Isnt the GB a fixed discount, 10% off i thought? If thats true, in Ian’s case a GB would cost him more if he just wants the tool kit!
doh
Shawn, how are you mounting the branching SPS frags? From everything I have read they should be mounted laying down, not upright. That way they encrust and have a strong base so it can support a full colony when it does grow out.
Bellamy - Its funny, because your the third person that has mentioned that in the last week but ive never heard/seen anyone do it that way. Every branching SPS frag that ive seen/gotten from an LFS or hobbyst has always been mounted upright.
I’ll have to talk with Brain at TB and see if he might be able to work out something to make it more beneficial to do group buys then it would to sell order separately. For one thing we will have something in the raffle next week which he donated to the club with out last little group buy from them. Bigger the group buy the bigger and better the raffle items he sends us.
TBAquatics has really good pricing and is a local biz with awesome customer service which to me is priceless. You call up some of these large companies and ask them if there frag plugs are made of cement or ceramic and the person on the phone is likely to not even know what a frag plug is. Brian is very friendly and helpful.
Icy has a good point with the SPS frags Shawn. Which way are you mounting them? And while we are at it… when will these frags be available. Can I be first in line? Lol You have some sweet corals and can’t wait till you have some cutting ready.
Actually along the same lines any of the family xeniidae(such as pulsing or blue xenia) in my opinion doesn’t grow as fast either when you mount them smack dab in the middle of a frag plug. The best way to mount these corals is on the side of the rock. They will then quickly grow up the side as the reach attempt to reach the top. In my experience they grow upwards probably about 1000X faster then they ever grow down. Just an FYI, perhaps I should do a little article, write up on that.
Shawn the problem is that most frags you have seen are either from chop shops or people who don’t know what they are doing or don’t really care to get the extra growth out of there corals. Eric Borneman, Julian Sprung, and Anthony Calfo were on a mission for the longest time trying to teach people how to do this, but finally gave up. This topic is a LOT easier to discuss in person then it is to type about.
[quote=“Gordonious, post:46, topic:678”]
Shawn the problem is that most frags you have seen are either from chop shops or people who don’t know what they are doing or don’t really care to get the extra growth out of there corals. [/quote]
A bit harsh… I think I remember about 90% of the corals at PacificEast were mounted upright. I’ve never seen any of the mentioned author’s frag setups, but it seems that Dr. Mac’s are growing.
The problem with mounting SPS frags upright is the area that they have to encrust from is much smaller. If you mount them upright, they have about 1 cm of area to grow from, and that is an area that just had a very traumatic expierence (being cut in half). If you mount them so that they are laying down, the polyps that are facing down are much more likley to grow and encrust than pure skeleton, and if your fragging sps you have enough growth in your tank that they will encrust rapidly and send up shoots quickly.
Another plus of doing it that way is that the growth form is much more natural. If you look at a piece of Monti. digi that is grown from a frag glued vertically, the frag will just grow up and be a single stick that branches a little, while if you mount them horizontally they will have a number of branches and a much thicker appearance as a whole colony.
This is a topic much easier discussed at a meeting.
It works putting them up right, not saying it doesn’t work, but there are better ways to do it if you are growing out frags at home.
“Growing” does not necessarily mean growing optimally. If you have a large colony and want to cut it up and sell it right away that works, but you can make a lot more frags in time by cutting all of those corals once more and laying them down. It all depends on what you want to do. Most of us at home don’t have a cheap source to import corals from mariculture and are just taking cuttings from the corals we have let grow out at home.(hopefully, some hobbyist cut up corals the day after they buy them from the shop instead of letting them recover and grow out)
This is a topic much easier discussed at a meeting.
I get the feeling this would be a topic much easier discussed at a meeting … 
Actually, Shawn, what Jon mentioned was what I was getting at about the group buy, albeit in a rather dysfunctional way …
So, we should discuss this at a meeting? I understand what you’re getting at, I just don’t agree with the “chop shop” statement. A good many legitimate businesses do it in much the same way. An acro frag laying on it’s side (while perhaps healthier) is less appealling to the consumer. Most people who buy corals want to see branches sticking up. It’s all about moving the product.
[quote=“Jocephus, post:51, topic:678”]
So, we should discuss this at a meeting? I understand what you’re getting at, I just don’t agree with the “chop shop” statement. A good many legitimate businesses do it in much the same way. An acro frag laying on it’s side (while perhaps healthier) is less appealling to the consumer. Most people who buy corals want to see branches sticking up. It’s all about moving the product.[/quote]
BINGO!!
Stores and hobbyist selling coral are interested in making a coral visually appealing to the customer. I’m willing to bet that the larger retailers that are growing their own coral mount them on the side to get more fraggable branches faster. I really had never given much thought to it before, but it really does make a lot of sense. a 2" frag mounted upright will definitely grow upwards and may or may not branch out. A 2" piece mounted on it’s side will grow up towards the light, but will it just be a thick branch or will it be 3, 4 (or more) individual branches growing from a thicker base?
I have 1 piece of SPS in my tank, I think I am going to cut it in half and mount the new frag sideways just to see what happens.
[quote=“Jocephus, post:51, topic:678”]
So, we should discuss this at a meeting? A good many legitimate businesses do it in much the same way. An acro frag laying on it’s side (while perhaps healthier) is less appealling to the consumer. Most people who buy corals want to see branches sticking up. It’s all about moving the product.[/quote]
:-)lol … OK, never-mind discussing this @ a meeting … :-)lol
Craig, it will grow a good number of branches, not just one big one. (if that was even a question… not 100% sure)
[quote=“icy1155, post:54, topic:678”]
Craig, it will grow a good number of branches, not just one big one. (if that was even a question… not 100% sure)[/quote]
Not really a question. I assume it will grow many branches. I’ve got one thick piece of whatever it weas Ken fragged at the meeting at Tom’s house last summer. I’m going to frag some off and mount it sideways to see what I end up with.