I can't stand when I hear this....the hobby can be expensive as you want to make it....because some people want the latest and greatest NEW equipment, and keep increasing their costs is their OWN doing, not the hobby. You can buy used equipment, make your own pieces or whatever.
If you think about a LED light, most people need 1 or 2..... Development costs, build costs, customs costs, and profits need to be built in as you should not need to replace the light under normal use for 10 years...how would a company stay in business then....you can't stop paying for business costs for 9 years waiting for you to buy a new light, or not developing a new technology that is better, more energy efficient, and lasts 10 years longer ? This is just a small portion of the costs passed on to the buyer...and rightly so!
As for livestock, air flights have gone up, fees from fish and wildlife has gone up, as well as stock has decreased as further restrictions are put on wildlife collecting, this makes the prices go up. Just part of the business....can't do anything about that....prices from the collectors have even gone up due to regulations .
People who fall into the name game have the disposable income, or should have, to play that game. You can get coral frags (no names) from most stores for 10.00... But you want big colonies to add to your bare tanks, so yes...they cost 100 or more...just be patient that 10 frag will grow up to that colony if you know what you are doing.
I think new hobbyist fall into the thought process that, I buy a glass box, add salt and water once, have a inadequate filter and they add fish and or corals....I find that most of the people that complain about the price likely did not research what they were getting into before they took the leap. Look at the issues listed under the titles help....75-80% of them IMO are due to people not researching before they act....
I am going to bet that many new hobbyists have never opened a tropical fish monthly, coral magazine, or joined a local reef club before they start their tanks. Now, I am not trying to "bash" new hobbyists, but I think they are also given poor info or have no idea from many aspects until they have a question and realize there is a plethora of information on sites like reef2reef and the others...not sure how to get that out there though...
Rev does his best to advertize, but people don't look either....this I have no idea how to change though.
Take away message- if you research what it takes to get into the hobby, before you buy a tank, you should not be surprised by the costs as they arise. If you don't, then you realize it is expensive.
it is verry sad that it is so expensive and I don't think things are EVER going to change
