Ok, I will put in my 2 cents......As a newbie to ARC, I only joined for the knowledge and experience of others. I joined at my first meeting, in Feb. I didn't even have a tank, but thought that if I was to gleen knowledge off of others, even if I never start a reef tank, the least I could do was pay up. Good knowledge is valuable and I was interested in learning.
At the meeting, many people wanted FREE frags. I gave mine, since I didn't have a tank, to Ramone (Glen). Now that I decided to start my tank, when it cycled, Glen brought it back to me. He then offered FREE frags from his tank. I told him that I was just starting slowly, so I would take him up on it in the future! Glen proves that the ARC is full of generous, nice people.
I will be looking for coral frags soon. I EXPECT to pay for them, as the person that has been raising it deserves some compensation! Of course, a few bucks is not going to replace the corals, but it does insure that the person who buys them has a "vested interest" in the corals wellbeing.
I EXPECT to "pay to play", but free is good. If someone want to give something away, that is great. Good karma. What comes around, goes around!
Danny
