I wish there was more trading amongst hobbyist. Why charge each other money for coral? Why not just post pictures of what you have and trade with others. Much more enjoyable than paying $$$ for frags. Let's pass them around and enjoy the hobby! Look at the livestock trading section on this forum...it's virtually empty. That's a shame...
The whole coral pricing has become a joke
- Thread starter tang named junkyard
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sde1500
Active member
Battlecorals is the worst of the worst! just look at this! http://battlecorals.com/products/fairy-food
Totally kidding though, If i was into SPS would certainly buy some from him.
Totally kidding though, If i was into SPS would certainly buy some from him.
dkeller_nc
New member
That was actually Mike Paletta; of all of the people in the reefing hobby that knows what corals should and can look like without the aid of photoshop, he's certainly in the elite. I suspect the guy's seen more reef tanks and corals than just about anyone in the hobby.
But, as I noted above, there is a definite and widespread behavioral aspect in the human population that's sometimes colloquially called "keeping up with the Jones". This trait had a survival advantage to our ancestors, so it's quite likely that it will never go away.
But there is a way to keep it under control other than recommending that people not buy "designer" corals. In many, if not most, forums, plenty of reefers post an image of a particular named coral, and the responses typically involve "wow! where can I get one?". However impolite it may seem, perhaps the best response would be "yes, that's certainly a nice coral, but it's quite common, and won't really be impressive until it grows well beyond a frag. At that point, it may well be worth a reasonable fraction of what you paid for it".
Price is there, right or wrong. People pay, the price stays. Sort of like the price of a gallon of gas. People complain yet still drive their cars and buy gas. This isn't a right or wrong thing but honestly if it bugs you put your money where your mouth is and stop buying.
I will say though that in order for the hobby to sustain itself it should encourage the trading of frags between hobbyist. With new laws taking effect, the global warming battle cry, endangered species, and a host of other things one would think the people in the hobby would do more to spread existing cultures or frags from personal tanks.
Just my opinion.
I will say though that in order for the hobby to sustain itself it should encourage the trading of frags between hobbyist. With new laws taking effect, the global warming battle cry, endangered species, and a host of other things one would think the people in the hobby would do more to spread existing cultures or frags from personal tanks.
Just my opinion.
dkeller_nc
New member
Actually, he's no grampa. I am.
So I'll say it so that the rest don't have to. Yes, the things your generation thinks are cool are ridiculous, stupid and vapid. Expressions such as "O.G." and "sick" come to mind. And you'll view much of it as goofy when you're mature in another 20 years.
Just like my generation did!
TimeConsumer
Active member
Actually, he's no grampa. I am.
So I'll say it so that the rest don't have to. Yes, the things your generation thinks are cool are ridiculous, stupid and vapid. Expressions such as "O.G." and "sick" come to mind. And you'll view much of it as goofy when you're mature in another 20 years.
Just like my generation did!
I hate my generation (millenials). Don't get me started on the complete misuse of the word "literally". It is not used to add emphasis! If you say "It was so funny I literally died." that is 100% incorrect. You figuratively died. My wife does it and it (figuratively) drives me nuts.
mussel and hate
New member
Wait a second, we were saying sick and O.G. back in the '80s... We weren't naming our corals like weed though. Nor did we sell them for more than coke.
Come on guys....touch gloves.....we don't want this thread closed for straying off topic.
Leviathan_XE
New member
I also think that one of the contributing factors that aid in folk complaining about higher prices is the lack of sharing information regarding lower/more reasonably priced vendors.
It's beyond ironic in this hobby that's sustained on the sharing of husbandry information that many will not wish to mention the names of vendors of which they got a "good deal". But they'll give you 2 pages of what they did to get good growth, or advice on lighting, water parameters, etc.
I've just returned to the hobby after a 5 year break and zoanthids are my new niche and it's funny that amount of post you'll read saying "hey I snagged some rainbow death butt-monkeys at an awesome price!!" but they are never willing to divulge this information to fellow hobbyist.
I'm speaking in terms of online vendors obviously. I've gotten some great deals from local reefers and I've also been given some crappy offers to sell by those who are either looking to make a profit on coral and by those looking to "break even" i.e they paid 20 bucks a polyp so they charge you 20 bucks a polyp.
IMHO those who are concerned should do what they can to have an effect on this by simply sharing WHERE you found good deals online. Compile a list of vendors who you think sell great coral at a good price. Spread this knowledge to as many as you can, so others can order from those vendors and avoid being the sucker, and by rewarding those vendors for their business model while avoiding the price hikers.
