FRAG Swaps

[vetteguy53081]

As frag swaps have become somewhat far and few, I noticed three weekend shows in my area starting this weekend. I cant remember the last time there was one , at least close to home.
How many have had Frag swaps in their area/region and did you find true frag swap bargains or are you seeing pricey specimens at the shows?
What do you think the future holds as far as continued events?

 

[edsbeaker]

I think reefing as a whole has had major changes over the last decade. It seems to be a lot more isolating then it used to be.

I actually grieve for the days of frag swaps and visits to other reefers homes to buy frags. I honestly don’t understand why local reef forums have gone silent. It was so easy to fill your tank with beautiful and inexpensive large frags back then. I just don’t understand why this ended.

I think R2R is the only thing keeping me connected to others with similar interests. It’s just sad.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I think reefing as a whole has had major changes over the last decade. It seems to be a lot more isolating then it used to be.

I actually grieve for the days of frag swaps and visits to other reefers homes to buy frags. I honestly don’t understand why local reef forums have gone silent. It was so easy to fill your tank with beautiful and inexpensive large frags back then. I just don’t understand why this ended.

I think R2R is the only thing keeping me connected to others with similar interests. It’s just sad.

I agree on locals being now scarce. The best and cheapest acquisitions of specimens but I have found a couple locals recently

 

[56longroof]

All the locals for me are 2 hours away. They charge just as much or more for the same stuff I can get online. The last coral show I went to had severely overpriced and underwhelming frags.

 

[PPBlimpy]

I miss the old frag swaps!!! I need to talk to the local group and maybe host one at my house

The group I was part of 20 years ago would do 2/3/4 frag swap buy-ins to join. We did them bi-monthly

Bring a minimum of 2 SPS or 3 LPS or 4 Softies or $30 (limited to 10 paid buy-ins) to get a ticket

More frags you bring more tickets you get, bring over 15 frags and you can grab two frags per pass. More tickets you have put you in a higher priority group. Each time you pass thru the frag tables you can only grab 1(or two, if you brought more then 15 frags at entry) groups kept going until frags were gone. great for new comers because they walked away with a ton of the more common easy beginner frags.

you had to bring a picture of the coral/colony and have it in the ziplocked bag.
We also did raffles for equipment (mostly donated- used from members) Along with a raffle for 1/2 the cash from the 10 cash buy-ins.

They were a cool event!!! I haven't thought about them in a long time!!

 

[vetteguy53081]

I miss the old frag swaps!!! I need to talk to the local group and maybe host one at my house

The group I was part of 20 years ago would do 2/3/4 frag swap buy-ins to join. We did them bi-monthly

Bring a minimum of 2 SPS or 3 LPS or 4 Softies or $30 (limited to 10 paid buy-ins) to get a ticket

More frags you bring more tickets you get, bring over 15 frags and you can grab two frags per pass. More tickets you have put you in a higher priority group. Each time you pass thru the frag tables you can only grab 1(or two, if you brought more then 15 frags at entry) groups kept going until frags were gone. great for new comers because they walked away with a ton of the more common easy beginner frags.

you had to bring a picture of the coral/colony and have it in the ziplocked bag.

was a cool event!!! i haven't thought about them in a long time!!

What memories indeed

 

[MoshJosh]

As frag swaps have become somewhat far and few, I noticed three weekend shows in my area starting this weekend. I cant remember the last time there was one , at least close to home.
How many have had Frag swaps in their area/region and did you find true frag swap bargains or are you seeing pricey specimens at the shows?
What do you think the future holds as far as continued events?

My local club did one last month. . . but I missed the email. . . and only one member (an employee of the LFS) actually brought frags. . . he ended up just giving them away cause there was no one to trade with haha

 

[SoGaReefer]

I miss the old frag swaps!!! I need to talk to the local group and maybe host one at my house

The group I was part of 20 years ago would do 2/3/4 frag swap buy-ins to join. We did them bi-monthly

Bring a minimum of 2 SPS or 3 LPS or 4 Softies or $30 (limited to 10 paid buy-ins) to get a ticket

More frags you bring more tickets you get, bring over 15 frags and you can grab two frags per pass. More tickets you have put you in a higher priority group. Each time you pass thru the frag tables you can only grab 1(or two, if you brought more then 15 frags at entry) groups kept going until frags were gone. great for new comers because they walked away with a ton of the more common easy beginner frags.

you had to bring a picture of the coral/colony and have it in the ziplocked bag.
We also did raffles for equipment (mostly donated- used from members) Along with a raffle for 1/2 the cash from the 10 cash buy-ins.

They were a cool event!!! I haven't thought about them in a long time!!

That would be awesome I'm completely new to corals and would have to hope to be a buy in but the event as a whole sounds awesome. Too bad I can't find anyone around me to do that with. Where I live most people couldn't care less about a 'fish tank" lol. Some people just don't understand but living in the woods in middle south Georgia I should have figured that.

