First Swap

[Eleven11]

I've been coming here for a while now (6 months into the hobby) and will be heading over to the Swap. I'm excited and just wanted to prepare the right way. I had a few questions in mind....

1. I'm bringing a large cooler bag to keep everything warm and cash. :duh: Anything else you suggest I bring with me?

2. I go to church on Sunday's and may not make it to the MR auction. Can someone explain what happens during this time? Obviously an auction run by MR, but where does the livestock come from?

3. Vendors - are they there with livestock on display for the entirety of the day? I will be limited with time and would rather shop around than listen to a guest speaker.

I'm very excited and hope to see everyone there!

 

[Josh]

1. That is basically all you need.

2. The auction will be at 12:30 I think and will only last 30 minutes. The livestock is donated by members and vendors. Since the auction is only 30 minutes, you can expect some cherry pieces. (The auction used to to run for nearly 2 hours!)

3. Vendors have display tanks set up from 10-6. The only time they will not be selling is during the auction when we ask them to take a break and have some lunch.

 

[Eleven11]

Great! Sounds good. I saw some pictures from the NJ swap last week(?) and I noticed some steep prices on the glass. Are the prices the vendors have generally good at these meets?

 

[fishguttz]

Last year, I arrived really late, but I got 4-5 frags of a variety of different polyps (10 buttons each!). I think around 5-10 dollars a piece and an anemone crab for like 10 bucks. I've never seen low prices like that, I've never even seen such a wide selection. Literally thousands of frags to choose from. They also sell MR cooler bags so all you need to do is bring cash!

 

[Eleven11]

Awesome. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm going to try my best to not take a large cooler so I limit the spending but if I see so many good things at a good price I might be tempted to pick up one of those MR bags

 

[KathyC]

Great! Sounds good. I saw some pictures from the NJ swap last week(?) and I noticed some steep prices on the glass. Are the prices the vendors have generally good at these meets?

This is the Manhattan Reefs Swap..not the NJ one...

At the Manhattan Reef Frag Swap you will find corals available for every taste at many different price levels You will also meet many reefers who live locally to you and are always willing to share their knowledge and friendship. We believe in a spirit of community here that you won't find in many other places!!

 

[Eleven11]

That's great to hear. I know this is not the NJ version but those pictures were all I had to base my questions on. Nonetheless I'm glad I finally found somewhere to park my virtual self and my tank. I look forward to asking you guys various questions to help me as I'm only about a year into the hobby. I promise to utilize the search function before ranting with questions. Here's to getting to know you guys and likely running into you at Pace! :givebeer: