[May 19, 2019] MARS Frag Swap Sunday May 19, 2019 (MARS Frag Swap)
- Thread starter glee
- Start date
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
All things considered... put me down for a definite maybe for karaoke car pool if it happens, I got a crap ton of rhodactis mushrooms that need diversification and this would work great, just not sure if things get busy.
Well I'm not going then either!
Coral reefer
Past President
Don’t think I’ll make it either.
Kim Pattison
Guest
Kimmie will be donating a pair of Clowns for their raffle.
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Or non SFers who want to drive up and park here and and Glee can drive us all while we sing off key to keep him annoyed
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
It was a moderate attendance I guess, I have no point of reference other than BAR events. 4 coral picking rounds, which meant on average people brought 1 more coral than the minimum, slightly more since there was a "free for all" at the end, but overall I think it was fine, that said their banner/ad for the event mentioned having 10 tables full of coral last year, this year was half that that. As for cool pieces I'm the last to ask on that, I did see a few named Thanos SPS near the end which I thought was funny (naming conventions staying relevant with popular culture 
) assume.
A number of corals I wouldn't mind giving a shot at, but there are limited picks so I just grabbed stuff that I felt wasn't too rare as I don't want to be "that guy" who just grabs stuff for rarity when my tank is at a questionable condition (diatom outbreak, but otherwise fine). Got a Green Table that I guess originally came from TFP (reef central dude I was told), but there were a few of those the first round so didn't feel bad, and I'm always curious about tabling acros. Grabbed a blue/green stag (literally that was the name) did grab a Thanos SPS after googling a picture and seeing 3 of them on the table in the 3rd round, then all 3 of us grabbed something called "Scrambled Eggs" (zoas) in the last round we picked which I thought was funny.
Overall some difference from our frag swap
Instead of picking letters there were picking colors, when we checked in they asked if we wanted to pick in the same group which was kind of cool to do, not an absolute necessity but someone is always paying attention so we don't all lose our pick. They did have a projector on the wall of the picking color so it was fairly obvious where we stood.
The ultra/limited designation, required 3 of that particular coral to get a ticket, ultra people picked first, which was a smaller group, then limited which was much larger but most people only had a single ticket for the limited picking round. Seems like a good way to do it, the really "high end" corals people bring those guy get first dibs over those who brought "rare" but not "super rare". Also the 3 corals qualified them for their entrance requirement of 3 corals, if I had one critique with this is that could potentially allow someone to come away with even more corals in total, granted just 1 more coral, because those people also do their regular picking, and if someone brought the bare minimum which just happened to be ultra or "limited" then they'd come away with 1 more coral than everyone else in the swap. Something to think about if that is an unintended consequence or not.
Raffle (which I did not participate in) had sheets of tickets which were cool because every sheet of 20 has one number linked to it, so it makes it easier to tell if you're a winner. The downside to this is they only sold in sheets of $20, so if you just wanted to buy a couple tickets that's not an option. They also had a "grand prize" (Apex EL) however you could not buy tickets for that, you only could get special tickets if you bought 5 sheets of regular raffle (i.e. $100 minimum). This was definitely an interesting way of doing things, not quite sure how I feel about it, but I understand the why, since that was a raffle item the club pays for $500 retail (minus some amount for the reef club purchase) and not donated goods you definitely want to make sure that it makes money for your club and isn't a net loss, which they did more than make up for it, but like I said only people who spend $100 for it get a chance versus say $20 a ticket (I forget what our club did), there definitely are pros and cons to both ways. FYI Arnold was 1 number off the winning number
Overall though it was a good event, if I drove by myself I probably wouldn't feel that way due to the distance and what I came away with, but carpooling with buds, hanging out for the day, even getting to see a "bum fight", it was worth it. Now these corals are definitely the test for my tank though, mostly for the lights, not sure how bright my lights really are (hurry up and test your PAR, does it really take you 2 weeks to take some data points?!)
