Honestly, I wish someone had told me this early on. I bought a bunch of frags and I love them, but because I'm new and fighting the ugly stage, I had to reduce my lighting and some of my corals, like my cyphaestrea, have browned out. Now I'm not sure I want to glue them to my rock, because if they don't color back up, do I really want that brown thing to encrust and spread? I'm super indecisive though, so most of my corals are still on my sandbed. This is actually a good thing, because I haven't committed to any of them yet. I guess I would add that if you are new and want to buy all the corals at once, build your aquascape so that it can come apart in pieces. That way if you don't like something, it's easier to just remove the rock it's on and replace it. Also, if you're going to glue something down, use only superglue so you can remove it if you don't like it. And pay attention to what everyone says about invasive corals. If you have to have it, put it on it's own island. I almost bought blue star polyps, but then I read all the horror stories about how bad it takes over your tank. Do your research first. And be sure to save some room for the good stuff when your skills improve. It's a marathon, not a sprint! Thanks for the video!
Hey, Thanks for the video it was a good watch, some very nice corals there, but I have to say I completely disagree with your views and if you are giving that information to new reefers then you are setting them up to fail. I don’t think ive ever spoken to anyone in this hobby that hasn’t failed badly at one point. I have bought books and watched loads of online videos with advice on things not to do and still managed to go through all the problems and made all the same mistakes at some point, that’s part of the learning with reefing and you only get that by starting out with those cheaper frags. This hobby is expensive lets face it and it makes sense to start with 9 dollar frags if you have no experience. Not many can simply buy an aquarium and stick all the best corals they can afford in there with no experience and succeed, your setting yourself up for failure with potential tank crashes, large swings that beginners encounter or just all those corals getting absolutely covered in algae and other nasties in the ugly stage. Cheaper frags like GPS and Leathers can take that, and it doesn’t end up in you tearing down your aquarium after 6 months after spending 5k on a setup and if the corals die its not ideal but its 9 dollars. I remember watching a BRSTV episode where they mention how many fail in the first year and just tear down the tank loosing thousands and leave the hobby all together, you only need to look on ebay to see the amount of aquariums for sale not older than 6 months. Another thing is, some people don’t want the hassle of dosing and the extra care needed for LPS and more colourful corals and are happy when cheap frags grow all over a tank. I am one I still have my soft coral tank it looks amazing. You make an important point with real estate but beginners can not forget the they have to gain a solid fundament of reefing before they bite off more than they can chew. The most important thing to learn is patience if that means that they succeed and then have to give away a few overgrown rocks with soft coral when they advance in the hobby to get more real estate then that seems to be the best and cheapest way to me. Thanks for the interesting video. All the best
I agree. The excitement of watching Pulsing Xenia or just how bright GSP can be is super exciting when new. That's a phase that should be enjoyed and experienced. Not everyone has to be a collector lol
Yes but you dont have to by 30 x $10 coral.. the goal is to grow from a frag to a colony regardless the cost of the coral. Its not easy getting rid of a softball size $10 geeen favia..
@@ogreefandaquariums411 You don't have to, but you should if you want. I still keep my Xenia and green rhodactis around. I love them to death, and I just prune them. It's easy and enjoyable.
The main thing I was posting about is experience, learning patience and getting in the hobby for years and not just months. Not necessarily just money. You need the experience first and gaining that experience first with less expensive corals makes sense. The same applies to anything you learn like learning to drive. Knowing you are going to be jamming through gears and getting a few scratches along the way, you don't just buy the best car you can from the beginning. You learn to drive first and when your confident you progress and buy a better car.
Best thing any reefer can do is join a club. I’ve not bought frags from a shop in quite some time. Why buy from shops when chances are someone already made that mistake and now has too much of it. Example - I paid €100 for 9 hammer corals last week. All have at least 2 heads. A single head would have a Minimum price from a shop of €40 - €60 each. I also have 16 frags of Zoas that I was given for free from various local reefers. We also run a frag swap once per month which is actually supported by one of the LRS!
Next time you see 20 frags for $100.. buy them. Grow them.. then come back when you want to buy that beautiful 6" Fruity pebbles diasaris coral..but you havent room because of the large colony of $9.99 green polyps thats growing like wildfire...
Disagree. Bad advice. I like putting in cheap Acroporas and cheap LPS to get a system established. Plus this is bad advice for newbs. You know why torches are so stupid expensive aside from the import and shipping fees? Newbs flock to them like flys to shit. They need to start off very slow. Newbs drop so much money into this hobby and then post “what’s wrong with my Walt Disney?” “What’s wrong with my hellfire torch?” Plus common corals? Can’t find “common” cows tongue corals anymore. Because people saw them as “basic”. Now those are more rare than “Walt Disneys”
