melev

April 20, 2013 - Richardson Texas: Our club had the first frag swap of the year inside the community room of the St Barnabas Presbyterian Church on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. About 100 people or more converged on the swap to buy, sell, and trade corals.

As previously stated, our frag swaps have come a long way from what I attended a decade ago. Gone are the tables full of small bags of water, replaced by aquariums lit with LED fixtures to showcase the abundant selections available for the day. Sellers are organized, using signs, markings on the tanks, iPads, and I even saw a menu of choices! A few accepted credit cards, now that Square and Paypal are becoming mainstream for currency exchange.

While some hobbyists are mastering the instant setup of small displays, others are still lugging in larger systems that require time to set up and later to breakdown. The majority of the corals looked well encrusted, while others were freshly cut from the parent colony. I wanted to attend like a tourist, and get some pictures rather than be tied to a table for the day. I had a nice time visiting with others and discovering their creativity.



A sense of humor goes a long way in this hobby.



Frags and more.





I loved this tiny little tank, which is probably a Fluval system. Just adorable.






Plastic bins work too, of course.











Many of the frag tanks were built by - cough - Melev's Reef.













Living frag rack for sale - hehe. The entire thing was encrusted with gorgonian tissue, and only during the final hour did the polyps begin to extend here and there. The owner told me how he could put empty frag plugs on it and given time, those would be covered with coral tissue and ready to share. Crazy.


This was a whale of a clownfish, looking more like an Orca than an Amphiprion. A. polymnus, or Saddleback Clown - she was 3.5" long, and apparently had an excellent temperament. She went to a new home after we all got to enjoy watching her 'saddle back' and forth in the display.



There were way more corals available than ever before, and it's too bad more people didn't show up to get in on some excellent deals. I saw a number of guys trading coral for coral, going home with nearly as many as they arrived with. Truly, a frag swap.



Even anemones traded hands like this green bubble tip anemone with orange tips.





Signage displaying parent colonies & tanks clearly marked made trading and shopping much easier.











If you wanted zoanthids, plenty were to be had. The hardest part was to pick which ones you wanted from the huge selection, and to figure out how to somehow squeeze in just a few more polyps when you got back home.



High-end corals to the easiest-mundane ones were to be had, and sellers were happy to discuss their needs to make sure the new tank was a suitable environment or not. Many questioned what some corals were, having not seen them before. Expert hobbyists were more choosy of course, while newer hobbyists were just excited in general. This one-on-one environment can be very educational, and provides excellent suggestions when it comes to caring for corals in general.



Our club always has a raffle at the conclusion, and I was very happy that two different people won what they actually needed: 100gpd Melev's Reef RO/DI system and a nice Melev's Reef frag tank. Both had approached me that day saying they needed them, and ended up winning them. Saved them money, and made them happy, which made me happy too. I personally only put in tickets for stuff I need or want when I participate, and encourage others to do the same.

I had my MACNA 2012 insulated cooler with me to bring home my corals. I keep a soft cooler in my car at all times, ready for any instances when I need to bring home something special. (A few days ago, I stopped by the supermarket for some flavored coffee creamer while running errands, and this kept them cool until I finally got home.)







I ended up with four new additions. Here they are going through a ReVive dip prior to going into the frag tank.



Here they are in my frag tank. The first is a red acropora frag from Drew.



Montipora vericosa.



Psammacora sp.



Mini carpet anemones.



"Only newbies use eggcrate for a fragrack."