Taking inflation into account, IMO, it was more expensive then.
Interesting - I also have the same perspective, except for livestock. I started my first reef tank in 1990 after keeping freshwater critters for many, many years. Many newbs (and some longer term hobbyists) on RC complain about reefing equipment being very expensive to the point of "not worth it". They're typically talking about name-brand DC controlled pumps, LED lighting, skimmers, and ancillary equipment like electronic ATOs.
I find this amusing because I have the distinct memory of MH reflectors, bulbs and ballasts being very pricey in the 1990 - 1995 time frame, and high-quality VHO ballasts like the Ice Cap 660 not being especially cheap, either. One typically ran a medium to large sized reef tank with Iwaki MD pumps, which were
really expensive back in the day. And Tunze Stream pumps were incredibly pricey when they came out, and that didn't include a controller.
One can't, of course, compare things like electronic ATOs with optical sensors, dedicated reef tank controllers and modern DC electronic pumps to the same thing in 1990 because they didn't exist.
But overall, I see the minimally required equipment for a reef tank being far, far less expensive than the 1990's. That, of course, assumes that one is OK without the latest and greatest toys and just goes for a T5HO fixture, a decent needle-wheel skimmer, a few AC non-controllable propeller pumps, and ATO, and a decent AC return pump. Paired with a mass-market glass tank, a reef tank's way, way cheaper than it was back then.
But I honestly don't have that same perception when it comes to corals. If my favored local shop in 1995 had tried to apply a goofy name to even very colorful 1" frags for $50 or more, there would have been a mass boycott from the local reef club. Folks back then expected that any coral for sale was a full colony (exactly how big that was depended on the species, but no less than 3" or more), and any broken off 1-2" frags were leftovers that the shop gave away.
In a way, though, the current silliness over "Limited Edition" labels, goofy coral names, and selling of tiny frags may be a good thing. Sites like Sexy Corals, Unique Corals, World Wide Corals, Cherry Corals and the like that employ these sorts of marketing techniques might make the more traditional LFS more attractive to the newbie. For one, it's pretty difficult to "live photoshop" a coral in the tank, and while some species will glow under actinic, it's pretty obvious to the buyer that the tank
is lit with actinics, and the same coral won't look the same under more color-balanced lighting.