What value of corals have you given a fellow reefer for free

[Dilan Patel]

Hey guys my dad has this boss who has a reef tank. He asked for my opinion on some upgrades(which meant a lot to me lol) and he also wanted me to check out his system to make it less maintanence. He has a nice softie and lps setup but he wants to start dabbling in sps corals. Well me being me I want to take care of him as I like to help out the reefing community. I have had a few frags clipped and ready for sale for some time now. I decided it would be nice to give him a nice little pack of polyps and easy sps corals. He really likes the montipora, good thing I do to lol and have quite a bit for him. All in all I totaled this pack value to be about 375-450 dollars with a total of around 12 frags/mini colonies. He is super excited for the corals he is just waiting until some of the new clippings heal as well as the upgrades we talked about are in place. I am wondering how much have you given to a person for free. It could be just from a helping hand to a homewrecker frag. Share your story We are one family after all

 

[Crabs McJones]

Oh boy, I couldn't even put a dollar value on what I've given away. So many hammer frags, acro and monti chunks....I couldn't even begin to guess.

 

[Yates273]

Man that’s very nice of you guys to give frags away. I’m new to this hobby and would love to find someone local like you guys. Not so much for free I would be willing to pay because right now the corals I want are the ones most people hate. I am excited to watch my GSP and Xenia grow. But being new I paid for these. Most guys I see here would just give away. I also have a war coral and a rainbow ACAN that I love. This hobby is sucking me in and taking my interest away from all of my freshwater tanks and focusing more on my reef tank.

 

[Jason mack]

I’ve given plenty away too .. mostly from my devils finger leather , he’s been dropping pieces for a few months now .. but I’ve given monti’sand zoas away too mainly to people just starting out .. I’m not in this hobby too make money, I love my tank and love sharing my passion about it with people .. and if I can make the occasional person happy with a coral or two then why not ...

 

[ddrueckh]

I believe in paying it forward in this hobby. I’d much rather swap frags than exchange money. I also don’t mind helping a new hobbyist get started by giving them frags when they have anything to give in return. I figure one day they might have something I want and be willing to give me a piece.

 

[mch1984]

I haven't had the opportunity to give a lot away yet but I have probably 10 or so random frags. That's how I got my start, I spent a day running to guys houses who had stuff they wanted to get rid of. Came home with probably 12 frags of different zoas, a toadstool and a couple more.

 

[3mm3]

I have received and given many corals for free. No idea dollar amount. Also given my prized clams away once upon a move.

 

[hart24601]

Thousands! I personally don't charge for coral, although I do trade and give to lfs for supplies at times.

 

[Dilan Patel]

glad to here people believe in pay it forward. it helps keep people/introduce people into a wonderful hobby.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I've given away brackets and equipment as well. Unfortunately the last equipment piece I gave away ups lost and is currently trying to track down.

 

[PedroYoung]

I give lots of zoas and just gave away some huge pleasiastrea colonies. I call them Karma frags. If my tank crashes I know where I can get some restock of stuff I love.

 

[mtraylor]

I have had several friends that have had crashes and I re-seeded their entire tanks. I didn't tag a number to it so I have no idea, but they were very appreciative.

 

[Cherub]

I've given away quite a bit. I won't even guess how much nor do I want to brag but it does give me great joy to share. I am giving away 2 frags right now in my local reef club with a small contest. Anyone in Colorado is welcome to join the fun, I do not ship freebies.

http://www.marinecolorado.org/threads/chalice-dbtc.26820/ this contest you just post an 80's or 90's music video. When it ends on Friday I will set up a poll and the winner gets to choose between 2 chalice frags.

 

[Phelipe's Ocean]

I give out a lot of basic sps. Miyagi tort, bubblegum digi, stags, monti caps etc. but i have gotten some amazing stuff for free that I can never thank enough for I am fortunate to be surrounded with some very generous reefers. I have gotten walt disneys, fox flame, countless reef raft and cornbred frags, all for free

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

Ha ha ha, I don't have any local reefers to help out, or I would. I've been given probably around $50-100 in random supplies from my LFS, which has been awesome, it got me into the hobby and really changed it for me. Personal opinion here but I think noone should start with saltwater, I've given away 4 10 gallon setups (tank, light, a nice filter, sand, some plants, always their first few fish, etc) with anyone who has ever expressed interest in the hobby. I've also given 2 5 gallon setups and loads of various supplies. Most of them got out of the hobby, but one is really into it now (moved from a 5 [all they said they wanted at the time], to a 30 [and kept both set up, one as a nursery tank for their fish babies]). I'm still trying to talk them into saltwater, haven't gotten them there yet but as long as they are happy. I'm moving soon so hopefully I'll be able to help out more people there/have more people help me out [I'd love some zoa frags ha ha ha]).

 

[ndrwater]

I couldn't count the dollar value... A lot.... Sold quite a bit too over the years too, but always (what seems to me anyway) at a super value price.. if you buy a 1" frag from whomever on line, you get a 3" piece from me for the same or less.
There are quite a few reefers from my local club that have freebies from me in their tanks to this day...

 

[starypotter]

I only started a couple months ago so nothing to give away yet, but when I first got started I bought about 30 pounds of rock, and the sand from a 29 biocube that the reefer was taking down for 100. He also scraped some GSP off the back wall of the tank, enough that I made two little colonies by rubber banding them to some rubble. One's about the size of a fist, the other a bit smaller, and he also added a zoa frag which has since broken into two frags. I looked around at a LFS and they were selling the amount of GSP I had gotten for about $60, and their zoa frag that big would've been 20 if I bought it in the store. I'm excited to get more frags and grow them out so I can trade for more, LFS is so expensive just for a little zoa so I'm going to make some local friends

 

[JimFuller]

I have given away a few and sold a few. It depends on what I need and the attitude of the other reefer. I basically replace my running costs and other wise help others. It work pretty well.

 

[CNDReef]

I started my tank with all freebies from my first frag swap that nobody wanted to take home. Since then anytime I see a newcomer to my local club I always offer zoas palys or montis. I see that look of amazement in there eyes that reminds me of me back then and that makes it worth it for me.

 

[saltyhog]

Never sold any but I've given a bunch, especially to newbies in our reef club. My only regret is all the people I cursed with neon green pocillipora before I knew what a pest it could be!

We have a good group in our club that gives frags to each other. It has come in very handy as favorite corals have a better chance of surviving long term when they are in multiple tanks. @ROCO and I have traded a particular acro back and forth several times. When he lost the mother colony, I had a frag for him. Then I lost my colony and he gave me a frag/mini colony back!