The thing is that we the hobbyist have ok'd these things by purchasing the $1000 booger and thats why it continues to happen.
This is spot on the reason why it happens, and, I hate to say, much of why it happens is because of large forums like this one and others, where a guy comes on, selling a one tiny eye chalice frag for $400, and, then everyone jumps on the thread saying how "sexy" the frag is (who thinks a coral is sexy?!?), and often I wonder if those commenting are just the seller's "hype men." Some even say how much of a "bargain" that price is for such a "SEXY CORAL." Sure, the mother colony might be gorgeous, but, how long will that tiny little frag, if it survives, take to grow to something recognizable as the mother colony? Years! I have been in this hobby for a decade now. Most reefers don't make it that long, and the dropout rate is usually around the 2-3 year mark due to frustration, failure, finances, etc. I can remember when I could buy an ENTIRE, very colorful chalice COLONY for $50 or less, or an entire ROCK of nicely colored zoas for $35 or less. You could buy huge colonies of nicely colored Acropora and other colonies for under $100. What I see people selling tiny pieces or single polyps of coral for these days (individuals and vendors) absolutely galls me. And, by our own behavior in STARTING and accepting this trend, the wholesalers, divers, etc., have caught on, and now sell to the local fish store for obscene prices what was once very reasonable. Tyree and his ilk have ruined for me and others that which was once a somewhat affordable hobby. Yes, life is not fair, and this is how capitalism works when someone with more money than sense is willing to drop several hundred dollars on a bugger frag, but, it doesn't make it right, not in my book.
