Is the Chalice Craze Finally Over?

Acronuts · Jul 4, 2009

Well at least here in the Orlando area in Florida, chalice's are not slowing down yet. But prices have dropped a little. I was at my lfs and saw great prices on my 1st love, "acro's." I am still in the collecting process for my tank so after my chalice craze, a few weeks ago, a breather into acro's was nice to have. Anyhow I am still looking at growth and so far my hollywood stunner takes 1st place. Another instance this morning I was checking out my ca reactor and looked into the tank I saw one of my watermelon chalices with a stinger of approx. 2 1/2 inches long!
Holy cow!

I-K@ndY · Jul 4, 2009

is it? dang Im just starting to collect !

droblack · Jul 4, 2009

Keep at it Steve because I want frags of most of your collection!

Reef Pets · Jul 4, 2009

The craze has slowed down drastically from what I have noticed. I have seen some great Chalice for sale on R2R in the last month and the people have a hard time selling them. Six months ago they would have been sold in a matter of minutes with people contacting the buyer for frags.
I have noticed that the Zoa/Paly craze seems to be coming back after a decline over the past year. Zoas/Palys, unlike Chalice, you have a chance in getting some of your money back being that they grow at a decent pace.
So, for you guys and gals that have a large Chalice collection I would suggest fragging them to make some of your money back. Otherwise, the losses will be huge.

I have never been a fan of Chalice. Yes, they do have nice color but so do Favias, Acans, Zoas and most of all Acros and Montis. For the insane cost I feel that Chalice are way over rated. This hobby does not have to be insanely expensive to enjoy. I have seen small colonies of Chalice sell for over 1500.00 and more, thats nuts!! I feel sorry for the people that have purchased them, because in 4-5 months from now they will not be worth an eigth of that. I realize that this hobby is not suppose to be an investment but on the other hand it should not be a complete loss.

JR's Reef · Jul 4, 2009

I going to say Yes for now but think it will be back soon.

nellahtes · Jul 4, 2009

if the craze has slowed down whats the point in fragging them? im perefectly happy with my purchases and will just have to watch them grow until the cycle brings chalices back to the in "thing".

ptownreefer · Jul 4, 2009

Personally I have always liked the chalices. Popular or not. I think the fad may be slowing down like they all eventually do .The poor economy and summer time are probably playing into it a bit though. When the fad is done it will be nice to find some choice colonies at a reasonable price.

Acroholic · Jul 4, 2009

I agree with ptown. I don't think the fad is gone at all, but the economy is lowering prices some, I believe. Many people just don't have the discretionary income to indulge in collecting LEs right now. I know that if times got tough financially, corals would be one of the first things I stopped buying.
Dave

bamachamp92 · Jul 4, 2009

ptownreefer said:
Personally I have always liked the chalices. Popular or not. I think the fad may be slowing down like they all eventually do .The poor economy and summer time are probably playing into it a bit though. When the fad is done it will be nice to find some choice colonies at a reasonable price.

+1 When the craziness is over its not like everyone will get rid of their collection. I think it will be like the acans where the prices come down to where more people can have some nice ones without paying an arm and a leg. The reason I like sps is because theres not new le stuff being bombarded on everyone every day for outrageous prices.

I-K@ndY · Jul 4, 2009

The only one that will cry when prices drops are the people who buys chalice thinking that they will make money out of it.. While the collector people will not be affected if the price drops or shoot up again ... I buy chalices cuz I like it and thats the important thing and not buy chalices to be kool with other reefers... Will I still buy chalice .. HELL YEAH

Znut Reefer · Jul 4, 2009

It has slowed down for me. I have been collecting chalices for at least 5 yrs now. I have decided not to buy or trade for anymore for awhile. I have way to many as it is.

I want to let things grow out and decide what I want to keep. A tank can only hold so many. My floor of the 500 is covered. And I sure don't want to set up another tank. I'm mainly a colored stick keeper as well.

