust. Though as a player in said game, it is your responsibility to read through things before you sign up.

Also, I have seen people win dogs/cats in various prize winnings, and have had offers like "buy one cat one free". Is it ethical? IDK that is also up for debate; though I think to say "no one does this to dogs or cats" is just not true. With dogs and cats still being up for debate still, something like corals (who still have sentience up for debate), probably won't be finished for some time. (I mean as a human collective anyways).

Anyways, I would say the moral of the story: Always read things completely before you sign up for things. Lawsuits have happened for smaller. If you are picky about what goes in your tank, you should probably not sign up for mystery drawings.

 

[pepper89]

Thank you for considering my plight in the original poll. I had to answer a poll from my workspace last night and I replied then that I didn't think the results desired would flow from the categories offered in that poll, or something like that. The outcomes don't always follow the categories provided, I am used to that.

BTW< I am sorry you had a difficult time with the contest results. I love our vendors but they are just human and they don't always understand what we are trying to communicate when we ask them to divert from the common trajectory....

I completely agree, I think there could be a few things adjusted, but for the most part, they really do a good job. From the few I've seen people get, they seem to be really nice corals (def not something to trash), even if all of them aren't exactly something I would put in my VERY small tank. Though I think those mystery ones are just better for people who have more open plans for their tanks or have many tanks. It's why I stick to the gift card ones, but never win but it's fun to at least try, and see them giving back something to the community.

 

[Derrick0580]

Another option, which the vendor may or may not comply with…is to ask what the mystery frag is and therefore give you the option to either agree to take it or pass it on to the next person. That being said, be prepared to be told it’s a coral you do not want or can not care for and do not complain and raise a stink about it. Either take the mystery frag or pass it on and move on with your life!

 

[Ben549]

Another option, which the vendor may or may not comply with…is to ask what the mystery frag is and therefore give you the option to either agree to take it or pass it on to the next person. That being said, be prepared to be told it’s a coral you do not want or can not care for and do not complain and raise a stink about it. Either take the mystery frag or pass it on and move on with your life!

Oh yeah, That would have been perfectly fine.

Now that I think about it, I'm not sure who benefits by keeping the mystery frag a mystery after the winner has been selected. It seems like it only needs to be a mystery during the game. Is there something I'm missing?

 

[The_Paradox]

Is there something I'm missing?

The joy and wonderment of opening a bag of corals with your mystery beige Xenia already growing over the other frags?

No? How about the rage endorphins as you yeet all your plugs into the backyard?

 

[Ben549]

The joy and wonderment of opening a bag of corals with your mystery beige Xenia already growing over the other frags?

No? How about the rage endorphins as you yeet all your plugs into the backyard?

LOL, your responses are hilarious!

 

[The_Paradox]

LOL, your responses are hilarious!

It’s all the palytoxin I’ve licked off my ungloved fingers over the years. Everyone in this HOBBY seems too serious. The dumb HOBBIEST take themselves even more seriously.

 

[Coral Websites]

Is there something I'm missing?

yes you are. It might be because you are not a vendor and are unfamiliar with how they may operate. I can't speak for all vendors but most of them have no idea what FREE frag they are going to give you until they fill your order. 1st they need to look at your total order and determine what type frags your buying (zoas, lps, sps, ect). Then they have to look and see what frags are available that will go with the corals you're already getting. To ask them to do that in advance for every FREE frag they give away is a big ask. I have been apart of many many frag giveaways and this is the first time someone has complained about a free gift, much less before they even know what the gift is. And to create a thread under the disguise that its a Poll about caring for animals only to further your complaint in public seems very wrong. It's click bait and only hurts the guy that was trying to give you THREE free gifts in the first place.

There is a old saying: " Don't look a gift horse in the mouth"

 

[Cichlid Dad]

.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

GSP DESERVES LOVE TOO I get your opinion though.

https://offerup.co/EF4X2S4oZAb

Here is a wonderful example, he started at 1000.00 I believe

 

[Kasrift]

Oh yeah, That would have been perfectly fine.

Now that I think about it, I'm not sure who benefits by keeping the mystery frag a mystery after the winner has been selected. It seems like it only needs to be a mystery during the game. Is there something I'm missing?

I think the only thing you are missing is scale of a shipping operation. I know from personal experience, that bagging coral and getting it prepped for shipping is not easy. That being said, vendors have to bag specific orders (and tons of them) and drop them off all at once, so I doubt they want to accommodate special orders/requests. Most likely, it is like throwing a sticker in a box and there is a box of water with "freebie" frags in it and whomever on the assembly line is finishing up an order grabs one, bags it, throws it in the box and tapes it up.