Buying from hobbyist?

[Autumnsky]

Found some Corals I would like to buy and they are from a hobbyist who is shutting down his tank to move. What can I do to make sure I don't get any bad stuff with them.

Eventually I would like a clam in a bigger tank and when I move stuff I don't want anything like killer pyramid snails or whatever kill the clams.

 

[moog24]

Nothing much. If his tank has been up for awhile there will be nothing that hurts your tank. You could take a soft brush and just gentle brush off any lose debris


Sincerely, moog

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

Look into coral dips, and a visual inspection for any obvious algae/pests and manually remove them before or after the dip.
What corals are you picking up ???

 

[Sniperhank]

I'd coral rx everything. A freshwater dip and visual inspection for pyramids would do for a clam.


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[carey]

I agree with sniper, a coral dip and very close inspection. If you really wanna be safe, then qt the new corals.

 

[Autumnsky]

I'd coral rx everything. A freshwater dip and visual inspection for pyramids would do for a clam.


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Good, I will get some.

I agree with sniper, a coral dip and very close inspection. If you really wanna be safe, then qt the new corals.

Noob question but what is the best way to do that. I only have 1 SW tank and what would I be looking for? I could use a tub or bucket with a clamp light.

 

[carey]

You are looking for anything crawling or that just doesnt look like it should be there. Depending on the corals there could be small red bugs or even flatworms. Just observe over a week or two at least and if everything looks good with no critters that shouldnt be there you can go ahead on put them in the display tank.
As a side note, if you are gonn abe inspecting the corals very close to your face, wear eye protection. Corals like zooas can squirt out stuff that can be dangerous, especially to your eyes. I have heard a few horror stories of severe eye infections and other bad stuff so just be careful. You might even use a magnifying glass to get up and personal with each coral, you want no issues so be thorough.

Hope that helps a bit!

 

[Autumnsky]

You are looking for anything crawling or that just doesnt look like it should be there. Depending on the corals there could be small red bugs or even flatworms. Just observe over a week or two at least and if everything looks good with no critters that shouldnt be there you can go ahead on put them in the display tank.
As a side note, if you are gonn abe inspecting the corals very close to your face, wear eye protection. Corals like zooas can squirt out stuff that can be dangerous, especially to your eyes. I have heard a few horror stories of severe eye infections and other bad stuff so just be careful. You might even use a magnifying glass to get up and personal with each coral, you want no issues so be thorough.

Hope that helps a bit!

Yes, thank you for the warning. These things are scary!

These were for a couple items that are already gone but there are 2-3 which I might still want, and guy said he has some that aren't posted too, so maybe something nice. They are for colony/established corals not frags so I am a little excited that I could afford a little something nice to liven up the tank. It is good for this noob to start getting better at what I am doing

Also about the QT, I have a 5G Chi tank can it use that for the QT, it is what I started with on the SW adventure before, it is bubbling now as a fw but I would clean it out and start it in SW again. I am talking 5G tanks and you are thinking about 180G tanks, lol

 

[carey]

lol. I have some small tanks too.

But sure, a 5g would be fine. You just want a place you can observe them easily. Bugs and flatworms can go un-noticed so any tank that allows you to check out the corals is the tank you want for qt'ing. I used to qt all my new corals but it got kinda full once I started to add mass amounts of coral.lol
It also isnt a bad idea to have an extra 10g tank on hand, you never know when you will need an insta qt for fish and they can be gotten for $10 during the petco sale.
I've had to insta qt fish on several occassions, mostly due to aggression but It was a god send to have the available tank.
Good luck!

 

[Autumnsky]

lol. I have some small tanks too.

But sure, a 5g would be fine. You just want a place you can observe them easily. Bugs and flatworms can go un-noticed so any tank that allows you to check out the corals is the tank you want for qt'ing. I used to qt all my new corals but it got kinda full once I started to add mass amounts of coral.lol
It also isnt a bad idea to have an extra 10g tank on hand, you never know when you will need an insta qt for fish and they can be gotten for $10 during the petco sale.
I've had to insta qt fish on several occassions, mostly due to aggression but It was a god send to have the available tank.
Good luck!

Thank you. Yes, I can see that. I have FW QT but hadn't really considered a SW QT. As for the $ days, there are always 5G buckets and Plastic tubs, lol.

Well I will be studying about "bugs and pests" for the next few days.

 

[Grizz]

If you can take "macro shots" of any coral you may want, then you can get a real close look at them

 

[Sniperhank]

Still a great opportunity. Not something I see in my area.


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[Autumnsky]

If you can take "macro shots" of any coral you may want, then you can get a real close look at them

Really good idea, thank you!

Still a great opportunity. Not something I see in my area.

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It looks amazing. They ship... They have some nice stuff, and some expensive/rare too, if they can easily propagate them or have a bunch, they do a better deal for them than say "market" value.

***
Not for sure which day I can meet up too see everything the guy has I am working evenings and evenings are when he is available.

 

[Autumnsky]

He also offered me a Maxspect razor nano for $200. But I would offer him less and add in free corals, say $150 and about $50 of "free" corals.

Any thoughts on the light? No way I can afford that kind of money for a light. (was considering one RBG multi spectrum from Ebay for $96)

This is HIS info on it...

"I am going to sell it for $200. It is less than a year old. I bought it for a nano tank I was going to build but never did. I ran it for part of the year on a quarantine tank. It has a good spectrum of LEDs (not just blue and white) that are programmable to simulate sunrise to sunset and it is completely silent. You can grow clams or any type of coral with it and it uses less than 60 watts. It certainly isn't cheap but it is one of the best."

Maxspect Nano Razor R420R LED Light Fixture

 

[bribo12]

It's a very nice light and will grow whatever you want over that tank.


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