143gadgets · Jul 4, 2009

Pnoyreefer said:
The only one that will cry when prices drops are the people who buys chalice thinking that they will make money out of it.. While the collector people will not be affected if the price drops or shoot up again ... I buy chalices cuz I like it and thats the important thing and not buy chalices to be kool with other reefers... Will I still buy chalice .. HELL YEAH

Well put.

mpoletti · Jul 4, 2009

Znut Reefer said:
It has slowed down for me. I have been collecting chalices for at least 5 yrs now. I have decided not to buy or trade for anymore for awhile. I have way to many as it is. I want to let things grow out and decide what I want to keep. A tank can only hold so many. My floor of the 500 is covered. And I sure don't want to set up another tank. I'm mainly a colored stick keeper as well.

Now that would be a sight to see Fonda

grknyer · Jul 4, 2009

I don't think it's over at least not for me. I just bought a frag the other day.

It might be that its summertime. The forums have been slow too.

Znut Reefer · Jul 4, 2009

marko9 said:
Now that would be a sight to see Fonda

It sure is a sight to see.

I'll post pics later as things grow out. It's a 500 gal frag tank these days.

underwaterfirefighter · Jul 4, 2009

Most of our coral purchases lately have been chalice. We probably have purchased a dozen or so frags in the past two months. Not to try and resell them or anything, we just like them. We will certainly continue to collect the pieces that we like in the future as well. Not because they are LE's or whatever, but because they are the ones we like. Some of favorites are no names that we picked up. But of course some of the nicer ones are the pricier ones.

Dave and Lisa

twinspots_goby · Jul 4, 2009

I just got into chalices recently and have collected about 100 different kinds. I will keep hunting for the nice ones. So this game is not over yet to me.

amore169 · Jul 4, 2009

Well I have way too many of them now to back down and stop buying them, but I have to agree lately the prices went out of control so I stop buying, but I still have a few I would like to get.

Sikryd · Jul 4, 2009

Pnoyreefer said:
The only one that will cry when prices drops are the people who buys chalice thinking that they will make money out of it.. While the collector people will not be affected if the price drops or shoot up again ... I buy chalices cuz I like it and thats the important thing and not buy chalices to be kool with other reefers... Will I still buy chalice .. HELL YEAH

+1

I don't care whether it is a craze, if it goes on, or stops. I bought every piece because I like them - not to grow out and sell. Yeah it helps "operating" costs for salt and to buy or trade for new corals and whatever, but any tank/coral collection should do that a little. It SHOULDN'T be like a job/investment.
I have a full mixed reef, including a BTA and other stuff that people say you shouldn't have since it could kill thousands in coral. We both love watching the symbiotic relationship between the two (clown/nem), so its worth it to us.

I don't look at my tank and see $$$ - I see cool corals - if tomorrow they aren't worth a dime - I STILL have a tank full of sweet looking pieces that I love to watch grow.....:nerd:

When guys come over to get stuff frags or just to pop in and check out the tank, they always leave with something! I like to share the luv and have FUN with this HOBBY. Ex. I have a good buddy that works two jobs, has two kids, has a nice tank, but can't afford to pick up some of the nicer corals - I give him frags. He always says no, that I should sell them and make money. They're in his tank

I could care less about making money, sure getting some new corals is nice, but if I didn't have friends to share this hobby with it would sure suck!

I think the main people that will suffer are the ones with full frags tanks, no displays, that just buy corals with the investment/resale value in mind, not solely because they enjoy it.

mpoletti · Jul 4, 2009

Sikryd said:
I think the main people that will suffer are the ones with full frags tanks, no displays, that just buy corals with the investment/resale value in mind, not solely because they enjoy it.

Well said Chad.

It will be nice to see a slowdown. I got my first chalice 3.5 years ago and even though I know that there are are many that collected them before me, I have always only collected ones that I really liked. Freebies are cool and all, but they don't make it into the tank (usually

). I collect corals because of what they look like. I used to not frag my chalices and some people did not understand that. oh well, I have too many now and its time to make some tough decisions.

Whats funny is I added a few "cookers" to the display today