A horror story about a coral vendor called Aznutty... The Truth

It was very hard for me not to get completely mad about what I read on the original thread, it was just totally ridiculous, and the people that believe what one person said? shame on you. just because it was written doesn't mean it was true. Let’s address a few concerns here and what’s fact and fiction.

1. Aznutty throws away live corals-

Why would I throw away live corals when I’m in the business of educating and selling live corals? I was a hobbyist before I became a vendor, my dream was to explore the natural reef and discover new species. After a few layoffs I decided to turn my hobby into a business. I have 9x 50g grow out tanks and 3x 110 holding tanks in my basement, I have invested over 10k into tanks, lights, filters for my house to grow out corals and hold what can’t be fragged or propagated. I drive to Chicago every week on weds to pick up corals from Ohio and store them at my facility at home. Its 10hrs round trip per week every week. If you have seen my corals in person, you will notice most of them are mounted on these funky man made rocks because it’s all Bali aqua cultured! I believe in preserving the natural reef and want to have as little impact on it as possible while sharing the joys of reef keeping. Over 90% of my corals or aqua cultured. After acquiring my corals from Chicago, I house them for some time before traveling with them to ensure healthy specimens that would make the trip. Packing up for a show I put corals in cups then coolers and in my van with rear ac and heat. I picked the NV 3500 passenger version just because I could control the rear temp in the van. I drive anywhere up to 18hrs for a show and drive through the night most of the time so the corals are in cups for the least amount of time. So after all they investment in driving, housing, growing and traveling. Why in the world would I throw away animals when I have so much invested??!! You know its unfortunate but some corals do die on the trip to the show and most of the time it’s only a few out of hundreds…. Everyone has seen my display, it’s huge because I bring a lot. The more I bring the more risk I take and sometimes 2% looks like a lot. If I bring 400 coral colonies on a regular basis and 2% dies in transport, that’s 8 corals. Yeah it sucks but it happens. Sometimes on a bad day if something goes wrong and I lose more than 10% it’s really bad but it happens to all of use traveling vendors. Like the MAMAX show.

1. Aznnutty was seen throwing out live corals at mamax frag swap-

Going to mamax was not the best show I was at because I had some loses. In the past I try not to travel with acros because I know they are sensitive to condition changes but for quite a few events I have always been asked to bring acros because my prices are so competitive. So I did bring acros for macna and mamax. I wanted to try something new and expand my business with acros, you guys that have seen me at the previous mamax shows didn’t see me with acros until this past year. And like anything in life there’s a learning curve. I lost over 30 acros going to mamax and also lost the stars that where in the same box as the acros. Maybe the box got too hot or too cold where it was at in my van but before the show even started I had to throw out 30 acros and a few starts into the dump and I was highly disappointed because I failed my second attempt to bring acros to a show. No they weren’t alive. It was a massive loss and I haven’t been seen with acros much in the swaps after that. During the mamax show I did keep some of the more sensitive items in cups because I trust my home tank water then the water that was provided for me at the show. Most of you know acros, star fish, gorgs and a few other things are sensitive to water condition changes especially if it’s freshly mixed saltwater. No one in their right mind with put starfish in fresh mixed saltwater so I kept them in cups because my water is established. Starfish can travel in containers up to 48hours provided the water is good. It takes over 40hrs to import stars from across seas.

1. Macna- what happened and why.

This was the first time I sold acros at a distant show so I was still learning on what’s the best way to deal with them.
I shipped in 400 acro mini colonies for macna to my house. I setup at macna Thursday and paid my employee to make a trip and dive the 400 sps to macna Friday early morning so they are fresh. I displayed the acros in cups so if one goes bad it doesn't foul the water and kill the rest of them. If only two clouds up a tank with 400 acros, they could all die from foul water. I know that I will lose 10-30% of any acros after shipping so this was the best way to keep them. Also it never a good idea to put acros in fresh mixed saltwater so I kept them in water I had from my house in the cups.

Friday I sold a bunch and at the end of the day there was some on their way out. Lost like 20ish out of 400. I asked for a trash can and someone provided me with a trash can. I asked where to put the can and they said the middle of the isle so hotel staff can take them. Sat morning I lost a few more acros and the trash can was still in the isle. I tossed out the ones that didn't make it overnight. This guy Dave came and said that I have to take the can out because it looks bad. I said ok and that I was instructed to leave it there. I took the can out and hotel staff took it to the dump. I came back and Dave asked where the can was because it was their saltwater mixing trash can. I retrieved it back from the staff and rinsed it out. Right before sat show started another member came up and asked why I didn't put the sps in the tank. I explained because a few will die and foul the water and kill the rest. They said how about if I did a water change on the tank and I said it would stress the acros out even more to dump fresh mixed saltwater right on them. Then we agreed to do water changes with the ones in the cups that didn't look good. I kept them in cups and changed out the water if it didn't look good. Sunday morning I gave the rest of the acros away because I rather have someone take them, then leave them on the table any longer. There was only like 20 left out of 400. The numbers worked out perfect, I lost about 100 acros out of 400 so 25% worth which is normal for Bali aquaculture acros. Sunday morning all the acros were gone. Sunday after the show we took down our system and had two carnation corals that didn't make it. I asked around where to put our trash because there's no can around and they told me to make a pile at our booth and they would take care of it. The booth next to us was done and they had their trash pile so I put the two carnations in a cooler and put it next to their pile. I left to get the truck and my wife was still there. That Dave guy came around and saw the cooler and asked my wife if it was ours. She said yes and was instructed to leave it there. He got mad and said he told me to take care of it before and not leave it up to hotel staff. I still don't know where the dumpster is. I came back and my wife was all angry and I asked what happened. She filled me in and we left. Later on we saw a post online that one customer didn't like that we put her rock nem in a cup over night after pulling it from the tank. We had 200 rock nems and over 40 corals held for Sunday. She said it was dying in the cup when she got it but survived after putting it in her tank. I checked out the held coral and it all looked good except one blue berry gorg which I have a refund for. Dave chimed in on the post and said I was banned from any future macnas. I emailed Dave and all officials of masna and wamas to clear the air about the sps but no one responded except the president of wamas and he apologized for Dave and to stay low till things blown over. I said no and I wanted to make it clear to everyone that I was never banned and why I kept the sps in cups and not in tanks. But then agreed to let it go and let it passed. Then I get a message from Madison Dixon club saying that because I was banned from macna and I wasn't allowed to come to their swap. And now DRC is doing the same. I was never banned and only did what I was instructed at macna. I talked to ben from mamax show as well and he wanted corals in tanks but never said I wasn’t allowed to come back. We agreed to not bring the sensitive stuff and everything would be in tanks.

