Just Ridiculous

[2Wheelsonly]

I find the more expensive the frag the more it will change color in my tank. On the opposite end, iv'e gotten some brown freebies from LFS included in large purchases that turned out to be stunners. IF I throw down money on a coral it has to be a common strand known to do well in most aquariums (walt disney, orange passion etc). My reasons for being in this hobby may differ from others though, I don't care about the names I don't care about the price. I want to experience a living reef in my own home and being a collector means nothing to me. When I buy corals, I buy them to grow into massive colonies and not some showcase rock full of frag plugs.

 

[tdileo]

I find the more expensive the frag the more it will change color in my tank. On the opposite end, iv'e gotten some brown freebies from LFS included in large purchases that turned out to be stunners. IF I throw down money on a coral it has to be a common strand known to do well in most aquariums (walt disney, orange passion etc). My reasons for being in this hobby may differ from others though, I don't care about the names I don't care about the price. I want to experience a living reef in my own home and being a collector means nothing to me. When I buy corals, I buy them to grow into massive colonies and not some showcase rock full of frag plugs.

I’m with you. If I saw a $1500 frag but it made my eyes water I wouldn’t have a huge problem spending the money, although of course it’s not easy on the wallet and I’d probably make a frag or two eventually to lighten the impact. But I want to see it turn into a gorgeous colony, not a 3” piece that gets fragged constantly as a cash cow.

 

[DaveMorris]

As far as the price goes, I am fine with it. I would never pay that kind of money but I am sure that the sellers are taking into account the time it takes to grow these corals out. Also, as long as there are people out there willing to drop the coin, why drop the prices? More power to them if they can get the money.

What bothers me more is the stupid naming that goes on. That has gotten way, way out of hand. I bet a lot of these different corals are really just the same coral with different algea in them.

 

[Backreefing]

Hello , I have 2 kids and a 3rd almost here . Ain’t no way lma payin that crap . $10-30 or I’m going to survive without it .
IMO there is some beautiful and cheap stuff out there .

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I’ve seen this one up close in a collectors tank. This is less than half the price of JF’s new release Sunday Driver($1199) which I have also seen in person. They all look like light blue tenuis to me. I have the JF Jolt, which I only have because it was basically a settlement with a private collector, long story, but it looks way better than his new releases IMO.

 

[sstanley223]

I'm still scratching my head about "bounce" mushrooms. I don't see the value or attraction. To each their own

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I'm still scratching my head about "bounce" mushrooms. I don't see the value or attraction. To each their own

Me either, but I have many HIGH end sps in my tank, and what do non reefers (friends/and wife etc) say when they look at the tank? “Nemo!!!!” Or “What is that black spikey thing” or my favorite “ How come you don’t have a Dori?”

 

[sstanley223]

Me either, but I have many HIGH end sps in my tank, and what do non reefers (friends/and wife etc) say when they look at the tank? “Nemo!!!!” Or “What is that black spikey thing” or my favorite “ How come you don’t have a Dori?”

I hear ya! I love the natural shapes and colors of the stony corals. Everyone call my cinnamon clown Nemo

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Me either, but I have many HIGH end sps in my tank, and what do non reefers (friends/and wife etc) say when they look at the tank? “Nemo!!!!” Or “What is that black spikey thing” or my favorite “ How come you don’t have a Dori?”

HOLD ON, everyone just wait a minute....

You don"t have a Dory in your tank?

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

HOLD ON, everyone just wait a minute....

You don"t have a Dory in your tank?

Pathetic right? My tanks not big enough though. It’s only a 50 gallon cube. The reef police would be all over me.

 

[adam finley]

If people pay for it. Is it dumb?

Yes but not by the seller just the buyer willing to pay it lol.

 

[CMO]

Agreed. I've seen his stuff at shows and bought a few JF frags but nothing too special in my opinion. The frag sizes are way too small for the price. His expensive "zoas" are especially frustrating to me since they seem to always be weed paly type that takeover a tank in a few months...

And if your going to charge these prices JF, maybe take the time to write a better description of your corals. If a 1/2" is worth some $500+ you'd think you could come up with an interesting sentence or 2 to say about it.

Battle Corals is where it's at. I won't buy sps from one else now. His stuff is always priced fairly and in great health. Battle corals also seems to price more fairly based on the growth rate of corals vs. artificial rarity. Take the vivid confetti for example which he just started selling at only $150 compared to some $350 at vivid. While an exceptional acro, it is a very fast grower that shouldn't cost an arm and a leg. Adam seems to get this which is much appreciated. I have the money to buy from the likes of JF and Vivid but no longer will due to their blatant overpricing IMO.

