2020 Frag Farmer's Market!!! 3-7-2020

[fitch4]

Sorry, guess I spaced posting this info in my own area's forum...
The 13th annual Frag Farmer's Market will be held this coming March 7th at E.O. Smith High School in Storrs CT. It has grown into the biggest single day swap in the country! Doors will open at 10am this year to give you an extra hour of coral madness! With over 100 vendors - including many of the big names, great local hobbyists and some exciting new faces for this year, who we never see in the northeast. You will not find a better selection of corals at any other show, and the set-up fee is so low for sellers, the prices for you end up better than at the other big shows. I pasted the coral vendor list for you all to drool over for now and will post the dry goods vendors in a week or two, when I get it finalized. All that and admission is just $5 to get in. Oh yeah, and the raffle already looks to be bigger and better than last year!!! I'll post more info in the coming weeks as the details for this year's FFM comes together. Hope to see you all at the FFM.
-Jon

Coral Vendor List
AC Corals
Alex's Advanced Aquatics
Antonio Silva
Aquadreams
Aquatic Creations
Back Woods Reefs
Blake’s Aquaden
Blue View Aquatics
Cheesy Corals
Coral Reef Connection
Covey's Coral Cove
Credable Coral Labs
Dirk’s Aquatics
Donovan Stout
Dr. Salomon Corals
E.O. Smith Coral Project
Exotic Fish and Corals
Fish Ninja
Frank180Reef
Frost Corals
FUPA
Golden Basket Corals
Greg Demos - Aquacultured Acropora
Greg Hiller
Greg's Corals
Hall High School Coral Project
Headie Corals
Jason Fox
Koral Craze
Kwong1998
Marine Science Magnet School
Mike Herbas
MosReef
Mod Corals
**** Corals
Motor City Corals
MR Reefs
Mystery Box
No Comp Clowns
NY Reef Aquatic
Ocean State Aquatics
Pablo
Pacific East Aquaculture
Paul Spinnato
Paulywalnuts
Pieces of the Ocean
Pop Corals
Reef Crazy Coral Propagation Center
Reef Creations
Reef Junkeez
Reef Trends
Reefshine Guys
Rich Beck Jr.
Rick Correira
Roaming Reefer
RozArt Corals
Sassawrasse
School of Fish
Sea Gardens
Sickn'Twisted Corals
Son and Sand
SteelerMike
Talon's Cove
Tank Breakers
T-A-R Corals
The Reef Shoppe
Tidal Wave Aquatics
TJM Corals
Triggreef
Ultimate Corals
Underwater Bliss
Usctom
Wet Pets
Zooanthids.com

 

[Useful_Idiot]

I cut 26 good size Fox Flames. Is that enough or should I cut 15 more?

 

[fitch4]

Yup, cut more. Its the FFM!

 

[fitch4]

Here is the preliminary list of "Dry Goods" companies that will be at the Frag Farmer's Market this year. I still have a few "might come outs" but these are all the confirmed companies. We have some super cool additions to the list this year!

Agcore
Aquatic Creations
Boston Aqua Farms
Brightwell
Building An Obsession
Champion Lighting
Colchester Pet
Coralvue
Dirks Aquatic Store
ESV
Fritz
Kimmie’s Cupcakes
Koral Kreations
Mike’s Phyto
MR Reefs
Mystery Box
Neptune Systems
No Comp Clowns
Ocean Nutrition
Octo Clowns
Red Sea
Reef News Network
Reef Nutrition
Reef Rax
Reef Shine Guys
Reef Trends
ReefBreeders
ReefWeeds
Rock Hard Reefs
Rod’s Food
Seachem

 

[Peter Dietz]

Is there a way to make it easier to walk around this year? It is very hard to get around last year and I know it will be twice as hard this year with a stroller.

 

[fitch4]

The venue is great in many ways, but not in others... Unfortunately, the success of the FFM has created the crowded nature of the event. I have done a few things to spread the crowds out more than last year, adding a bit more space by re-opening one of the hallways. The side hall was tight last year and this should fix that, and give vendors a little more elbow room too. Strollers can be tough for sure in the crowds but with a little patience, it works. You can always park your stroller at the door, if you think that would help?

 

[fitch4]

Less than a month to go! Here is the line up for the talks at this year's FFM. I put together a nice variety of topics to try to hit something that everyone would be interested in. As with previous years, these talks are free with your admission to the FFM (which is only $5). Come out, shop for a while, take a break and listen to a talk, then go back and shop some more!

 

[fitch4]

Here is the map for the 2020 FFM. Inevitably there will be some changes that get made but this should be pretty close to what it looks like for the day. I will have paper copies of the map available at the door that day!

 

[Yasmar01]

I have been out of the game for a while now. But I have to say this thing has gotten huge!! Great to see how much this has grown.

 

[fitch4]

If any of you guys are still on the fence about coming out, here is a video that Craft Aquatic made at last year's FFM. It will give you an idea of what the whole thing looks like and what it is all about.

 

[Paulywalnuts]

It’s going to be epic! Room 108 New England Coral Connection. Hundreds of acros and more!

 

[fitch4]

Sweet as usual! Looking forward to coming over to see your stuff and picking up a few pieces for my collections.