 

[Hunna’s Stunnas]

I’m a moderator for the Atlanta Reef Club, and we have a super active local community. In-person meetings a few times a year with vendors and locals that set up booths/tables. We had a fragging demo back in May where everyone left with 5 FREE different coral (splatter hammer, kryptonite candy cane, spicy lemon favia, nirvana zoas, and a piece of purple monti iirc).

We have tank tours of members scheduled for the end of this month, to see some of the larger/nicer set-ups people have in the area. The holiday party at the end of the year pays for the $30/year supporting membership if you attend it. The “cheapest” raffle prize is $50 gift card to one of the supporting LFS’s, I won a Nero 3 two years ago. Supporting membership also has benefits like use of free GA Aquarium passes, PAR readings, and even free coral at times. I’m currently giving away free frags of purple/blue stylo to supporting members, and if they have just joined within the 90 days am adding in an additional zoa or mushroom frag.

I’ve met some great people through the club, along with some super generous ones as well. I wouldn’t still be in this hobby after the divorce I went through, if it weren’t for some of the friends I made in the hobby here and their generosity to help restock things I lost for various reasons through the divorce and first year or so after. I freely trade frags with a few different people now, and look forward to meeting more to do the same with.

 

[Reefing102]

We still have regular swaps around here. I believe we just had the Fragginstein Swap in Cleveland area.
Dayton Frag Swap coming up October 25.
In November we have the CORA frag swap for Columbus.

LEAR had theirs in February
Cinci had one in January and July

All are within a 2.5 hour drive for me.

 

[PPBlimpy]

My local club did one last month. . . but I missed the email. . . and only one member (an employee of the LFS) actually brought frags. . . he ended up just giving them away cause there was no one to trade with haha

This is exactly why we did only 10 buy in spots!!! They also had to be pre-purchased. If there were more people that didn't get the buy-in and didn't have frags to bring a couple other members would sell frags so they could trade but had to be arranged prior to the swap event. Was good all around for everyone in the hobby!

 

[Usarmy227]

I miss the old frag swaps!!! I need to talk to the local group and maybe host one at my house

The group I was part of 20 years ago would do 2/3/4 frag swap buy-ins to join. We did them bi-monthly

Bring a minimum of 2 SPS or 3 LPS or 4 Softies or $30 (limited to 10 paid buy-ins) to get a ticket

More frags you bring more tickets you get, bring over 15 frags and you can grab two frags per pass. More tickets you have put you in a higher priority group. Each time you pass thru the frag tables you can only grab 1(or two, if you brought more then 15 frags at entry) groups kept going until frags were gone. great for new comers because they walked away with a ton of the more common easy beginner frags.

you had to bring a picture of the coral/colony and have it in the ziplocked bag.
We also did raffles for equipment (mostly donated- used from members) Along with a raffle for 1/2 the cash from the 10 cash buy-ins.

They were a cool event!!! I haven't thought about them in a long time!!

Wow that sounds like an amazing time!!

 

[Usarmy227]

I’m a moderator for the Atlanta Reef Club, and we have a super active local community. In-person meetings a few times a year with vendors and locals that set up booths/tables. We had a fragging demo back in May where everyone left with 5 FREE different coral (splatter hammer, kryptonite candy cane, spicy lemon favia, nirvana zoas, and a piece of purple monti iirc).

We have tank tours of members scheduled for the end of this month, to see some of the larger/nicer set-ups people have in the area. The holiday party at the end of the year pays for the $30/year supporting membership if you attend it. The “cheapest” raffle prize is $50 gift card to one of the supporting LFS’s, I won a Nero 3 two years ago. Supporting membership also has benefits like use of free GA Aquarium passes, PAR readings, and even free coral at times. I’m currently giving away free frags of purple/blue stylo to supporting members, and if they have just joined within the 90 days am adding in an additional zoa or mushroom frag.

I’ve met some great people through the club, along with some super generous ones as well. I wouldn’t still be in this hobby after the divorce I went through, if it weren’t for some of the friends I made in the hobby here and their generosity to help restock things I lost for various reasons through the divorce and first year or so after. I freely trade frags with a few different people now, and look forward to meeting more to do the same with.

Man I wish you were close to Chicago!!!

 

[SaltyWalty]

All the locals for me are 2 hours away. They charge just as much or more for the same stuff I can get online. The last coral show I went to had severely overpriced and underwhelming frags.

I’ve run into this issue a lot as well, where locals want top dollar prices for their frags. Sometimes the frags are even a lower quality or smaller size and they still seem to have unrealistic expectations of price. I’ve seen too many people who are viewing reef keeping as a business opportunity or a “side hustle”. I understand the desire to make a few bucks or even just help off set the costs as it is an expensive hobby, but it’s just that, a hobby and I worry some people miss that.

 

[Hunna’s Stunnas]

Man I wish you were close to Chicago!!!

