British reefkeepers haven’t had a lot to get excited about lately. An exponential rise in the电力成本had loomed over many hobbyists to the point of shutting their tanks down, with few people shopping for new corals and the hobby lacking enthusiasm in general. That was until we walked into Signature Frags for the first time in Ripley, Derbyshire, and our enthusiasm for all things coral went from 0-100% in about 15 seconds.
签名片段was started in 2018 and is owned and run by Christian Pond. A passionate reef keeper and collector he was frustrated that he couldn’t get the quality of Acros that he saw in the US and online, so says he was forced into sourcing his own corals. He learned the hard way first how to keep them and then how to color them up and after a few years of trial and error his European corals started to show some of the colors and promise of thenamed and famed coralson sale in America. He started like many others selling frags from his private collection at home, and when an opportunity came to leave his white-collar job in the City he wanted to see if his home tank and its produce actually had a business case. It did, so he took on a second and third tank, got some shiny new retail premises during the Covid-19 pandemic and the rest is history. After visiting hundreds of stores around the UK and further afield, Signature Frags coral farm is no ordinary aquatic store or even reef store. It’s a high-end coral-only boutique, the likes of which we haven’t seen before in the UK. That’s why we’ve given it a special mention.
第一印象
穿过玻璃，标志写的门，您会被白色的墙壁，干净，现代线条和足够的开放空间所吸引。没有干货部门，杂物，甚至没有清理工作人员部分，用于签名碎片，仅出售珊瑚和珊瑚，而克里斯蒂安（Christian）与每个人都有个人联系。Dance music plays in the shop, with seating and a table where customers can chill out, have a hot drink, and take it all in. There’s a newly set up display tank, a tv, and white counters and the decor and ambiance could easily suit a fashionable clothes shop or posh hairdresser. But Instead of clothes on hangers or barbers stations and mirrors, the main event on our visit was three flat coral trays. Decked out with multiple rows ofRadionsand Gyres the tanks sparkled with movement and color and we knew we were in for a treat as two of the trays were filled with Acropora colonies and their frags, while the third tray pulsed rhythmically with high-end torch corals and fields of rainbow-colored Goniopora. Our heart racing, we were keen to find out more:
克里斯对礁石建筑商说：“签名碎片源于我们找不到像英国各州的珊瑚那样的事实。”“我想证明珊瑚可以看起来像是从漫画书中直接拉出的，随着时间的流逝，我们开发了当今可用的一些美丽珊瑚的技术。”
Appointment Only
We have visited hundreds of水生商店多年来，（到目前为止）都没有在英国产生这种口径或数字的颜色。我们将其归结为奉献精神和专业化，以及能够仅专注于生产彩色珊瑚的最终目标的机会。正如我们所说，没有干货，没有水族馆，甚至没有任何鱼类（除了在珊瑚托盘中执行清洁职责的鱼类），也没有其他客户。This is a high street store in a bustling little town, but you can’t just walk in, and this extreme form of customer control again helps to prevent mishaps, accidents, sabotage even, and instead permits the rigid coral care protocols necessary for this boutique coral collection, as well as one-on-one, much more focused customer interactions. The corals on sale looked different from many we see in other stores. As we said they weresuper colorful,但是他们也依靠，成长和繁荣。这是因为签名片段的奢侈是不必“翻转”新进口的牲畜，而是对每一个进口和收购都有更长的时间看法：
“From the moment a new coral enters the store, it receives a six-month, rigorous quarantine process. All corals receive an initial dip and inspection with a magnifying glass or sometimes even a microscope. Any areas that cannot be inspected are cut apart, and only living flesh enters the QT system,” Christian told us. “Corals are inspected every few days for potential problems, and they接受蘸酱和坦克治疗每周双周刊从而取消e predators. Corals also receive ongoing anti-bacterial treatments with many types of medications both in-tank and in separate baths to reset and cleanse corals at a microbial level, to prevent potentially harmful pathogens from entering the farm systems.”
“即使是干净的珊瑚也可以在1个月的标记上显示害虫，因此3个月后，当我确定它们很干净时，它们将进入农场系统并适应缓慢的照明。从首次进入QT到销售的灯光总数大约需要6个月，并且只有在观察到显着的颜色发展和向上增长的同时，同时保持最佳健康状况。只要我们能够，我们继续传播育雏母亲的母亲，我们的许多珊瑚已经在我们的护理中多年，有些珊瑚已经有十多年了。我们竭尽所能，以确保客户购买适应性良好并证明在水族馆增长的无风险的彩色珊瑚。”
签名片段is a shining example of a British coral retailer and farm that left a lasting impression on us. Few of the corals looked as good when Christian first took them in but his vision, skill, husbandry, and dedication have created some realmasterpieces。我们认为自己被振兴了。