) assume. A number of corals I wouldn't mind giving a shot at, but there are limited picks so I just grabbed stuff that I felt wasn't too rare as I don't want to be "that guy" who just grabs stuff for rarity when my tank is at a questionable condition (diatom outbreak, but otherwise fine). Got a Green Table that I guess originally came from TFP (reef central dude I was told), but there were a few of those the first round so didn't feel bad, and I'm always curious about tabling acros. Grabbed a blue/green stag (literally that was the name) did grab a Thanos SPS after googling a picture and seeing 3 of them on the table in the 3rd round, then all 3 of us grabbed something called "Scrambled Eggs" (zoas) in the last round we picked which I thought was funny.
Overall some difference from our frag swap
Instead of picking letters there were picking colors, when we checked in they asked if we wanted to pick in the same group which was kind of cool to do, not an absolute necessity but someone is always paying attention so we don't all lose our pick. They did have a projector on the wall of the picking color so it was fairly obvious where we stood.
The ultra/limited designation, required 3 of that particular coral to get a ticket, ultra people picked first, which was a smaller group, then limited which was much larger but most people only had a single ticket for the limited picking round. Seems like a good way to do it, the really "high end" corals people bring those guy get first dibs over those who brought "rare" but not "super rare". Also the 3 corals qualified them for their entrance requirement of 3 corals, if I had one critique with this is that could potentially allow someone to come away with even more corals in total, granted just 1 more coral, because those people also do their regular picking, and if someone brought the bare minimum which just happened to be ultra or "limited" then they'd come away with 1 more coral than everyone else in the swap. Something to think about if that is an unintended consequence or not.
Raffle (which I did not participate in) had sheets of tickets which were cool because every sheet of 20 has one number linked to it, so it makes it easier to tell if you're a winner. The downside to this is they only sold in sheets of $20, so if you just wanted to buy a couple tickets that's not an option. They also had a "grand prize" (Apex EL) however you could not buy tickets for that, you only could get special tickets if you bought 5 sheets of regular raffle (i.e. $100 minimum). This was definitely an interesting way of doing things, not quite sure how I feel about it, but I understand the why, since that was a raffle item the club pays for $500 retail (minus some amount for the reef club purchase) and not donated goods you definitely want to make sure that it makes money for your club and isn't a net loss, which they did more than make up for it, but like I said only people who spend $100 for it get a chance versus say $20 a ticket (I forget what our club did), there definitely are pros and cons to both ways. FYI Arnold was 1 number off the winning number
Overall though it was a good event, if I drove by myself I probably wouldn't feel that way due to the distance and what I came away with, but carpooling with buds, hanging out for the day, even getting to see a "bum fight", it was worth it. Now these corals are definitely the test for my tank though, mostly for the lights, not sure how bright my lights really are (hurry up and test your PAR, does it really take you 2 weeks to take some data points?!
)
glee
Supporting Member
B, you should have joined us! Mike gave a pretty good synopsis of the frag swap. I liked that we got the same color bands. They randomized the picking order by band color after everyone was checked in. They also labeled each coral cup with a colored dot to distinguish between SPS, LPS, softies, and zoas. Not sure how necessary that is but could facilitate coral runner responsibilities. It was a bit difficult to find those rare bonus corals because some containers was hastily written with small print. I prefer how we labeled bonus corals but that can present problems too. Most containers did not have a member name so you can't ask questions about coral placement, light, and flow although most lights are LEDs these days. I brought enough corals for (4) limited tickets so took home (8).
Gonzo Dragon
Thanos SPS
Red Dragon SPS
Oompa Loompa zoas
Sakura Sunrise zoas
Scrambled eggs zoas
Mummy Eye Chalice
Red/Green Candy cane
It was well organized, great location, lots of parking, lots of raffle items, and 2 coral vendors. There were a total of (18) tickets that made it to the Apex raffle which means they took in a minimum $1800. I liked their raffle ticket sheets. You get one number for the whole sheet so it was easy to track if your number was called. Arnold always wins....lol.
