Buying coral from local reefers

[jaxcarnage]

I'm still a greenhorn to the hobby and just coming up on 2-YRS this year. Most of my coral I've bought online from one of many coral farms live sales or LFS. Lately I've shifted to supporting local reefers and picking up coral from them. Besides good color and looking healthy what other things should one be looking for?

What are good basics things to ask before and during pick up?
What are red flags to look for when picking up the coral?
If the seller is fragging a fresh piece in front of you, should one wait to take it home? (if they are willing to hold for a couple of days)

 

[Emac909]

I like meeting local reefs and club meeting are some of the best places to meet and buy corals.

When I was a younger man I was discouraged sellers that would sell knowing they had pests. I would be kind of a d\__ about it too. But over the years I’ve learned that pest control is my responsibility. So I know dip and quarantine everything I purchase. It’s not the responsibility of another person to make sure you don’t get parasites. So I urge people to practice proper quarantine dipping measurements.

Now that being said to look for bite marks on any Apple that I purchase if I see the guys tank bite marks from AEFW are pretty noticeable. Look on the under sides and base for missing tissue on any acro. Look for closed zoa polyps, could be an indication of nudis or spiders. If your buying a nem make sure the mouth isn’t gapping. It should look like a puckered butt hole. Not like it may have done some porn work.
But in reality I’ve purchased many things that I know I shouldn’t have but I didn’t want to waste the sellers time by flaking out.

I my self would rather by fresh cut or non mount corals. Any coral I buy this is mounted on a plug I cut off the plug or disc and toss it. Most pests ride on the disc. Aiptaisa will 99% of the time be on the plug or disc. AEFWs the eggs will be around the base or on inner /under branches. When you dip corals the dip won’t kill the eggs only the live parasite. Montis look on the underside for white marks like the size of BBs, could be nudis.

But I can’t stress the importance that if you want a pest free tank then it’s your responsibility to practice proper quarantine techniques.

 

[drexel]

I just assume everyone has pests and treat frags and new pieces accordingly, but as Emac mentioned, observation is key. Know what to look for and if you can, look at their tank. Fish should look healthy, just like the corals, there are more than just coral pests to deal with here.
I stay away from people who try to sell more than what you're looking for (although, some have a lot of stuff to get rid of). Generally, a good reefer will tell you to look around and see if anything catches your eye, they're not trying to sell you everything, but kinda opening the doors and being neighborly. I'm old school, so if I'm actually selling something, chances are you'll walk away with more than what you came for and it won't cost you a thing. A red flag to me is someone who doesn't bother to ask you about your tank/system or cares where the frag(s) are going. Not me, I usually ask you more questions than you'll ask me. I took the time and effort to care for and grow these animals and I want them to go to a good home.
Also, trust your instincts, people give off vibes, so trust your gut. Get to know other reefers, join a club or use forums like this and you'll see there are some who are here to help and have a good chat about the hobby.
Do some research or buy some used books off of Amazon about corals and the hobby. These books will be loaded with pics of healthy corals, as they should look without the blue light special getting in the way. They will also be full of useful information that often gets overlooked in the I'm-an-sps-guru-but-only-been-in-the-hobby-for-5-years-insta-reefer thing that's currently going on.
Be patient and take your time. Know what you want to buy and have a good reference for what it should look like. Ask for colony pics. If they don't have any, good chance it's not something that's been in their tank for long or they're trying to move pieces. There are a lot of homeboy-wholesalers out there, so be aware.

 

[joseserrano]

Big thing will be newbie ppl buying and selling. They will not know or understand why at it means to qt, pick and sell healthy corals, and steer you in the wrong direction more often than not. Bugs are worst case scenario, but being sold unhealthy livestock is definitely a big concern. Unfortunately this is a trial by error hobby and we all think we are the exception to the rule, but try and practice self control and listen to those who you see are successful.

 

[wsoldier]

Agree a lot with what was said above. I'll add/reiterate:

- Asking how long the corals have been in their system
- Wild/aquacultured/tank-raised... the latter two have better chances of survival.
- How they've cared for the coral (feeding, flow/light parameters in their tank)
- Asking their nutrient level (po4, no3) for reference
- Always dip / inspect / clean frags you bring home. Better yet remove from the frag plug and remount yourself before putting into yourtank.

Fresh cut vs healed depends on the coral and your own system IMHO. When my system wasn't stable, adding fresh cut frags were a bad idea. Now I don't have any issues, but I'd steer clear of really small (1" or less) fresh cut frags. The bigger the better in terms of surviving a fresh cut and stress of moving to a new system, but this also varies on the difficulty of the coral in my experience. I sell some fresh cut corals and also hold corals for a few days or longer depending on my experience with fragging them, and seeing how they recover before letting someone pick them up.

 

[BST310]

Also recommend before even getting as far as meeting in person, pay close attention to the pictures. For someone (me) that knows very little about photography it’s still pretty easy to spot heavily edited photos. I try to look at items around the coral besides the coral itself for reference.

DONT buy on impulse.