Coral enthusiasts sell, trade at fairgrounds
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
The 3 Rivers Marine Aquarium Society held a coral frag swap Sunday afternoon at the Washington County fairgrounds in Chartiers Township.
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
The 3 Rivers Marine Aquarium Society held a coral frag swap Sunday afternoon at Washington County fairgrounds in Chartiers Township.
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
The 3 Rivers Marine Aquarium Society held a coral frag swap Sunday afternoon at the Washington County fairgrounds in Chartiers Township.
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
At right, Steve Clark, who drove his Zoanthid Garden coral frags from Michigan to Washington County Sunday, shows off his saltwater tank full of coral frags to visitors during a coral frag swap at Washington County fairgrounds in Chartiers Township.
A different type of animal occupied Washington County fairgrounds Sunday afternoon, as 3 Rivers Marine Aquarium Society held its first coral frag swap.
Vendors from all over the nation filled their saltwater tanks with colorful fragments of coral and brought them to the fairgrounds in Chartiers Township.
“Coral is an animal that has a plant in it,” said Ted Bailey, event coordinator for the society. “The animal hosts the plant, which provides energy to the animal. There’s a lot of biology here.”
Coral needs a certain temperature of water, between 76 and 80 degrees, Bailey said. They also need a certain wavelength of light, which is why the tanks are typically lit with a blue light. He said there are several chemical components to growing coral because they are very temperamental.
“Coral reef has the most stable environment in the world,” he said. “They’re not used to any changes.”
Bailey said none of the coral being swapped or purchased comes from the ocean anymore. He said it’s around from “generations and generations of hobbyists.”
“We’re all environmentalists who do this,” he said. “Pollution is our issue because it kills coral.”
Bailey, a resident of the North Hills outside of Pittsburgh, said when he was younger, he wanted to be a marine biologist. He started out with fish tanks as a child and later had saltwater tanks and started collecting coral.
“It’s very serene and calming and when you get to this level, it’s very challenging,” he said.
The society has between 30 and 40 members and meets monthly in Monroeville, Bailey said. They had a difficult time finding Pittsburgh area venues who would allow saltwater tanks in their facility, he said. That’s how they ended up at the fairgrounds.
“This has been pretty successful, and I believe most of the people stopping in were local,” Bailey said. “We haven’t had an event like this in a while, but we’re going to try to make this a yearly event. We provide an education on how to do something like this in your home.”
Vendors, or people selling pieces of their own coral, came from Chicago, Tennessee, New York, Virginia and West Virginia for the frag swap. Steve Clark, with The Zoanthid Garden, brought coral from Michigan.
“I did very well here,” he said. “It’s my first time in the Pittsburgh area.”
Clark was selling frags from $10 to more than $500 a piece, depending on size, rarity and other factors. The Zoanthid type he had was colorful and easier to grow than others, he said.
“People like the stuff that’s brighter like this,” he said.
Like many coral enthusiasts, Clark’s coral hobby began with a freshwater fish tank when he was 8 years old. When he started getting into saltwater tanks, he started collecting coral.
“It makes it look more natural with color,” he said. “It looks more like the ocean than a tank with just fish and rocks.”