4. TN frag swap back in the beginning.
When I first started doing fragswaps in 2012, I had no money to invest in tanks or equipment for a show. I was just laid off a job and wanted to turn my hobby into a business because I had no other options to make income other than fast food. I had a wife, house and kids on the way. My first show was Cleveland Ohio at LEAR and I had corals in bags and they sold well. I was still a hobbyist selling what I have acquired over the years and like all other hobbyist, its corals in bags and a name tag. From then I found it was easier to see corals in cups then in bags so I stuck to hardy corals that did will in travel. I did a few more show traveling with corals in cups and had very very few losses. I was so proud of what I have accomplished because traveling to shows selling corals was pretty fun and I enjoy talking to people about my passion. Other vendors got to know me and started my nick name CUPS. Corals travel across the ocean from point of origin to the state side and held at customs to be cleared for more than 40 hours, then transhippers clear customs and fish and wildlife, pick up the corals and throw them on another plan to ship them out to whole sellers. Now the corals have been in containers for well over two days and yes there’s some loss but mostly over 80% alive. I chose the 80% of what was strong shippers and decided and softies and LPS was my specialty. As long as I start driving Friday night and got to the show Saturday morning to display the corals in cups and make it back by Sunday morning. I was well within the 48hr range to travel with corals. I tested what would make the trip and what would not and ordered what did best. The acceptable temp for corals is 65-84 degrees so any location I picked to travel to, had to have heat over night or keep temps above 65. I’ve always ask the show organizers to see if there’s heat overnight to ensure the corals stay within that range. At TN a few years back when I still was displaying in cups, I did ask if the church building had heat over night and they said yes. The next morning I felt the building was cold and my water was around 55 degrees. I was so mad because I knew I was going to have massive losses. I asked why there was no heat over night and I was told that they did. No one told me they had problems with their ac unit.
Now some years later I have 8 display tanks I can use for shows and use as many as possible. I still keep my blue berry gorgs in cups because they are a more delicate coral so I rather not put them in freshly mixed saltwater. I do sell acros in cups at local shows only and they are in cups from max 8 hrs. from the morning the show starts till when I get them back home the same day.

If anyone has any further concerns with me or how I deal with corals, talk to me directly. I’m not unapproachable and I will tell you why things are done the way they are. There’s a reason for everything and it’s for the better good of the corals. My intentions is to spread the hobby to other enthusiasts and share my knowledge of corals I have gained over the years. I support the third world countries that run aquaculture farms and I’m proud to sell farm raised corals along with some wild caught species permitted by CITES.

If any one wants to know how people feel about me, just ask someone that matters like, Julian Sprung, Jason from Jason fox corals, Brandon from zoanthids.com, Mitch from Booya's clownfish, Patty from Reef Deep aquatics, The coral dudes, King Pin corals, Brian from NY Coral Kings, and any of the other traveling vendors you guys see on a normal basis. check out my facebook and see all those who have bought from me, check out other online forums that have feedback on me.

 

Nice reply to a very biased thread.

 

Why should anyone feel ashamed by listening to one guy when your just one guy replying? Don't knock everybody because they belive a member on this site, that alone would make me not want to buisness with you. To be honest, I've never heard of you. If you know what your doing is honest then that's all you need to worry about. Don't get so upset over "one guys" statement. It's really not a big deal

 

If it was an opinion then yeah I wouldn't care, but when he says its a factual story and others believe him including show organizers that decide to band me from there show because they never had me at a show before or know me, then it becomes a problem. when his statements affect my ability to provide for my family and tarnish my reputation then it becomes a big problem. just because u have never heard of me doesn't mean I don't exist. I do frag swaps for a living and go to over 40 shows a year. that's every weekend except in the summer. PA doesn't have many shows because the reefing community is smaller so the shows they do have are smaller then the avg show so I normally pick the bigger show. but when a big show searches google and sees this "factual" thread and gets a band then yes it is a big deal.

 

Why would any organization ban you from simple words?? I would think they have proof to support a ban. That wouldn't fly at reefapalooza. I don't think it's right for you to shame other members while defending yourself, that's my point that obviously nobody gets. Be mad at the original poster not at the people who have an opinion. Unprofessional in my opinion.

 

I am one of those mods that does not get too bent out of shape regarding vendor feed back be it good or bad.
The original thread was dead and over 6 months old. I fail to see the benefit to all involved in dusting the thread off and then creating new ones.Everyone has the right to defend themselves and that has been done with this thread. There are always two sides to every story. Done Deal.