Reef nutrition

[LOCATION and DATE CHANGE] 3/20 (Sun) Members Only Frag Swap at Cali Kid Corals in Concord

Will you attend the 3/19 Members Frag Swap?


  • Total voters
    74
Just want to make sure everyone realizes it’s best practice to frag several days to a week ahead to give corals time to heal before being swapped. In general we really DO NOT want to see freshly fragged corals show up to the swap.
Thanks for the info. I’ll be sure to frag a week or so prior.

On that note does anyone have any extra frag plugs/disks in the Martinez/Concord/Walnut creek area? I’d rather not buy a whole pack…
 
UPDATE: Cos @Cbruno80 has offered his store and adjacent outdoor area to host our upcoming frag swap. His store is near the original planned venue. Sunday works better since the store would normally be closed that day, as are the other businesses in his building, so that we can use the entire area. Apologies to those for whom the date change causes a conflict. The above RSVP poll is not strictly necessary but helps with planning, please update your response.

Location: Cali Kid Corals
Date:
March 20, 2022
Time: 11:30pm to 2:30pm.

Lunch will be provided by the club.

Requirements
1. Must register for the event, a simple post here stating you're coming is fine, must be done three days before the event
2. Be a supporting member, there is no entry fee
3. Bring a minimum of 3 separate coral frags, none from the "banned" list, and properly contained (see below)
4. Check in before 11am, if you come after we will check you in but may have lost a picking round, and you don't get to make it up with an extra pick.
5. Those who are fully vaccinated may go without a mask at the venue.

Volunteers are appreciated to help run the event. Please volunteer HERE
Whether we have a bonus round needs to be decided.

Schedule
10:30am-11:30am setup
11:30-12:30pm registration and running corals to tables
12:30pm-2:30pm start swapping, if we're as efficient as last time we may not even need the full time
Whenever swap ends, cleanup will commence.

Location
Cali Kid Corals
5416 Ygnacio Valley Rd Ste 50, Concord, CA 94521

There is plenty of parking in the shopping center. Cali Kid Corals will be open just for us that day, with BAR member discounts!

How the swap works
For those who have swapped before, it is largely unchanged

For those who have never swapped THIS is a great reference and saves me from having to retype all of it, the first post is the most relevant additional posts may not be relevant to this swap. And if you have any questions the day of the event there are volunteers who are "Frag Police" or "Frag Wranglers" who can help you with information about what round it is, or to give you a reminder of what to do, or possibly to answer any coral questions you may have.


Valid frags

  • Corals MUST be in clear plastic containers, that includes lids and sides, so no styrofoam. Plastic bags will not be allowed.
  • Corals MUST be labeled with at the very least a description (e.g. name and/or color + coral type), your name, and the approximate lighting level they are under, while you don't need exact PAR numbers having the fixture that is used + tank depth is much more useful just saying "low" "medium" or "high"
  • These corals are not eligible for swapping
  • Corals should be healthy and relatively pest free, while you should assume everything has pests if your frag plug has aiptasia on it it will not be accepted, nor corals that look to be dying.
  • Frag sizes you should use will vary, bonus corals have a specified minimum, but I like to say "what kind of frag would you like to see" and use that as a guideline for how much/how big.
  • There's always a debate about mounted versus unmounted corals, and that probably will never get settled, as a result no requirement either way.
  • Things like anemones are ok if they're of a desirable nature i.e. bubble tips, maxi-mini carpets, NOT aiptasia.
  • Sponges are not valid frags and neither is any type of macroalgae.
  • However there will be a "freebee table" that things can be put on, if you think a new person may want a piece colt coral, or some of that chaeto you harvested, feel free to bring it it just won't count towards your 3 different frags.
Any other questions? Ask here.

[updated 2/26 by @JVU]
We are new members to the club and still in the process of setting up our reefer tank. Could we still go to this event even though we don't have any frags to bring with us to swap?
 
We are new members to the club and still in the process of setting up our reefer tank. Could we still go to this event even though we don't have any frags to bring with us to swap?
Hi and welcome! You are definitely welcome to attend the upcoming swap, and it’s worth it whether or not you participate in the swapping part.

If you want to participate and your tank is ready for coral from the swap (please be sure it is), then other members with established tanks are volunteering to donate frags on new members’ behalf here:

(also linked earlier in this thread)
 
I volunteered for the 19th, but have previous engagements on the 20th. Unfortunately I will not be able to attend. I hope to catch the next one. Happy fragging!
 
Swap is next Sunday. I’m getting excited!

If you haven’t yet we recommending fragging a week or so in advance, which is this weekend :) Pro tip- make a couple extra in case some don’t look recovered enough to bring on the day of the swap.
 
Last year a friend of mine with a large built-in reef tank moved out of the area. He offered me his corals and fish so I set up a 110 gallon DT. Since his tank was bigger, my tank was full of rock and coral from day 1. Being new to reefing, I did not want to make major changes until I got some experience. I am in the process of giving away half of the live rock and coral so that I can make more room for fish and different types of coral. I have the following...
  1. Purple Frog Spawn
  2. Green Toadstool Leathers
  3. Green and Purple Mushrooms
  4. Green Hairy Mushrooms
Are all of these eligible for the swap? I have quite a few corals on plugs but I also have some that are attached to live rock. Can I bring some of the live rock with coral to the swap?

Thanks,
Bob

1647297417436.png
 
Beautiful tank. I believe the answer to all your questions, is yes! Was curious if the mushrooms are on the “banned” list (it’s linked in the first post in this thread), but I don’t believe so (someone can correct me if I’m wrong)
 
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Last year a friend of mine with a large built-in reef tank moved out of the area. He offered me his corals and fish so I set up a 110 gallon DT. Since his tank was bigger, my tank was full of rock and coral from day 1. Being new to reefing, I did not want to make major changes until I got some experience. I am in the process of giving away half of the live rock and coral so that I can make more room for fish and different types of coral. I have the following...
  1. Purple Frog Spawn
  2. Green Toadstool Leathers
  3. Green and Purple Mushrooms
  4. Green Hairy Mushrooms
Are all of these eligible for the swap? I have quite a few corals on plugs but I also have some that are attached to live rock. Can I bring some of the live rock with coral to the swap?

Thanks,
Bob

View attachment 36334
Very generous of you!

All of the coral you mentioned is definitely eligible to swap. For swapping, we are generally putting smallish frags in deli cups, usually 16 oz size or smaller. Sometimes people bring bigger pieces in the taller 32 oz deli cups, I’ve done that several times. There is no rule against swapping even more generous size frags/rocks, but keep in mind it should be in a container people can take home with them or else the logistics get difficult.

For the mushrooms, it’s best if they are still attached to rock, so chiseling the rock under them works better than trying to cut through where they attach to the rock (if you can). Green hairy mushrooms in particular usually have a large foot and are difficult to get off the rock gracefully in my experience.

The purple frogspawn in particular will be popular I think! Those are easier to frag- Cut the dead looking part of the skeleton below the fleshy part, try not to cut any flesh.
 
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