After reading this topic I would agree with most of the points discussed or made however some I disagree with and may be interpreted as a little rough. Com'on fellas, If you want something you need to go and get it. OK there are some great things overseas that come from Australia but note, we see them n sites that have them for sale (Marketing) so as previously stated, Actinic lighting, Great Cameras and Good old Photoshop; of course they look great (I would love to think how many people who bought that chalice listed in this post, purchased it, unpacked it and shed a dry tear thinking "$90 for a 12mm frag of this???" as they stare at a non fluorescent bit of coral.
As Parrdog stated above, It is by all mean NOT all doom and gloom you just need to hunt for it. This is why (what works for me); I believe it all begins by having a good relationship with your coral/fish supplier, it is going to be worth its weight in gold. If anyone, these are the people that are going to be able to get the ULTRA (lol, hate that word) stuff so..........you first need to keep a few things in perspective:
- these people (LFS or online) are there to make a LIVING by suppling us with equipment, fish, corals, etc.
- a retailer is not going to be excited by the fact that you purchased a fluro green hammer from another LFS that you state is heaps nicer and cheaper than their specimens.
- they are not going to be excited about helping you resolve issues that you have with a new faulty item that you purchased online overseas that you now want warranty on.
- they are not going to give you a frag of their prized coral from their personal display tank/s if you never purchase things from them. (Im sure we can all agree that best supplier relationship we each have, is with the one with the supplier we most purchase from!)
FWIW I was chatting to Ernie from Reeflections on thur night (hense this post) while he' was unpacking and guess who got a chalice almost identical to the one at the start of the thread. As I, you might thing of course he does, he gets first pick. Well apparently not. It sat in the coral system for several week with a price tag of $70-80 and he took it home as not to let it perish (Pic added, Ernie was nice enough to take a shot for me to post). We all know the US get a lot of great Aussie stuff, but so do we and like anything else, u get what u put it. If u want something you gotta get out and look for it, ask for it, find it and get it, but remember; It most likely will not be fluro at the LFS, hey, it may even be brown.
As for my opinion and my experience. My LFS is Reeflections. I am bias but heck' I'm allowed to be, but I like most like most I also go to Willies (Jack), Keysborough (Ming), Mentone, among others. Each have their strengths and weaknesses (I could prob go on for ages but IMO:
- Reeflections - Apart from not being to far from me, Ernie knows his S#!T, Ok he may not butter it up with icing and sugar but he is rarely wrong. Service & advice is No 1. Best quality fish (Individual systems to isolate issues), constant volume of stock (prob about 5-20boxed (if not more) most weeks with 20or more not nessaceraly being BBQ night) and as per this discussion, because of this, I guess he has better chance of getting, wait for it; ULTRA!!! stuff than what some others might.
- Willies - Not my local but number 2 in my book.
- Keysborough - Ming can get his hand on some nice stuff but you have to work on him to sell it to you and prob cost a penny or two. Most things will look better in your system.
- Mentone - I don't go there for the advice or the service but you may find a special piece once in a while.
Again as I stated, list above is my opinion. Yes, there are many other great LFS but I aint gonna list them all for the purpose of my post (Which in case I began to ramble is about..... Wait for it....... ULTRA!!!! corals and getting our hand on them).
I have listed some photos of corals that I have that I think are special (to me anyway) together with where I got them and a little bio about how I got them. I firmly believe that I got these items, NOT by flashing cash, NOT by sucking up, def. NOT by hovering over foam boxes as they are unpacked; but by chating with, asking, being polite and respecful to LFS's. (Most pics taken with iPhone)
OK so it not a catalogue system in AUS as it may seam in the US. My point is though, they're out there, u just need to go an get'em
Ernies Chalice, was on sale for $70-80 and no bids so he took it home. I'm glad hes got it cause I might be able to convince him into giving me a 12mm frag. LMFAO ;)
Red Fungia from Ming's little marine display. Cost me but gald to have it.
Acan - Ernie got about 8 of these a while ago. I bought one and another 3 or so sold, but the others sat there for ages Priced $60-90. I never understood why they didn't sell, I actually asked Ernie and he just shrugged his shoulders.
Pseudocorynactis Sp. How about this for a morph? Purchased for $32 as a Misc Anemone