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Purchasing from coral shows


Clown79

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Hey All

 

So we have a fairly large coral show coming up, I'm considering spending the night since it's out of town.

 

My question is, if I purchase something during the day, can i keep it bagged as sold in a styrofoam box or should i bring containers, battery pump, and heater(not a problem if I have to)

 

I am hoping to buy rfa's so their health would be my main concern.

 

 

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I just bring an insulated bag, like those meant to keep drinks/food hot or cold, and put the bag/container the vender puts the corals in in their as I get them. Theyre fine in there for some time.  

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Christopher Marks
2 hours ago, Clown79 said:

So we have a fairly large coral show coming up, I'm considering spending the night since it's out of town.

 

My question is, if I purchase something during the day, can i keep it bagged as sold in a styrofoam box or should i bring containers, battery pump, and heater(not a problem if I have to)

 

I am hoping to buy rfa's so their health would be my main concern.

Some vendors are able to hold your livestock purchases for bagging until later in the day, but not always. As long as your coral frags and inverts are bagged well, they should be fine packed into an insulated cooler, much like how an online order would be shipped to you. Since you'll be indoors most of the time, the temperatures will stay stable and warm enough without further intervention.

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Aquarium Care Center

As mentioned above, corals and flower anemones are shipped overnight without issue. Normally at shows we setup a few racks for the purposes of holding corals. I keep a running list of anything on the hold rack on my phone. Every customer's pieces are grouped together on this rack and we drop in a frag plug near the grouping of frags with a designated number written on the plug that is associated with each customer in my notes.  This isn't something that every vendor offers, but shouldn't be an issue to arrange as long as they have the space and it will buy your corals a little bit of time if you plan on making this an all day event. If it is a multiple day event you can usually pick your stuff up on the last day which is handy if you are from out of town and spending the weekend at the reef event or in the area.

 

We have plenty of customers who would rather be in possession of their new pieces the entire time. Most will have some sort of cooler or styro to help maintain proper temperature, as mentioned above. While I don't think a bubbler is a bad idea- I don't think that it is fully necessary especially if this is only a day trip. It is also pretty common for people to have extra clean saltwater on hand to do partial water changers on their frag carriers, which is again only necessary for a long trip.

 

Good luck! 

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Thanks everyone for the info. 

We don't have very large shows here and I expect most won't have the ability to hold any items.

 

But I have a better idea of how to prepare now

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I buy a lot from shows...and used to buy a lot of corals mail order. 

 

In my experience there is a big, BIG difference in coral acclimation time sitting in a bag for over 24 hours vs being bought and put in my quarantine in the same afternoon.  When I buy corals mail order, even with overnight shipping death rates go up exponentially and it takes them much longer to acclimate.

 

If you plan on sitting overnight in a hotel room at a minimum don't let the temp drop too much. I don't like coral frags sitting in tiny airtight bags with only a couple ounces of water for over 24 hours. Last time I did something like this I brought along a jug of freshly mixed water, took the corals I bought at of the show out of their little dixie cups and put them in larger styrofoam cups with some of my water and kept them in a warm spot. I could of course put them in one container, but this way they aren't sloshing around and bumping into each other. A dollar for the styrofoam cups and 10 minutes of work to have happier corals when I got them home. Worth it.

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9 minutes ago, blasterman said:

I buy a lot from shows...and used to buy a lot of corals mail order. 

 

In my experience there is a big, BIG difference in coral acclimation time sitting in a bag for over 24 hours vs being bought and put in my quarantine in the same afternoon.  When I buy corals mail order, even with overnight shipping death rates go up exponentially and it takes them much longer to acclimate.

 

If you plan on sitting overnight in a hotel room at a minimum don't let the temp drop too much. I don't like coral frags sitting in tiny airtight bags with only a couple ounces of water for over 24 hours. Last time I did something like this I brought along a jug of freshly mixed water, took the corals I bought at of the show out of their little dixie cups and put them in larger styrofoam cups with some of my water and kept them in a warm spot. I could of course put them in one container, but this way they aren't sloshing around and bumping into each other. A dollar for the styrofoam cups and 10 minutes of work to have happier corals when I got them home. Worth it.

I made a plan. I am staying overnight the night before and driving home after the show.

 

I don't like the possibility of losing anything and when I ordered 1 time online, I lost both corals within weeks, even with proper acclimation.

 

I prefer buying in person, can't trust online pics either.

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4 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

I made a plan. I am staying overnight the night before and driving home after the show.

 

I don't like the possibility of losing anything and when I ordered 1 time online, I lost both corals within weeks, even with proper acclimation.

 

I prefer buying in person, can't trust online pics either.

Coral shows run quite high on blues, make sure you ask for the light to be adjusted to near what you normally view your tank. Less surprises when you get home, haha. 

 

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17 minutes ago, micoastreefing said:

Coral shows run quite high on blues, make sure you ask for the light to be adjusted to near what you normally view your tank. Less surprises when you get home, haha. 

 

I run mine heavy blue too but will definitely keep that in mind.

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