Swap began around 11:40am and raffle finished around 1:30pm
The MARS team were very friendly and open to speaking with me on a number of different event subjects.
Picked up a cherry pie from Ikeda's and had it with the family after dinner. I liked it better than the marionberry pie Arnold, Mike, and I shared while watching the bum fight in the rain. We also stopped off at Pedrick's in Dixon for fruits, veggies, dry goods, and ice cream. Im glad we carpooled and no there wasnt any singing
Gonzo Dragon
Thanos SPS
Red Dragon SPS
Oompa Loompa zoas
Sakura Sunrise zoas
Scrambled eggs zoas
Mummy Eye Chalice
Red/Green Candy cane
It was well organized, great location, lots of parking, lots of raffle items, and 2 coral vendors. There were a total of (18) tickets that made it to the Apex raffle which means they took in a minimum $1800. I liked their raffle ticket sheets. You get one number for the whole sheet so it was easy to track if your number was called. Arnold always wins....lol.
Swap began around 11:40am and raffle finished around 1:30pm
The MARS team were very friendly and open to speaking with me on a number of different event subjects.
Picked up a cherry pie from Ikeda's and had it with the family after dinner. I liked it better than the marionberry pie Arnold, Mike, and I shared while watching the bum fight in the rain. We also stopped off at Pedrick's in Dixon for fruits, veggies, dry goods, and ice cream. Im glad we carpooled and no there wasnt any singing
Apon
Supporting Member
SF Traffic sucked to meet at Mike's house! stupid road closures.
There were 7 BAR members showed up, 4 other besides us (Musclebenz and wife, Kimmie and Jerry)
Brought 5 coral came back with 4, but didn't do the free for all.
Sakura Sunrise zoas
Scrambled eggs zoas
Neon green candy cane
Purple monti
I wanted to pickup another coral instead but glee said not too. Damn BOD members always telling me what I not to do. even after I bought glee a burrito.
Spent $80 in raffle - Won a few items (5?) 3 Fish food (Bug Bites Fluval brand), 1 small Siphon hose, and 1 large pump. Anyone need a large pump - 250 watts? (retails $350) So all in all did ok in raffle. More to support MARS as they only have 1 swap a year.
2 vendors there, but I really didn't pay much attention since I spent in raffle.
There were 7 BAR members showed up, 4 other besides us (Musclebenz and wife, Kimmie and Jerry)
Brought 5 coral came back with 4, but didn't do the free for all.
Sakura Sunrise zoas
Scrambled eggs zoas
Neon green candy cane
Purple monti
I wanted to pickup another coral instead but glee said not too.
Damn BOD members always telling me what I not to do. even after I bought glee a burrito.Spent $80 in raffle - Won a few items (5?) 3 Fish food (Bug Bites Fluval brand), 1 small Siphon hose, and 1 large pump. Anyone need a large pump - 250 watts? (retails $350) So all in all did ok in raffle. More to support MARS as they only have 1 swap a year.
2 vendors there, but I really didn't pay much attention since I spent in raffle.
Coral reefer
Past President
What pump?SF Traffic sucked to meet at Mike's house! stupid road closures.
There were 7 BAR members showed up, 4 other besides us (Musclebenz and wife, Kimmie and Jerry)
Brought 5 coral came back with 4, but didn't do the free for all.
Sakura Sunrise zoas
Scrambled eggs zoas
Neon green candy cane
Purple monti
I wanted to pickup another coral instead but glee said not too.
Spent $80 in raffle - Won a few items (5?) 3 Fish food (Bug Bites Fluval brand), 1 small Siphon hose, and 1 large pump. Anyone need a large pump - 250 watts? (retails $350) So all in all did ok in raffle. More to support MARS as they only have 1 swap a year.
2 vendors there, but I really didn't pay much attention since I spent in raffle.