Phyl & Bob's Excellent Coral Escapade

[Phyl]

365 miles, 50 gallons of water, 2 five gallon buckets and one five foot cooler later I'm home and I'm one tired momma! I'm sure by the time the Llama makes it home he's going to be pretty pooped too.

During this exciting adventure, the club has procured some really GREAT corals. As a result we will be offering some of these items for sale. We should have some nice sized colonies, some fragonies and some frags to sell, in addition to adding to our raffle items. For items to be sold, we will allow first dibs on the corals to club members and then open up the sale to the general public.

The SPS corals are all with Merv. Among the SPSs are a Staghorn, Purple Tip Acro, Green and purple Milli, as well as several others (I'll have to rely on Merv to ID them). He will be coloring some of them back up. Others are ready for sale. Some of these pieces are HUGE! The one leather (and its baby) is here with me (did I say Merv was a SPS Snob? LOL).

I'll get some pics up tomorrow (I took pics before we unloaded the animals) for now I need to go zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

 

[kabal2]

hi i will like to buy some of them, large frags or small colonies
just let me know
thank you

 

[Ruden]

Hi, I just got back from Merv's
We have a lot of nice pieces to offer. We hope to have pics during the next few days of the colonies and frags.

Bob

 

[concept3]

4:10 am.....just got done adding MORE carbon to the sump, upping my CO2 input, throwing another powerhead in, and changing 20 gallons of fresh saltwater because MAN these guys slime up. Lookin pretty good all the corals. So far we have:

Purple nana (nice!!!)
Green slimer (few thick pieces)
Intense purple acropora
Some kind of Capricornis (very thick...I'll get the SPS heads to ID it)
Teal/pink millepora
Green acro with purple tips
ALL sorts of mushrooms
Pink prostrata (?)

and I'll figure out the rest tomorrow. Right now I'm beat......... 4:20am and I'm ready for bed like 3 hours ago......

 

[concept3]

Oh yeah, and some crazy purple staghorn that kept on trying to grow out of the water.....

 

[jpelzer]

Oh yeah, and some crazy purple staghorn that kept on trying to grow out of the water.....

I've raised the gallery quota to 25 megs, so feel free to post pictures... Though might I suggest 'medium' quality setting rather than high? Very little difference, and you'll fit a lot more... ;D

 

[grasshopper]

SO, not to be a pessimist or anything, but how do we know that there is know "frag skimming" going on? I can't see what would be so tough about someone taking a few small frags for themself "for the effort" and still selling the rest of the colony to make money? I don't remember seeing threads about using the club moneys to do things like this? I was under the impression that the moneys were going to getting NP status first and then doing things like this. Or is it a non-verbal statement that the officers will just decide how to use the club's money?

If there was some sort of discussion between club officers, then was there a vote? And, why wasn't this info. passed along? Or was it done in a chat which we all (obviously) don't regularly attend?

 

[Phyl]

Great questions, Grasshopper.

The officers were presented with an offer on Monday that we discussed and voted on; this is how it has been done in the past and in accordance with our bylaws (adapted from the Boston Reef Society; hopefully these will go up for review by the membership by next week). It was agreed amongst the officers that based on what we would acquire we would clearly get significant ROI so that we could further/faster pursue the status. We intend to turn the bulk of these around in short order.

In an effort to maximize the security of the club assets two board members made the road trip. Pictures of the corals were taken prior to the animals being removed from the person's tank.

Pictures were taken as they were unloaded and more pictures taken as the items were either fragged or colonized, etc. There has been an item count and inventory which the board will review. We will be posting stock lists and pictures of sale items once they have been researched and priced. The animals are safely at Merv's house with the exception of the one leather coral (and its baby) that are currently in my tank. Merv was chosen to hold the corals (a lot of which were so huge that they had to be fragged or frolonized to fit into his system). The fragging was all done in the presence of an officer of the club. We are going out of our way to ensure that the club is run "like a business" and that no skimming is being done. Believe me when I say we are all painfully aware...

