How to save money on corals

[steveschuerger]

someone gave you a cat?

Cost of cat at the rescue league-350. The love , affection, purrs, and scratches, bites and bratty behavior-priceless

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Cost of cat at the rescue league-350. The love , affection, purrs, and scratches, bites and bratty behavior-priceless

Our 20lb rescue... although only a wee kitten when he started...

 

[Roatan Reef]

you can find deals both ways. but overall for me, the best way has been buying from other hobbyists through reef clubs.

Hi, new to the saltwater hobby and I was wondering what was the best way to save money on corals. Is it best to buy local or to buy from website when there on discount?

Thanks

Yep...FB groups , Reefer clubs etc. You can get the beast deals from your local peeps you might find on FB groups or Clubs. Even find stuff that most stores don't carry. I've met many great people of of FB groups over the years and have got some absolutely stunning corals, for a fraction of the price of an LFS, and best part is, it's from a thriving system too.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Local sales, sales online, frag swaps. There are a lot of ways you can save money on corals!

 

[XtraKargo]

There are a couple of LFS that will let me bring in trades as well. One shop limits it to $100 each time, another allowed me to bring in around $600 in store credit once. So not great starting out, but later on when things get to growing good you could bring some in for credit.

 

[phillyb614]

In my experience, you just need to be contantly looking. "Head on a swivel" so to speak. Great deals are always posted on here from sponsors for online sales and auctions.

Perusing FB Marketplace is where I have found some of my best/more rare frags from people selling them out of their house. Best price tag this way as well.

And there is always the LFS. I have 4 different ones I like to check on the regular where I live. Good luck!

 

[McPuff]

find a local seller in your area on marketplace. Get to know them and go look at their corals. I found this is the best way.

I agree with this for sure. Oddly enough, it seems like many people don't want to buy corals from a "regular" person and I have trouble even giving away frags or large chunks.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

I agree with this for sure. Oddly enough, it seems like many people don't want to buy corals from a "regular" person and I have trouble even giving away frags or large chunks.

Thats wild, because there are two people that live 15 min away that both have 7-9 tanks. Their corals are absolutely stunning. A good way to know what you want is to see them first, look at their tanks for algae, ask what their parameters are, and talk to them about their system. They can grow corals as good as any professional. As a matter of fact, one guy sells his corals to fish stores, so he is kind of a professional grower/seller.

 

[Joeganja]

My go-to spot online is by far @AquaSD especially if you live in California due to their local state shipping costs. But arguably one of largest selections with the most reasonable pricing and I’ve been purchasing from years. Depending on what state you live in I know a lot of online vendors will make shipping cheaper if you’re in the same state.

 

[AlyciaMarie]

If you have self-control, there are many ways to save money on them, as others have said above me! But if you're like me and have no self-control, all I can say is good luck and RIP to your bank account...

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

One of the guys that lives near me was selling zoa frags (out of his home) among other croals. Scrambled eggs with about 20 heads was $15. King midas, same thing, 20+ heads for 15 bucks. These are the kinds of deals you want to look out for. People just want to make space and/or don't want to let this hobby get too overpriced. They are good people that love the hobby and want to give back to it.

One thing I would say is that make sure you dip your corals in something like a coralRx before it goes into your tank. I just dipped the above mentioned corals in coralrx and then into a diluted 3% peroxide dip, then rinse off with saltwater and then get it into the tank. This will kill some types of algae and not just parasites and worms.

Zoas you can even dip in pure peroxide for a minute and watch them bubble like crazy. I wouldnt recommend a pure peroxide dip but people do it and have done it successfully. I think I will try it with a cheap frag next time I get one.