 

[fitch4]

Only a few days to go before the biggest single day swap in the whole US! Anyone even close to CT should give the Frag Farmer's Market a shot. If you have never come out, you will not be disappointed. With 100+ vendors, mostly livestock, there are more corals at the FFM than at any other swap for sure. If you have come out in the past, you can vouch for that info!
Here are some of the FFM FAQ?

"I have to drive 4 hours to get to the Frag Farmers, is it really worth it?"
-I always look at a big show this way; I drive an hour to go to some of the shops I like best. What if I could drive 4 to see all of the fish stores in one place. With almost 80 coral vendors again this year, this is the single largest grouping of corals you can find anywhere. No conference, no show, no swap focuses on just corals like the FFM. With a number of vendors similar to a RAP, or MACNA, but a $5 entrance fee (and SUPER low vendor fee). The room after room of corals at the FFM is overwhelming, even to me and I have been at them all!

"How do I get tickets?"
Admission is $5 per person,kids under 12 are free! All ticket sales are at the door for the FFM. There are no advanced sales.

"Will there be high end Zoas and SPS at the FFM?"
-Yes, there are a TON of high end Zoas and SPS at the FFM, sold by many of the vendors. The FB group for the event has been blowing up with ?Who is brining (Fill in crazy name here) to the show?? and a few different people coming who have it answering. I see things at the FFM that I didn?t even know existed?

"Can I find easy to keep corals? I have a new tank and am just looking to fill some space."
-Yes, that is there too. Lots of the hobbyists farm easy stuff, GSP, mushrooms, leathers, xenia, etc... Our school project keeps mainly easy to keep stuff and would be happy to share!

"What are the typical prices at the FFM?"
-The prices at the FFM tend to be better than you will find elsewhere for three reasons:
1. Shops always stock up to sell at shows and give better pricing than you would see in their store, or online. They often do package deals, 5 for $50, etc...
2. the buy-in for shops is so low, they don't feel the pressure to make back their set-up fee. Typical shows this size charge $1000's for the space, mine is still much cheaper. People always ask why don't I charge more, and the answer is I'm not in this for the money. I just want to be able to run my coral project with the kids at the school.
3. With so many vendors, you can find the same coral at multiple stations. That competition causes better prices. Frags range anywhere from free (yes that happens!) all the way up to $1000+.

"Do vendors accept credit cards?"
-Some do, some don't. Most of the shops do but some of the hobbyists do not. I always suggest cash, it’s a sure thing.

“How much money should I bring??”
This is a tricky question. Let me give you a word problem to describe it (sorry it's a teacher thing):
When you leave home, you have $X you are planning to spend. You spend it in the first room of the FFM (there are 16 this year) You see five other things you want in the next room. You visit the ATM across the street and take out $Y for those pieces. Your cooler now weight Z lbs. You leave having spent $X + $Y, and wishing you had bought that one other frag that you had never seen before. How long will your wife make you sleep on the couch when she finds out how much money you spent? and can you see the tank from the couch?
Seriously, I always suggest that people bring 2-3X what they think they will spend. The deals and variety are too good to pass up at the FFM.

“Should I bring a cooler?”
Yes, bring a cooler. The good news is that you don?t have to lug it around all day. The FFM has added a FREE cooler check station. The volunteers at the station will watch your cooler for you all day. If you need to drop something off, just stop by the table and throw it into your cooler! Don?t worry your stuff will be safe at the cooler station.

"Is there a raffle?"
Yes there is. It is one of the biggest you will see at a swap with anything from rock to supplements, fish, coral, controllers to pumps, to AIO tanks, LED lights (including a Gen 5 Radion!) and a TON more! This year we even have TWO, yes TWO Neptune Tridents in the raffle. Raffle tickets are for sale all day at the FFM and the raffle is pulled at 4pm.
We also added a “High Rollers” raffle this year, where people who spend $50 in raffle tickets get an single entry, in addition to their $50 in tickets, into a special raffle for a dirty dozen coral pack of 12 SUPER high end corals.

"Where does all the money from the FFM go?"-Unlike most shows, ALL of the proceeds go to support the E.O. Smith High School Coral Project. I teach my students about corals, aquaculture and conservation by having them help me run the schools coral farm. The FFM has become so successful that I have been able to start helping other schools get going with similar projects in their classrooms. I have also used the proceeds from the FFM to give out $4000+ in scholarships over the last four years to students who are going to college to study marine science. So it all goes to a good cause!

Hope to see you all in a few days!
Jon

 

[Dburr1014]

Can't wait for the show! I always save money up weeks before so I have extra money for the deals to be had. Hats off to Jon and the school for running it.

 

[kenny01]

Are vendors also selling fish as well, or is it strictly corals?

 

[Dburr1014]

Some vendors do bring fish.

 

[kenny01]

Great. My wife is more interested in fish than corals and I am talking her into coming.

 

[JMetaxas]

Just got back from the show. In one word.......Excellent.

Tons of coral sellers from high end, like Jason Fox, to hobbyists peddling their extra frags. Lots available for cheap.

I bought a bunch of SPS, two frags of Walt Disney, and a few other goodies.


Thank you to the show organizers for doing a great job !!!

 

[chevy4w]

It was top notch, awesome time!
Man, I enjoy this event more than Christmas!!! Lol!