The current officers are all giving their hearts and souls to the good of the club and would all buy the frag before we'd put it in our pocket and run home with it.

Draft Bylaws

 

[Phyl]

Just realized the thread was locked. It wasn't done on purpose so I've opened the thread back up for comments.

I was asked where the corals came from. The corals came from a hobbyist in Northern Maryland who is breaking down his tank. This stuff is awsome. Wait until you see it!

 

[RichT]

I for one trust those involved and appreciate what they are doing, all in a selfless effort to help the club. They are the good guys, givers not takers. Although, in light of past events, I also understand GH's concern. Don't worry GH, I know where they live .

 

[grasshopper]

I'm just making sure that someone is playing devil's advocate in all this. Even though I'm sure the officers are trustworthy, I felt my statement was warrented - if only to have Phyl explain exactly how things went down just as was done in a prior post. It's just better for all of us to understand (in these early days of our club) exactly how things will be done to ensure no things like skimming and such.

Thanks for the clarification Phyl, and Rich - I'm VERY surprised my skepticism is finally rivaling yours!

 

[Marcelog]

We're keeping our eyes on you guys ;-)

Marcelo -

 

[concept3]

Just to clear this up with everyone....

I have been as honest and straightforward with anybody and everybody I have known, and I will NEVER go out of my way to harm another person or ORGANIZATION for something as petty as money. I have been blessed with good friends, decent fortune and a good family. I have graciously offered my help in this venture that was "out of the blue" and would like for everyone to see my indirect involvement with the club to help us move forward. I would NEVER SKIM or be involved in anything as such, as it completely goes against what I stand for as a person and an individual. The CORALS are safe with me, don't worry about the DISSAPEARING frags.


ON A LIGHTER NOTE, I couldn't help myself NOT posting pics of some of the frags/colonies. I was instructed not to do so, but I am. THIS NEW CAMERA ROCKS!!!


***Do MACRO pictures count?***









PURPLE NANA

GREEN SLIMER

THERE ARE A FEW MORE TYPES OF CORAL THAT I HAVE IN THE FRAG TANK, BUT I GOT HOME AROUND 12:30AM, AND THE LIGHTS TURNED OFF (on a timer) at 1:00AM, so I couldn't get MACROS of the other colonies. I'll try again tomorrow.

 

[Phyl]

They're gorgeous, Merv! That's awesome. Gotta love the new cam.

We were hoping to be able to put up pricing with the colony photos/descriptions/sized... but we'll post some of the fun pictures from the unload soon!

 

[grasshopper]

Merv, please don't get me wrong. I wasn't attacking you or Phyl and anyone else personally. I was merely making a statement as per the METHODS used. Heck, I probably would have made the exact same post if I was the one holding the corals/frags.

Again, please don't take any of my previous post personlly, it was directed towards the method as that's what counts here. I'm sure in the future there will be plenty more of these buys, and we shouldn't haveto worry about skimming or anything regardless of who's keeing the livestock. It all will be fine if there's a strick SOP as toward these things and that SOP is followed.

I hope I didn't hurt anyone's feelings....

 

[Marcelog]

Hey Merv. When you coming over to take pictures of my stuff? Or are you taking pictures of my stuff? ;D

Things are looking good.

Marcelo -

 

[Phyl]

Marcelo,

We'll happily put you on the list of folks who are interested in a nice HUNK of purple nana! I hear it calling your name (*marcelo* *marcellllooooooooOOOooooo*)... Membership has its benefits! First dibs and discounts for members on coral purchases from the club! ;D

 

[RichT]

when do you think you'll start the sale?

 

[Ruden]

 

[Phyl]

Definitely in time for the Meeting at the end of the month, maybe sooner. There are a large number of baseball to small-head-of-broccoli sized corals to be sold.