Purchasing high end chalices.....

[Troylee]

I want to know honestly what people expect when buying high end pieces especially when there cheap.... What I have come to learn is a 1/4" frag is acceptable... I'm sure you guys know where this thread derived from but anyways what's your thought??? I mean the last 5 pieces I have bought have been pencil eraser size and even a couple without eyes... I to this day have a few chalices with no eyes that grow extremely well lol.... I think people are expecting a 1" frag when that isn't gonna happen because most of the time momma is only 1-1/2" to 2" lol.... I expect a 1/4" so I'm not shocked anymore when they arrive if there bigger great but this way I'm never disappointed..... Thoughts?????

 

[reefsmokinFOOL]

I agree. Most of the time the whole colony is 2 to 3 inches. If you get a 1in frag than that is nearly half of the chalice colony.

 

[EliteReefs]

i would say 1/4 or at least one eye in most cases. and that is your talking a chalice thats 100's per eye. most of the ones less then that come 1/2 to and inch.

 

[63vette427]

To be honest i would expect that they are 1/2". If they are smaller i like to be told that they are smaller than that so i know what to expect. It's the same as any corals. I always like to tell people when they want to buy if it's a smaller or larger piece or polyp. I think that's just good service. Some do and some don't. It's always nice to expect smaller and receive a larger piece rather than the other way. If we are told upfront what to expect it eliminates a lot of troubles down the road..

Just for the record.. I still love the frag pack i got no matter the size. I just like a nice healthy chalice...

 

[Troylee]

I agree with that Keith.... Anything that's less than 100$ a eye I normally frag larger and receive larger ones myself... But anything 250$+ a 1/4" is a good size IMHO....

 

[clowns101]

I have ordered alot of chalices,most come in pretty small...its a fact of life....

 

[Andy Nguyen]

your still lucky. i bought 4 corals for 1200. with no eyes! =)
Mine was 1/4 too!

 

[Viva'sReef]

IME the 1/4" frags have a much lower survivability than a larger frag. I won't even consider buying a frag unless it's 1/2".
I just don't feel like nursing a tiny frag, one little swing or anything out of the ordinary and it's toast. Even a small bout with hair algae can take out a poor little 1/4"er.

I voted 1/2"

 

[Electrobes]

If it was based on what's expected or acceptable I would say 1/4'' would work. Granted, like everyone, we always hope for bigger, especially on some of the higher priced ones.

 

[Troylee]

I don't think they need eyes to be honest... If anyone ever wants a rising sun it's gonna be along time before a eye sprouts there huge like the size of a nickle fwiw so a 2 eye frag would be about 1-1/2" just saying....

 

[akabryanhall]

My favorite is I saw 2 frags for sale from the same vendor, flame thrower I believe it was, wysiwyg both exact same booger sized, one was $400 one eye, the other was $700, no bigger just had an extra eye, that seems to be an incredibly easy choice for me.

 

[akabryanhall]

Almost every chalice frag I've bought without an eye has died on me, there is a vendor in south florida that has done this to me twice.

 

[Dave3112]

I voted 1/4". Thats just the way it is for high end chalices. The higher the price the smaller the frag. LOL. Sad but true............. and a 1/4" frag will survive just as well as a 1"+ frag will. IME

 

[Troylee]

Man I have gotten no eye frags and frags with just a eye nothing around it lol... Like they did surgery and removed the eye from the socket... Ahahahahaha that's not a big deal.... I guess my poll is prolly to wide spread what I was getting at was a 200$ flamethrower, 300$ my Miami, etc etc.... Anything 100$ or more off the regular price you know there's a catch it's gonna be small or sick etc..... Fwiw I have plenty of 1/4" frags and they do just fine I have never lost one and my tank has been through the ditches.... Even with my tank crash I didn't lose a single 1/4" chalice I lost colonies fwiw....

 

[ruggirello2]

Almost every chalice frag I've bought without an eye has died on me, there is a vendor in south florida that has done this to me twice.

Same here. I'll never buy a frag without an eye from now on, it seems like a rip off to me.

 

[LPS_Lover]

Iwould hope for a ½ but my JF MY Miami was about ¼ in size but is growing good in mytank under LEDS.

 

[fsu1dolfan]

Personally I can't afford buying these chalices but I think the key is being up front with pictures and having and accurate picture of what you are going to buy. I wouldn't buy anything that is it expensive with out some kind of pic. Buyer should be more informed and seller should try to inform the buyer. It's a two way street!

 

[KLR]

We all want 1+in frags but I personally expect 3/8 frags at the least. Every time I get a 1/4 frag it dies in shipping. I think that 3/8-1/2 is the smallest a frag should ever be sold as...just my opinion. Because what does either person gain if a 1/4 frag is sold for $800 and then it dies in shipping...both people end up loosing.

But,like said above chalice colonies are usually no bigger than a few inches in diameter,I understand this but 1/4 frags are just crazy imo,unless the person is asked less $ for them. Like if I was offered a 1/2 party girl chalice frag for $400 or a frag of the same chalice for $200 at 1/4 in. It depends on the buyer then,how much they want to spend and what chances they want to take of it's survival in shipping.

 

[LPS_Lover]

Iagree that the buyer should be more informed. Also new individuals to the hobbycould also be taken advantage of. I have bought some frags from a guy in southFL off eBay and they were smaller than eraser and they did not make it.

 

[subielover]

I do not understand why all vendors do not post WYSIWYG. Cut the frags, wait two weeks, post pics of frags and the mother colony. It would alleviate most of these problems. It really isn't too much to ask of someone to snap a picture before sending hundreds of dollars to them.