 

[SDK]

Coming back to reefing after a long break, it’s been interesting to see the “fragmania” that has taken hold. On social media especially, it seems like a combination of drug dealing and beanie babies.

So many people just seem to be frag collectors/flippers, with no room to grow out more than a small fraction of what they have.

The good news for me, is some sectors of the market are so over saturated that there are plenty of deals on nice, colorful corals. I just have to deal with the heartbreak of not being in the internet show off “in crowd”

 

[DJ H]

I’ve been collecting for over 20 years. I’ve been lucking enough to go to wholesalers. You would cringe if you saw the price they pay and what they sell them for. It’s a very crooked hobby. Just understand this is not a poor mans hobby

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Wow, 500 bucks for a tiny nub of pink tenuis, that is robbery. I sold frags of the one I was growing for 40 bucks and I felt bad doing that. That bleeding avengers picture is the worst photoshop I have seen in a long time, someone should start an award thread for the worst photoshopped vendor pics. I knew the encrusting sps stuff would become the new thing, but 500 bucks for a frag of any encrusting coral is laughable.
I really agree with whoever said jason needs to give a little background on his corals. He is charging so much money people just assume the coral is something special when they see the price or the enhanced photos. Even though getting the nice mariculture stuff is slim right now it doesnt mean everything should be so expensive.
There was so much really nice stuff that came from bali and figi before they were shut down, its sad to see so many aussie corals priced like this and named so quickly. The stuff that people have still growing from the indo area is what people should be collecting and spending money on IMO. I like to collect stuff I know I havent grown yet or seen yet or stuff I know is actually rare, so most of the JF and CB corals I stay away from.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

I’ve been collecting for over 20 years. I’ve been lucking enough to go to wholesalers. You would cringe if you saw the price they pay and what they sell them for. It’s a very crooked hobby. Just understand this is not a poor mans hobby

Yea thats why a lot of the stuff from these vendors is priced so high, they buy these crazy priced pieces from these "special" vendors who sell the best looking stuff from each batch for big money. Just because something looked the best when it comes in doesnt mean its actually the nicest coral from that batch IME. I find a lot of my favorites are stressed and not colored when they come in. I have heard a lot of people say the same thing in that they find most of their rainbow colored corals are brown when they get them in fresh.

 

[JMetaxas]

It's a free market economy driven by supply and demand.

While I agree that some of the prices are insane it is capitalism, and nobody is being taken advantage.

What does bother me though is how some large internet SPS sellers doctor the photos to make the corals look much better than they will in your tank.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Crazy pricing. Its like venders and aquaculture farms are trying to keep the nice corals out of our tanks, scare away new hobbiest, and make corals harder to get for everyone. If frags are sold cheaper like under $100 for even the nice corals then more people will be able to afford them. Which in turn increases the amount of corals which in turn makes them cheaper which in turn will cause more people to buy them. All around imo better for the hobby not to price gouge the crap out of corals. We already have a hard enough time getting corals due to the export changes in the Pacific such as the Fiji shut down. Why are we making it worse by increasing the price of theses corals by in some cases 1000%. Those that have been in this hobby long enough know all these high end high price sps all started as cheap brown corals.

 

[BestMomEver]

I wouldn’t pay it, primarily because I don’t have that kind of money! Thoughts on Jason Fox...

I wish he would provide a description, details on growth form, where they came from, etc. I love his stuff but more info would help.

I’ve ordered from JF twice. I’ve never been disappointed. His packing method is exceptional and his corals arrive healthy and happy. Also something to note.... I’ve dipped all his corals and never found anything on them except pods. That’s not something I can say about many other vendors.

I’ve emailed him a few times and although he’s not a wordy guy, he always answers promptly. In my experience, that’s not common.

 

[CMO]

It's a free market economy driven by supply and demand.

Except that demand in this case is often driven by false advertising and newbs thinking they can get something really special if they just pay up. I fell for that myself and spent over 1k at vivid for 4 frags. Now they are certainly nice corals, but now that I've collected acros from lots of different vendors, I see they just aren't that special. A 1k Battlebox on the other hand would be insane and come with some 15-25 of the nicest corals out there (with descriptions and colony shots for each one). Hopefully threads like these will educate people and reduce demand for fake news.