This is a less-than-fun post to write, so I'm going to jump right into it. Over the last several swaps, we've had a number of issues with people providing misidentified and/or unhealthy corals in the swaps. These issues have been particularly prevalent in bonus/ultra corals; compounding the issue, many of these corals were submitted without identifying information (e.g. username) on the containers. We've received a lot of complaints about this, and one member was burned twice.
One of the reasons I love this club—so much so that I'm still involved even though I live almost three hours away—is that many members are extremely generous, both materially and with their time, energy, and effort. That generosity deserves to be rewarded, and what's happened to some members is the exact opposite of that. It's the responsibility of participants in the swap to ensure the corals they're providing are healthy, and make a reasonable attempt to identify them. Ultimately, however, it is my responsibility as frag swap coordinator to minimize the odds of this happening again. So, with that being said, there will be some changes made moving forward:
1. All coral must be in a proper, transparent container with both the coral name and your username clearly written on top. This is already a rule, but it will be heavily enforced now. You can purchase clear deli containers at most supermarkets (my go-to is Smart&Final), or specimen cups here at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B094WWSR1...pTwisterOG=1&titleSource=avft-a&newOGT=1&th=1
2. We will be beefing up the number of people doing coral check-in and coral inspection. One of the challenges with frag swaps is how hectic registration and check-in is. The number of volunteers we've had in the past was originally sufficient but, as we've had more people + more corals coming through, it's clear we need to beef up this team during check-in. This will help us ensure enforcement of point 1 above, as well as help make sure coral labels are correct & healthy/pest-free.
3. We will have a dedicated volunteer group for doing bonus/ultra coral check-ins. Previously, coral check-in and inspection volunteers handled both normal and bonus/ultra coral. It's become clear it's more efficient having a dedicated group to spend more time checking and inspecting bonus/ultra coral, both to make things faster and to help prevent any of the above issues.
As always, every swap is a chance to learn more and be better - so let's be better. Looking forward to seeing you all there!
One of the reasons I love this club—so much so that I'm still involved even though I live almost three hours away—is that many members are extremely generous, both materially and with their time, energy, and effort. That generosity deserves to be rewarded, and what's happened to some members is the exact opposite of that. It's the responsibility of participants in the swap to ensure the corals they're providing are healthy, and make a reasonable attempt to identify them. Ultimately, however, it is my responsibility as frag swap coordinator to minimize the odds of this happening again. So, with that being said, there will be some changes made moving forward:
1. All coral must be in a proper, transparent container with both the coral name and your username clearly written on top. This is already a rule, but it will be heavily enforced now. You can purchase clear deli containers at most supermarkets (my go-to is Smart&Final), or specimen cups here at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B094WWSR1...pTwisterOG=1&titleSource=avft-a&newOGT=1&th=1
2. We will be beefing up the number of people doing coral check-in and coral inspection. One of the challenges with frag swaps is how hectic registration and check-in is. The number of volunteers we've had in the past was originally sufficient but, as we've had more people + more corals coming through, it's clear we need to beef up this team during check-in. This will help us ensure enforcement of point 1 above, as well as help make sure coral labels are correct & healthy/pest-free.
3. We will have a dedicated volunteer group for doing bonus/ultra coral check-ins. Previously, coral check-in and inspection volunteers handled both normal and bonus/ultra coral. It's become clear it's more efficient having a dedicated group to spend more time checking and inspecting bonus/ultra coral, both to make things faster and to help prevent any of the above issues.
As always, every swap is a chance to learn more and be better - so let's be better. Looking forward to seeing you all there!
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