New thread on buying zoanthids as a group
 

I will be the one starting a new thread as mentioned in the WTB blue zoanthus thread in the Buy an Sell forum.

I would be in for a couple of hundred, as it would be a good place to put my zoanthid sales profits. The last $200.00 I spent on buying zoanthids down east has turned into a tidy profit. :multi:

I have always wanted to get some stuff from Blane Perun at Farms at the seas.com. It has never been feasible, but as a group it may well be possible. :cool:

In for a couple hundred of zoanthids? :eek: Or a couple hundred's worth of zoanthids ... :question: :lol:

I don't really have room for more corals but in the interest of supporting a group endeavour I would be in for something. I don't know exactly what at this point though, we'd have to find ourselves a willing vendor and see what he's got that he's willing to ship.

Who's going to take the lead on this. Are you thinking of doing that, Bob? Or how about Nate_m?

I willl be in a some zoo's. The ones from Blane Perun look amazing!

Before we can even consider doing the order, lots of work needs to be done. Bob, if you want to take the lead on the project, by all means go for it. I can assist you along the way if need be. If we were to do a large order, I would like to deal with a distributor who can offer a more diverse variety of corals. Personally, I wouldn't mind picking up some sps and clams along with the zoos. eposer, did you have any wholesalers in mind? I will start doing some more thorough research and post what I find.

Nathan

I've done my own brokerage of CITES before. I don't ever want to do it again unless I was paid for my time and trouble. Personally I kind of suggest leaving CITES out of it (clams and SPS) because places like OA, SWC, J&L and our own LFS's bring that in all the time anyhow, and frankly I'm happier that they take the risk and not me. Nothing like spending a couple hundred on dead clams (been there, done that, burned the Tshirt).

Another thing is that a lot of US distributors won't touch an order unless you have an actual storefront with posted hours. I found this out when I was on my mission to find a S. gigantea carpet, and there were lots available in the U.S. and none in this country. That story had a happy ending, I gave Nate at Big Al's a few places to check into, and lo and behold he just found a place anyhow on his own, now Big Al's brings in S. gigantea every couple of months. You wouldn't have known that a year ago I had been searching for like 4 years for a way to get one, now it's easy.

Anyhow, just my $0.02 .... I'd keep it to zoos. But I'm just one person's opinion. :biggrin:

cheers

Count me in for at least $100 to start with.

The whole deal started with zoanthids, and I would like to keep it to that, as it would be easier. If we complicate it at this early stage, it will more than likely die a horrible death like so many other group orders have in the past. :eek:

Makes sense. Keep me posted.

Nathan

I thought by implication I was speaking of dollars :cool:

I don't see myself taking the lead because I can't quite envision what that would entail :rolleyes:

There is a ton of work needed here.
#1 - Finding out who's in.
*2 - What gets ordered for whom :question:
#3 - Locating a dealer who can supply what we want.
#4 - Organising shipping.
#4 - Getting the money together.
#5 - Actually making the order.
#6 - Picking up the order.
#7 - Arranging distribution.

Those are just a few of the hurdles I can think of offhand. :eek:

I think we would need to locate a dealer before anyone will decide what they want since we dont know what each dealer offers. I would be glad to volunteer anytime or anything needed to get this thing going.

Any volunteer help is good. Let's see if someone who knows what they are doing steps up to the plate.

In the meantime any suggestions as to dealers is welcome. My first suggestion is Blane Perun at farms at the sea. :biggrin:

depends on the vendor and the selection but I'd probably be in for some Zoo's...

I like the look of the zoos at Blane Perun at farms at the sea but a 1000$ order would be like everything hes got. Just wondering if anyone has contacted any places to see if they would do a order for us?

I don't think so, but with the amount of interest we have generated so far it isn't likely anything will come from this. :sad:

Bob,
I'm in for $200

- Chad

Looks like we have enough interest to get somthing like this going.

I would love some if anyone would be interested in putting them on the bus to Regina. Not sure what the hassel would be worth. If you need more people keep me in mind.

