Has live stock price jumped in the last few years?

dannieboiz

Active member
I've not had a reef tank in 4 years. Been thinking about setting up again. Everything seems so expensive these days, even frags.
 
I remember how much it cost for my 120g way back when, I can't imagine what it would be now. Maybe I'll do a little nano on the office table to ease my crave.
 
Yep people name the corals then charge like $400 for eye or shroom,
But there are stuff that is cheeper as long as your not into the fad while it's going on.

Im sure some locals would hook you up.
 
Yeah I remember 6 years ago I got a purple tang at cost when I worked at the LFS for 40. We sold it for 80. Now they sell for 150-200 for the same size.

Damsels are about the same, clowns went up maybe 20%, I don't recall a lot of prices from those days but purple tangs particularly I do.
 
equipment costs haven't gone up a whole lot. Livestock has.

The Red Sea doesn't export much, expect Purple Tangs to cost an arm, leg and kidney.
 
We get most from the Indian Ocean. The Red Sea variants are hard to come by.

I've worked for a aquarium feed supplier for a decade now. We did a single price increase in that amount of time.
 
Between inflation, rising cost of fuel/transportation, and stringent regulations imposed, it's not going to get any cheaper.
 
Not sure why but around here it seems the price of SPS corals in LFS has gone up by 1/3 in the last few weeks.
 
Yep people name the corals then charge like $400 for eye or shroom,
But there are stuff that is cheeper as long as your not into the fad while it's going on.
agreed.

You should see some Zoa/ Paly single polyps going for $800 plus now a days. Single eye of chalice for a couple Ks. Absurd what the naming and hyping or corals has done.
 
agreed.

You should see some Zoa/ Paly single polyps going for $800 plus now a days. Single eye of chalice for a couple Ks. Absurd what the naming and hyping or corals has done.

Love your quotes on the bottom hehe i boycott it and don't buy it.:)
 
I guess I am the only one who thinks that prices on both drygoods and livestocks have gone down. Skimmers, LEDs, and fish prices have gone down. I just saw a purple tang at lfs for 90. It's all about supply and demand and I am not surprised if it would drop further.
 
I think corals $ went down, I remember paying rasta and my clementine zoa for $40 pp couple of years ago. Now you can get them as mini colonies for that price range. Thing is, there's always new releases, and to have them now, gotta pay more $ than the regular ones. So maybe waiting a little more and some trading will save some $:)

For equipment, it's nice that these alternative brands has vastly improved lately and surprisingly, even dropping their tags
 
I agree with all of you... meaning prices have gone up and down.

For fish and other items imported, the price has generally gone up, based on reasons already stated.

Prices on captive-bred clowns have come WAAAAY down. ORA designers can be had at Petco for $30.

All zoas/palys that have been in the trade for a while now have all come down in price. The slower growers or those prone to melting have held their price for those reasons. Of course, new ones continue to be "named" with pricing to match. The fancier the name to more money it costs. Same with mushrooms -- anything that can break your jaw or you can bounce on are expensive.

On the other hand, it seems like the acans fad has died. For example, people now know that rainbows morph under LEDs -- both good and bad -- so they no longer command a higher price.

Chalices are in a league of their own, with a low end and also an extremely high end, and prices vary A LOT.

In terms of SPS frags, I think prices have stabilized to the point where you can get a lot of nice frags at the LFS for $10. There will always be a high-end, but the low end has expanded a lot, where you can have a really nice SPS collection for not a lot of money.

In short, I'm really happy to see how the hobby has progressed in terms of price. If you know where to look and/or who to ask, you can get really good deals on really nice stuff both from stores and other hobbyists.
 
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