Why are (most) Canadian SPS garbage?
 

I mean really, why can't the standard supply chain supply something that the LFS can actually sell.

Mine doesn't order SPS because they can't sell them. They can't sell them, because they're crap. I've seen toadstools with more color than the box full of tenius colonies.

I know the nice stuff gets here, but I have to order it online as a frag. That online place got it in, how come the LFS can't get the same pieces?

Ok, I'm done. Coffee time :)

Its the same for zoanthids , if I want something i have to buy online as a tiny frag or polyp , the pieces that come in on coral shipments Are the same as they have been for years.

Without getting stuck in the middle of something I will say that buying the nicer and unique stuff costs a lot of money and hard for stores to do , unlike buying online for corals retailers don't get a whole lot of piece by piece pics a lot of it is a gamble with no pic or descrtion at all and the one time they do buy a nice order it's either not nice enough or suddenly no interest. The word ultra gets tossed around a lot now on coral lists and most retailers now don't want to take a risk on a lemon. It's hard to get back the money you invest %100 , sure a few pieces sell like hotcakes but rarely does a whole order sell out right away, it's hard to get the initial money back.

I guess that's how it goes though lol

Coral sizes are getting smaller too if anyone else has noticed .......drastically smaller

I think the problem stems from the lower temperatures the corals must face while being delivered to the LFS on snowmobile. That and the almost perpetual darkness this far north of the border...

No, the pieces coming in were never nice, nor will they ever be. They're just substandard pieces.

Yup, I've noticed :)

Maybe you should move to the GTA ;) I know Reefraft is only 30mins from me. I can't say there sps are garbage :)

I should ban you for that -lol

Yes, GTA does seem to have nicer stuff. All our online frag dealers are back east, and all of them have nice stuff. I just wonder why retail stores can't get nice stuff?

I see all the emails and lists promising nice pieces. I've ordered specific inventory numbers. Never (well, 99% of the time) does the stuff promised actually get delivered.

I don't mind ordering, we've actually got a group buy going for Fragbox, but it annoys me that he has a whole site of nice pieces, and we can't get one nice piece this side of Toronto :)

Brad,

Its not that easy for the LFS. For example, I have imported many colonies of Blue Millepora with very little luck obtaining the BLUE I was looking for. In fact I wouldn't have the bluest of all blue milleporas, a colony I have today, if it wasn't for the help of a past Reef Central TOTM winner. It also took him several colonies until he landed a true beauty that held it's colour. He then sold me an AquaCultured Frag which I had to grow out myself. It takes time.
You have keep in mind a LFS needs a lot of time and patience to collect, receive and acclimate. Hopefully the exporter he is dealing with has decent product to begin with of course. If the LFS has the skills to keep SPS it will take months maybe longer to get an idea of the true potential of that imported piece, and that goes for both Mari-Cultured and Wild Colonies received.


HTH

True, Reef Raft receives many beauties but they don't all come in like that and Jay goes through a lot to get a portion of them to reach outstanding potential.

It starts with selecting them at the source, shipping, receiving and then a lot of TLC from there.

And just as a side rant; what's with the prices of frags from other hobbyists? I know I was out of the hobby in terms of buying livestock for a few years but what many people are asking for zoanthid frags has gone through the roof??? I remember buying frags of 15 or 20 polyps for $15 or $20 4 or 5 years ago and now people want $10 to $20 per polyp :(

It all depends on the zoa
Some are cheap, nicer ones are not

For the same Zoanthid, Ron99??

It's like that with all corals I can buy a fist sized acro with beautiful colors for $60 yet I can also buy a 1/2" frag for $100 of something someone else may consider ugly lol

I can buy a colonie of zoas at the store for $40 I may think they are sweet , I can also pay that for a single polyp of something else that i think is sweet , for me size does not matter its can i buy it now , for me if I want something now and not have to wait for it I'll pay the extra As things grow.

Something's are only worth what you will pay for them , as a consumer there's always the option to pass and buy later or something completely different.

Even wholesales are selling zoas by the polyp now , it's Large circle not just the hobbyists .

I know it's not easy, I'm more involved than most hobbyists in the ordering and scoping out suppliers. But the pics sent never, or almost never represent what is shipped. Not even same species.
I see you have amazing stuff, as do the other sponsors, but I can't believe you order 30 boxes and keep the one good piece from each box and toss the rest :)

I have unpacked a box here and there that had nice stuff, but it's tough to get repeat shipments

Yup, for the same zoas. Maybe they didn't have all have the fancy names then but they sure look the same to me.

We certainly don't toss the rest but they do get picked over pretty quickly because, as you say, superior pieces don't always come in.

That said, Wild Colonies and MariCultured colonies are still a risk. Wild colonies always come in so faded and can wipe out overnight…even months later. MariCultured, if they come in colourful, often lose that colour a little later and may take months to come back…..and many times a lot different looking.

When we do find a keeper piece we grow it out under optimum aquarium conditions and that takes a little time but we are there with many pieces.

Here is an example…… Red Diablo

The original Colony in Sept. 2012 (Pic saturated)

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75...ps111b4647.jpg

Our frag from THAT original colony taken in 2012 (under T5s)

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75...ps51f6ba7d.jpg

1 year later (Under T5s)

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75...ps659f0288.jpg

2 years later (Pic taken under purple plus/and Blue Plus T5s)

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75...pscda116e7.jpg

...all the while Frags were taken many many times while we grew this out.

Pic of OUR Frag (Taken under 250w 14k Phoenix)

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75...pseb51b737.jpg

My point is the process takes time to get great truly healthy pieces out there. At least this way you get something that has kept/improved its colour over time all the while growing in an actual aquarium environment much like your own.

……another example of SPS in CANADA

RR Wolverine

The original mother colony we received our frag from.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75...psfb92e3d6.png

Our frag 2012/2013
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75...pse422c6f0.jpg

Our colony today grown from that original frag (Pic taken under T5s July 2014)
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75...psf57a7175.jpg

Closeup of todays colony at IA (Pic taken under T5s July 2014)
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75...ps3ed13851.jpg

And my point is that you don't want them anyway. I think you will get a better SPS coral, a lot closer to what you expect, by buying one that has actually coloured up IN captivity and more so GROWN in captivity.

My 2 cents. :)

I agree, the best SPS, IMO comes from your neighbours tank.

I my short time in the hobby I've noticed smaller colonies with higher price tags. I was taking with lfs on weekend about the bland acros always being the same every order. He stated that he found a new supplier with amazing pieces but retail will be $300(his cost $80) who's going to buy a $300 acro

Well, I think markup can be reduced a bit there, but ultimately, if an amazing acro shows up I would be willing to pay that. Unfortunately I'm probably an exception, but people are paying almost that for nice frags.

On a good note, if he buys 2 boxes of these, he gets free shipping :)