Getting Rid of Fast Growers?

[DanyL]

So this is a mostly fast growing/cheap SPS problem it seems like?

Because if it’s an LPS and zoa problem for some… hit me up and I’ll happily pay shipping and then some!

Not necessarily fast growing/cheap SPS, but at least in my case it's also late bloomers/expansive SPS as well as softies/LPS.

The problem with large colonies is that due to their size the rate of growth is exponentially greater, and by the time I manage to get rid of the frags I already done, I already need to take apart 3 more colonies because they simply grow over each other.

Here is an example of me cutting half of a colony (there are 50+ candy frags, and ~15 large acros):

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

To the OP, do you have picture of your Corals? Location in Baltimore? I’m in Southern Maryland, maybe worth a trip up to Baltimore. Have you joined a Local Reef Club? I’ve gotten some nice, disease free fish and corals from reef clubs.

 

[McPuff]

I run into this problem quite a bit, especially for those "basic" corals. Even things like Oregon tort, staghorns, pearlberry, etc. (i.e., "classics) can be really hard to sell even for really cheap. I have thrown out a LOT of corals. Thicker skeleton species like stags, torts... I try to save those for use in calcium reactor. It worked out well but I no longer use CARX so I'll have to find someone that wants a bunch of free media.

It was hard for me to throw out corals at first too but now I find I do it a lot for mushrooms, SPS, sometimes softies. Generally LPS are easier to sell and they are a bit easier to manage longer-term.

 

[ahopki1]

I throw stuff in the trash all the time. Sometimes I give my LFS a heads up. Sometimes they take it sometimes they don't. LFS don't want to sit on stuff that they can't sell and I don't want to treat them like a dumping ground. My other choice is to drive, at my expense, to give something away. I just threw away a huge chunk of purple Monti because it grows like a weed and out competes the other corals for nutrients and my LFS didn't express any interest. It is what it is.

 

[thepotoo]

Just a thought, could offer them for free in the marketplace and offer shipping a buyer expense with no guarantee or local pick up. If you use a shipping site like pirateship (there’s others too just can’t think of them) you can usually get discounted rates (haven’t checked recently what they are).

The problem with this is that I have to take payment from someone to cover shipping costs, and pack and ship the corals. This takes time -- lots of time, especially if you're a hobbyist who isn't really set up to ship stuff.

And then you have to deal with DOAs -- the buyer would be well within their rights to do a chargeback and then you're out the time, shipping materials, and shipping cost, plus the buyer is mad.

Oh and if you sell more than $600 worth of stuff in the USA, you'll need to prove to the IRS that you're not making any money on this to avoid paying taxes. Not that it's hard (just show them an electric bill) but it still takes a few more hours to put all that together.

If I was throwing out acros it would be different, since those are pretty high dollar items and can easily justify shipping costs. Acros do grow for me, but most of my colonies are only 5-6" so it'll be a few years before they get to the 2 foot birdsnest and monti colonies that are doing nothing but blocking flow and sucking down alk.