Cheap(er) corals

[CanuckReefer]

IMO everyone is suffering from the "Dollar Tree Syndrome". Everyone wants the best acceptable quality at a super super valued price.

Corals are not things you can contract out to a Chinese Mfgr and make a ba-zillion of them so you can have soooooo much supply that the price is driven to bare minimums.

If corals were, you'd see $5 corals sold in the Walmart Pet Section

This is a hobby of collectible animals (corals) that grow naturally half way around the world from us in Indonesia. 9,300 miles away Jack....

Even aquacultured within the U.S. it takes a trained well skilled person to grow out and provide the littlest amount of supply in a very small but passionate market

This hobby involves a ton of patience and a LOT of money.

It's not a hobby where you can skate by and cut corners. Many try, but many quit when they realize the amount of patience and money it takes to have a super nice setup.

Can't be in the Ferrari Club while trying to barely pay for your Volkswagen


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This!

 

[Llyod276]

As far as params go, I would think I would try to get less than ideal, especially in the beginner dept. Considering the newbs,like me, dont have access to neptune systems, keeping these params in check is just a nightmare. Maybe people have these ideals, but at best we TRY to mimic the ocean. The oceans do not have consistent params even. They change and adapt with every volcano hurricane etc. Yet we in the hobby, have this ideal because we have small systems and nothing is natural about it. Think about this, just how much of the oceans diversity is sitting in your fishtank. Does that "orange beluga chromactis skunk cabbage" really grow where your hippo tang lives, naturally? And that "mystic sparkling unicorn booger"anemone found next your deaths head acropora. Right next to your "trouser snake" montipora? Eh. Long and short the chem of the ocean is different by region.

 

[MaxTremors]

Just like my signature says below....

Can't eat a steak dinner at McDonald's Value Menu prices


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Yeah, I’m sorry, but this is nonsense. Coral prices are absolutely more expensive than they used to be. But this idea that people have unrealistic expectations for the amount of money they want to spend is absurd. There are plenty of gorgeous corals out there for reasonable prices. No coral is rare enough or colorful enough or distinct enough to command $1000+ for a tiny half inch frag, not even $500. If you think they are worth it, or if you think they’re truly that rare or unique, you’ve got more dollars than sense. The only reason any coral sells for these prices is because people have invested into the name game and they’ve bought into the hype. Is a $30 rainbow BTA really all that different from a Colorado sunburst? Not really, it’s not quite as colorful, but is it a $1000 difference? I don’t think so.

The other thing is that every single coral fad bottoms out. Ten years ago an average rainbow micromussa lord sold for hundreds of dollars a polyp, same with chalices, and now they are $20. The same thing will happen with every single coral that is trendy right now. Theres this gold rush mentality in the hobby where people ride the wave of these trends trying to make as much money as possible (generally from people new to the hobby), and it’s just kind of gross. When I started in the hobby, other reefers traded frags and no one was in it to profit (at least at the hobbyist level), but it’s changed for the worse, people’s tanks these days look like frag racks instead of displays. It just seems like it’s about money first and foremost and the love of the hobby and community is secondary and tertiary.

I guess my point is that this sort of elitism (acting like the only options in the hobby are trendy, expensive, colorful corals or cheap, brown corals, and that anyone who expects reasonable prices for quality corals is some peasant scrub) is delusional and completely out of touch with reality. There are literally thousands of beautiful, colorful corals that can be had for reasonable prices.

 

[msjboy]

Nowadays with corals dying out from climate change ( turkey is having a big algae /phyto issue for example) and pollution, and thus bans ( like Indonesia which lasted just til last year), throw in covid and air travel, we may be limited to localized coral farms and that costs a lot....so , expect to pay a lot for bouger sized frags in the future and beyond.

 

[Llyod276]

The takeaway is that yes corals are expensive, but do they need to be? In most cases, no. Pay what you think a piece is worth, but to justify the current trend in pricing is silly. Living collectables. I'll be a believer once you guys collect $200 for your 1000dollar coral skeleton. Because that's what'll be left in the end.

 

[Catskiller]

Seems like this is a good place for you to look. Just be sure to treat/qt anything prior to display tank.
https://chicago.craigslist.org/d/for-sale/search/sss?query=coral&sort=rel

 

[ou12004]

Reefs don’t have to be expensive, I could sale you ten corals for a 100 dollars that would fill most of your tank and no one outside of reef keepers would know that they were inexpensive. I have some 200-300 dollar acro frags and all any one ever comments on is how cool the green star polyp is. But what about that half inch Candyland frag, until it is a colony no one even notices or cares. I don’t test outside of salinity and do weekly water changes instead, it costs me about 20 dollars a month in salt and Kalk and I can easily sell that much in coral a month. Point is, you can have a beautiful tank for very little cost