It's beyond ironic in this hobby that's sustained on the sharing of husbandry information that many will not wish to mention the names of vendors of which they got a "good deal". But they'll give you 2 pages of what they did to get good growth, or advice on lighting, water parameters, etc.
I've just returned to the hobby after a 5 year break and zoanthids are my new niche and it's funny that amount of post you'll read saying "hey I snagged some rainbow death butt-monkeys at an awesome price!!" but they are never willing to divulge this information to fellow hobbyist.
I'm speaking in terms of online vendors obviously. I've gotten some great deals from local reefers and I've also been given some crappy offers to sell by those who are either looking to make a profit on coral and by those looking to "break even" i.e they paid 20 bucks a polyp so they charge you 20 bucks a polyp.
IMHO those who are concerned should do what they can to have an effect on this by simply sharing WHERE you found good deals online. Compile a list of vendors who you think sell great coral at a good price. Spread this knowledge to as many as you can, so others can order from those vendors and avoid being the sucker, and by rewarding those vendors for their business model while avoiding the price hikers.
dkeller_nc
New member
Coke, meet keyboard. That was funny!
TimeConsumer
Active member
Please tell me that's actually a coral name.
HammerLover
New member
This post is so true. I'm in a third world country and we are one of the biggest LS supplier for the marine hobby like Indonesia. Every week there are always new items, and even sharks and smaller rays can be Boughy at fairly reasonable prices
Giant clams can have prices raining from $3-$6 depending on sizes
LPS like torches, hammers, galaxea, bubble coral, frogpspawn, octospawn, long tentacle planted and brain corals can cost at $1 for a 3-4 headed colony. $5 for a fairly large colony around twice the size of an average human palm.
Fishes are dirt cheap. $0.5 for common fishes like mower blennies, flasher wrasse, fairy wrasse and a different damsels. $2-$4 for firefishes, clowns, colorful blennies and gobies and smaller angelfishes. Larger fishes tend to be more expensive but still pretty cheap compared to most LFS at US.
They will pay the divers a certain amount per bag of fish. And each bag of fish can contain damsels, or colorful wrasses. The larger the fish the higher the price but they got paid in dirt cheap prices. Corals were paid for every sack collected. A sack can contain an assorted amount of LPS, SPS and softies. And each sack is pretty cheap. The divers were paid really low, thus the fairly low prices at the LFS here. The cartimar in our country is one of the most popular places for pet lovers. And this is where most of the marine livestock are being sold.
chilli_reef
New member
Actually, he's no grampa. I am.
So I'll say it so that the rest don't have to. Yes, the things your generation thinks are cool are ridiculous, stupid and vapid. Expressions such as "O.G." and "sick" come to mind. And you'll view much of it as goofy when you're mature in another 20 years.
Just like my generation did!
Bae.
A single word that sends thoughts of mass genocide of an entire generation through my mind.
Lol !
reefcentral123
In Memoriam
No, actually they're not. They're ordinary selections that you can find at many LFS's that deal in relatively high-end corals. And it's actually "Cornbred" if you wish to look him up on e-bay.
The listings are highly photoshopped to greatly increase saturation, and all are branded with catchy-sounding names. No coral will actually look like the pictures when it's in your tank.
And yes, if you're someone that's tempted by these sorts of listings, you may want to carefully examine your motivations for keeping a reef. Is it to have a coral to brag to your friends that you own and they don't? Or simply to enjoy what you have because it pleases you?
If it's the former, you're in good company. This behavior is quite common in all sorts of pursuits - classic cars, antique furniture, fine art, etc...
The best way to characterize it is: "The thrill of acquisition and the boredom of possession."
you know... i'd usually call it buyers remorse when i'd be so excited to get something and once it's finally in my hands it's meh. but i like your phrase better, i'm stealing it. thank u grandpa dkeller
#chillingwithbae :smokin:
That's the way it use to be.....we gave zoa/paly frags to newbies. If a frag didn't sell or we couldn't trade it at a swap before gouging started in 04/05, we just gave it away.
The photoshopping is part of the game. When they arrive and the buyer complains about the misrepresented color they're told by the seller " oh they will color up in time".
Most of these corals will never see the colors portrayed when advertised.
Mucho
Ya'll sound like you need better local clubs. In Colorado we have a frag swap and put corals into three categories low, middle, and high. Then you bring in your frags and swap one for one that is in it's category. I think last year several hundred corals were traded. Lots of them very high end.
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