Those are the 5 frags I have left. Started with 10. Also had to make more zoa frags because 3 of the 5 people were newly supporting members, and one guy also just went through a divorce and was starting over. He left with 3 free things. I’ve been given a lot of stuff for free or dirt cheap lately, and while I don’t have a lot currently I want to pass the favor along with what I can.

 

[Usarmy227]

Those are the 5 frags I have left. Started with 10. Also had to make more zoa frags because 3 of the 5 people were newly supporting members, and one guy also just went through a divorce and was starting over. He left with 3 free things. I’ve been given a lot of stuff for free or dirt cheap lately, and while I don’t have a lot currently I want to pass the favor along with what I can.

This is awesome! I have recently started really learning to frag and cut corals! I love doing it! Pictures of Zoas I still have to frag and some I fragged already! I would totally join!

 

[BryanM]

As frag swaps have become somewhat far and few, I noticed three weekend shows in my area starting this weekend. I cant remember the last time there was one , at least close to home.
How many have had Frag swaps in their area/region and did you find true frag swap bargains or are you seeing pricey specimens at the shows?
What do you think the future holds as far as continued events?

I went to my first one about two weeks ago, apparently it happens 3x a year in my area. Held at a hotel in a medium size meeting room, maybe 40 vendors?

Good deals were definitely there, and if you know you know, so you should buy it on the spot, because if you make a round trip and come back, that item you wanted might very well be gone.

But there were also vendors with very premium pricing too.

I picked up a two two headed torches, one 2.5 head hammer, and a rainbow trachy for 475 I think.

 

[PPBlimpy]

I went to my first one about two weeks ago, apparently it happens 3x a year in my area. Held at a hotel in a medium size meeting room, maybe 40 vendors?

Good deals were definitely there, and if you know you know, so you should buy it on the spot, because if you make a round trip and come back, that item you wanted might very well be gone.

But there were also vendors with very premium pricing too.

I picked up a two two headed torches, one 2.5 head hammer, and a rainbow trachy for 350 I think.

I consider this more a frag show. our swaps didn't have vendors- unless they showed up and put corals in just like everyone else

Our old frag swaps were no sales allowed day of show( i am sure it happened). Showed up with your corals, traded them for your tickets and then corals all went onto folding tables. Completely mixed sps mixed with lps, softies, shroom etc. Each group had 5-10 minutes depending on the swap to walk thru and pick 1 frag each round. mixing them made it more fair. Had to really look and pay attention to what was there. Photos of coral were in the ziplock bags with details on the coral.

Then you just went round for round till frags were all gone or people were not finding stuff they wanted anymore. At the end there was always extras, usualy gsp, xenia etc and was free for the taking. I hosted 2 of these events over about 2 years time and set up a small tank just to house the extras that people didnt want, then would give them away or use them at the next swap.

At the end its a hang out and more trading for what people got.

Since I first posted in this I have already reached out the our local groups moderators and discussing hosting one.

Thank you for starting this thread and bringing back some very fond memories!

 

[56longroof]

I’ve run into this issue a lot as well, where locals want top dollar prices for their frags. Sometimes the frags are even a lower quality or smaller size and they still seem to have unrealistic expectations of price. I’ve seen too many people who are viewing reef keeping as a business opportunity or a “side hustle”. I understand the desire to make a few bucks or even just help off set the costs as it is an expensive hobby, but it’s just that, a hobby and I worry some people miss that.

I give mine away. The last time I trimmed everything up I gave away at least $300-400 worth of frags. It needed done and I was happy to help someone else. This hobby is expensive. A little help here and there is the right thing to do in my book.

 

[SoGaReefer]

I’m a moderator for the Atlanta Reef Club, and we have a super active local community. In-person meetings a few times a year with vendors and locals that set up booths/tables. We had a fragging demo back in May where everyone left with 5 FREE different coral (splatter hammer, kryptonite candy cane, spicy lemon favia, nirvana zoas, and a piece of purple monti iirc).

We have tank tours of members scheduled for the end of this month, to see some of the larger/nicer set-ups people have in the area. The holiday party at the end of the year pays for the $30/year supporting membership if you attend it. The “cheapest” raffle prize is $50 gift card to one of the supporting LFS’s, I won a Nero 3 two years ago. Supporting membership also has benefits like use of free GA Aquarium passes, PAR readings, and even free coral at times. I’m currently giving away free frags of purple/blue stylo to supporting members, and if they have just joined within the 90 days am adding in an additional zoa or mushroom frag.

I’ve met some great people through the club, along with some super generous ones as well. I wouldn’t still be in this hobby after the divorce I went through, if it weren’t for some of the friends I made in the hobby here and their generosity to help restock things I lost for various reasons through the divorce and first year or so after. I freely trade frags with a few different people now, and look forward to meeting more to do the same with.

Please send me some info Atlanta is only 3 hrs away I travel that to the fish store frequently