Marcus

So far I see three or four people with $500.00 committed. I thought we were looking for $1000.00 to make it really serious. :question:

We should be able to drum up some more interest. Having photos of the available zoos would probably help. That way people can see the value they would be getting for their money.
I've seen examples where people have paid $1000Can for 6 zoanthid polyps before :eek: . I'm sure that US boards have no problem putting together a "serious" order.

- Chad

Well im not sure about your addition but, you me and fish make 500 at least, then nate_m who wanted this in the first place im sure would be interested, it looked like tony could do a little, there were a few other people who seemed to want in as well. Maybe if we contact a supplier and they tell us the lowest amount they would send then people could see whats available.

I would be down for $200 worth.

It looks as if we might be able to make a go of this. It is now time for folks to find websites of suppliers with GOOD pictures of zoos. I suggested Farms at the sea, but last I looked I was not happy with the pictures.

So if you have a favorite, please post the link here. :biggrin:

Here is a link I was looking at last night with some amazing pics. Does not look like they ship to Canada. Thought the pics would help spark interest.

Marcus

www.aquadesignz.com

Another link with some real good pics, not the waiting list has been frozen till 2007.

www.coralfanatics.com/zoanthids.html

Unfortunately for us pictures are no good unless they ship to Canada :sad: . Even Farms at the sea are no good because last time I contacted him he said he would ship to the nearest airport to the border. That would probably be Great Falls. Now I have no intention of driving to Great Falls to wait for an aircraft that probably has nothing on it etc.

We need a supplier who is eager to ship to us. :eek:

So does someone want to make a generic email and send it out to a few companies stating the amount for are going to spend and see if they would like to fill our order?

I will do that if we can decide who would be a good target.

I have been trying to track down whatever happened to the old Canadian Reef store. Far as I can tell, the web space was owned by the same person/people? that have started Extreme Marine:

http://www.emarine.ca/contact.html

There isn't really anything on the web site yet but I have sent a few messages to the person who runs it - hopefully they take an interest and have some nice selection.

- Chad

If you guys can source some good size pieces with nice bright colours I am interested in getting in on the deal.
Greg

A little info for you Chad. :cool:

You can always try to pm him on the board.. :smile:

Here are some i founf by searching might be worth emailing.

http://www.robsreef.com/
http://store.zoomonster.com/
http://zomania.com/
http://fragfarmer.com/
http://reeflabs.com/

plus the before mentioned sites looked good.

Ryan,
Ya ya that's the one. I hav tried sending him a few messages but haven't heard back yet. I was just thinkinh it might be a possibility because their Canadian. Canadian Reef had some really nice zoos - even though these guys are in no way affiliated....

- Chad

I remember their zoos, and you are right they were real nice!! :biggrin:

I spent $200.00 with that outfit. Most of my current zoanthids originated from there. :biggrin:

Just had a look at Zoomonster. I already have lots of Z-277, Z-280, Z-288. I never had luck selling those. That is maybe because I don't have proper facilities for photographing. BTW many other zoos on his site are duplicates of 280, and 288. :sad:

Just be weary of FragFarmer. I recall reading some not so stellar things about them on RC (I'm not 100% sure that this is the same "FragFarmer" though).

Just waant to mention that the commonly used macro photography is very misleading. When I first got my zoos from Canadian Reef I found that what I received did not compare to the pictures. :sad:

I can do the same thing by posting two different pictures of the same zoanthid. One gets rave reviews, the other gets no notice. :eek:

I am wondering how to get around that problem. :question:

Post pics with the cool lights and awesome microphotography, and pics with what the naked eye can usually see?

Excellent idea as always, but how can we get a dealer to do that. :question:

Just got a response from the owner of Extreme Marine:

"Sorry for the delay in my reply. We will be updating the website to accomodate online sales in the next few weeks. We will be featuring all types of zoos and rics as frags and colonies. I'll be sure to contact you as soon as this service is amde available.



Thanks and regards,

Archie"

Might be promising...

- Chad