High Tide Aquatics

Tons of frags at Neptune's!!!

ofzakaria said:
Totally hear you.
On the risk of sounding like am boasting with Neptune, it is a fact that that store have loads and loads of all type of frags from 10$ to whatever your heart desires. I do not see anything like it elsewhere in the bay.
Its a good place to stock a new tank for sure..
In that store I learned how to hunt gems that would cost triple if you buy it with a fancy name from an online retailer..
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Ya, I got spoiled since their Milpitas store was on my way home when I commuted from Sunnyvale to Dublin.

It definitely spoiled me - I still scoff when I go to other stores and see them selling really really generic stuff for $30+

Would likely be worth the trip since I have the space and the need for a large number of frags.

Tell me there is a long polyp toadstool and I'd have to have that conversation with the wife about being gone for half the day on a Saturday
 
xCry0x said:
Ya, I got spoiled since their Milpitas store was on my way home when I commuted from Sunnyvale to Dublin.

It definitely spoiled me - I still scoff when I go to other stores and see them selling really really generic stuff for $30+

Would likely be worth the trip since I have the space and the need for a large number of frags.

Tell me there is a long polyp toadstool and I'd have to have that conversation with the wife about being gone for half the day on a Saturday
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Long polyps toadstool? Have them every day!
 
Personally I’ve been to the “competitors” stores. Here is why I buy at Neptune.

1. Selection
2. Quality of coral sold
3. Cleanliness of tanks
4. Price

P.s. please bring back the 10% discount for coral for BAR members. We heavily frequent the store.
 
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Actually, yes. It’s not an automatic thing so make sure to mention you’re a BAR member to get the discount next time.
Randyadammartin said:
Personally I’ve been to the “competitors” stores. Here is why I buy at Neptune.

1. Selection
2. Quality of coral sold
3. Cleanliness of tanks
4. Price

P.s. please bring back the 10% discount for coral for BAR members. We heavily frequent the store.
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robert4025 said:
Actually, yes. It’s not an automatic thing so make sure to mention you’re a BAR member to get the discount next time.
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I asked at the store and was told “we don’t do that anymore, we haven’t in a long time”, and I have probably bought over a thousand dollars worth of coral.

Randy
 
Randyadammartin said:
I asked at the store and was told “we don’t do that anymore, we haven’t in a long time”, and I have probably bought over a thousand dollars worth of coral.

Randy
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My apologies. I can see why there was a confusion. Officially, I haven’t reinstated the official discount for the club to the rest of my team members, yet. But, I just relay the message to Eddy so from now on please ask him or me and we’ll get you taken cared of.
 
One thing iv been curious about, and this may fall into the category of "trade secret" so by so means if that is the case, no worries.

But where does neptunes get so many frags from?

It's it a prolific community trade in/credit system?

Primarily ordering from wholesale & fragging?

In house coral fragging?

What always impressed me was the huge array of options across all the price points. I loved picking through the 5-$20 frag tanks for personal "gems".

Most every other store is generally super limited -- especially on the "budget" frag end.

So I was curious if it was in part maintained by a network of local reefers bringing stuff in for trade in.

I chatted with someone at aquatic collection, which is closer to me and usually has a pretty decent selection of corals and a great fish selection, and it sounded like they had a lot of stuff from staff tanks.

I don't think iv ever seen a store actually advertise coral frag trade in deals. I could see that being a headache - huge risk of pests, people trying to argue value (this isn't just pulsing xenya, it's wwc jf ultra platinum xl ice fire xenya!!!) , etc.
 
xCry0x said:
One thing iv been curious about, and this may fall into the category of "trade secret" so by so means if that is the case, no worries.

But where does neptunes get so many frags from?

It's it a prolific community trade in/credit system?

Primarily ordering from wholesale & fragging?

In house coral fragging?

What always impressed me was the huge array of options across all the price points. I loved picking through the 5-$20 frag tanks for personal "gems".

Most every other store is generally super limited -- especially on the "budget" frag end.

So I was curious if it was in part maintained by a network of local reefers bringing stuff in for trade in.

I chatted with someone at aquatic collection, which is closer to me and usually has a pretty decent selection of corals and a great fish selection, and it sounded like they had a lot of stuff from staff tanks.

I don't think iv ever seen a store actually advertise coral frag trade in deals. I could see that being a headache - huge risk of pests, people trying to argue value (this isn't just pulsing xenya, it's wwc jf ultra platinum xl ice fire xenya!!!) , etc.
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Roughly 5% of my inventory are truly propagated corals from trade-ins. It’s not that I don’t want to have more of it, it’s just that people are not bringing in enough of it. So, the other 95% are from wild stock. The volume of corals the shop needed to keep all the bins full are incredible. Even if only 10% of the space available for new corals, that usually equates to about 10 boxes of new colonies. And that happens almost every two weeks. To find that amount of high quality corals every two weeks is incredibly challenging nowadays but it’s also part of the fun. Recently though, it’s seems like I needed to practically frags every other day just to keep the bins full. If I go a week without fragging, I’ll be stuck on the saw for a full three days just to get back to capacity. That’s why, I have been bringing usually about 10-15 boxes of just corals every month.
 
robert4025 said:
Roughly 5% of my inventory are truly propagated corals from trade-ins. It’s not that I don’t want to have more of it, it’s just that people are not bringing in enough of it. So, the other 95% are from wild stock. The volume of corals the shop needed to keep all the bins full are incredible. Even if only 10% of the space available for new corals, that usually equates to about 10 boxes of new colonies. And that happens almost every two weeks. To find that amount of high quality corals every two weeks is incredibly challenging nowadays but it’s also part of the fun. Recently though, it’s seems like I needed to practically frags every other day just to keep the bins full. If I go a week without fragging, I’ll be stuck on the saw for a full three days just to get back to capacity. That’s why, I have been bringing usually about 10-15 boxes of just corals every month.
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That's really cool to understand - thanks for sharing.

I'd have never in a million years assumed you go through that much volume!

Also explains a lot in regards to stores with good selections and those without.

Is there a lack of economics aroundn actively promoting trade ins? Eg just a blanket bring in 5 frags and get a $20 frag.

I know as a hobbyist, iv had to frag my stuff in the past but really didn't feel like dealing with craigslist or some awkward conversation with my LFS around if they would even take frags.

You guys have been doing this long enough I'm sure there are logical reasons for everything.
 
I use Rubbermaid "Brilliance" containers with cut-to-fit egg crate. Waterproof, and the design makes it easy to get almost all the air out for transport.
 
My high volume frag carrier.

IMG_5802.jpg
 
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