Opinions on high end corals?

[Heres_doe_]

What's your opinion on high end corals. Are they worth buying? Would they make you enough money per year to just buy few pieces of equipment and small things. Or is it just a look what i got thing.

 

[clifg]

It could certainly be both of those things or it could also be money down the drain. Depends on the individual reefer

 

[Heres_doe_]

It could certainly be both of those things or it could also be money down the drain. Depends on the individual reefer

I'm over here buying cheap frags and I'm like i would more then likely give a high end frag just about the same care as these cheaper ones and they'll just look good in my tank and bring me nothing only joy. Meanwhile the high end frag bring me joy and support my hobby a bit

 

[jassermd]

Or drive you nuts and depress you... it's the Coral God's law... cheap corals do great while the high end corals just won't grow or outright die.
The question to ask is will they bring you any more joy than the cheap frags? Or will they frustrate you because they happen not to do well in your ecosystem and you're out the $?

 

[t5Nitro]

Some of the coolest tanks are the classic sps corals. Nice monti caps and stags. Really easy to grow and gives a great reef shape. The need stuff is cool but you pay for a nub and wait forever for them to grow.

 

[IKD]

History also tells me that prices / demand change quickly. Investing in a $1K frag to grow out to see they only sell for $100 a few months later scares me away from that. Buy what you enjoy looking at.

 

[KK's Reef]

The high end stuff is worth it, as long as it's worth it to you. Don't buy it for the hype. But it 'cause you like it. That said, they're a bit overpriced IMO. Even then, I still think I would fork over the cash if I wanted it bad enough. I just wish the frags weren't tiny little nubs barely an inch long. If a vendor's going to charge $500+ a frag, it better be sizeable, healthy, and encrusting already.

 

[lanceinhuntsville]

it's the Coral God's law... cheap corals do great while the high end corals just won't grow or outright die.

Coral God, or just economics? I believe that expensive corals are expensive because they are hard to acquire. Unless they are a newly discovered thing, that’s generally because they are hard to propagate successfully, right? Cheap corals are cheap because they grow like weeds and everyone is selling them. I think the best corals are the cheap ones because I’m not gambling $500 that I’ll be able to keep this thing alive.

 

[stephj03]

There's not really a single answer for this bc it depends so heavily on tank maturity, hobby skill level, coral type, whether you are ok shipping coral, size of the local hobby and saturation level.

Generally, if your tank is less than a yr old and/or you've been in the hobby less than a couple of yrs and/or you mean the newest named pieces being pumped by high end vendors and/or worth it means you can grow enough to frag and make your money back.

The answer is no.

Unless you have a hook up with a high end vendor, you will not be able to get a frag of the newest hottest stuff until several other ppl with a high profile in the hobby market already used their hookup to get it. They will have higher odds of success growing/fragging/selling than most hobbyists.

On top of that, the newest hottest stuff is going to be from a place that just lifted a multi yr ban on exports barely a yr ago. That means the newest hottest stuff will only have been in the captivity for a yr and a half (not nearly long enough to fully adapt to hobby conditions IMO).

 

[stephj03]

Having said that, if worth it means you want the greatest color pop across your tank under AB+ LED programming in a 2yr old tank that is your 2nd or third tank..... And you only want to make a few bucks 6mo-1yr later to subsidize buying more high end.

Definite maybe IMO.

Coral choice matters here but so does shots on goal. Zoas are prob a better pic (wide market, generally low maintenance) but a lot of high end zoas/sticks either like to die for the first couple of yrs in captivity or explode like weeds.

If "worth it" means getting the most return on capital via frag sales, mid/high end stuff that's been stabilized in captivity is the way to go IMO. Easier to tell how stable prices/demand are on them. I've never seen anyone have problems sellign SCOP/WD/Cherry bombs or LSOH/JF kraks.

 

[MaxTremors]

Coral God, or just economics? I believe that expensive corals are expensive because they are hard to acquire. Unless they are a newly discovered thing, that’s generally because they are hard to propagate successfully, right? Cheap corals are cheap because they grow like weeds and everyone is selling them. I think the best corals are the cheap ones because I’m not gambling $500 that I’ll be able to keep this thing alive.

It’s partially supply and demand, but prices are also artificially inflated by the hype machine/the name game, misleading marketing, intentionally holding stock back, live sales, etc. Virtually none of the corals we buy are rare or hard to come by, and 90% of them can be propagated. For instance torches are ridiculously priced right now, but they are nowhere near rare or hard to come by, and the highest priced ones are some of the most common. I feel like the hype machine and vendors’ exploitation of peoples’ FOMO is getting really gross in this hobby. And then you have the people who are in the hobby as an investment, who reinforce and perpetuate the the hype machine. My point is, it is not solely supply and demand, the hobby is in some ways the best it’s ever been and in some ways it is sick and rotted to core. You know that there is something wrong when private equity firms are buying up online coral vendors, working in this hobby has never been about getting rich, and I don’t begrudge people making a living, but it used to be about the love of the hobby, and now far too often it’s about the money first and foremost. And that’s just sad.

 

[Chrisv.]

If you want to invest in something, buy an ETF. If you want a beautiful coral, buy a beautiful coral. A coral's price does not make it beautiful. Some of my nicest corals cost next to nothing. That being said, I have to admit that my jawbreaker mushrooms are much prettier than the $10 mushrooms I got 15 yrs ago.

My suggestion is that you should be very realistic about ho rapidly hardy corals depreciate. There are little shop of horrors for sale on this site right now for $50 a polyp. It wasn't long ago that they cost $400 a polyp. In another year they will be $30 for 6 polyps and maybe I will buy one.

 

[trmnl5]

I always looked at it like sneakers. Some people wait for the chance to buy the limited drops...maybe grab 2 so you can sell one. But with corals, you have a chance to grow them and make some cash if you can frag it or trade. My 45g has a mix of standard corals and high end. I can appreciate both of them.

 

[ZoWhat]

I don't buy solely on it being a high end coral or not. I buy it bc:
1) its the type of coral I like
2) I like the color if it & different from anything I already have
3) and I've done the research knowing I can grow it.

So if it matches what I want 1,2,3.... but classifies as a high end coral with a high price... there is a ceiling I'm at with certain price point.

 

[mindme]

I think they are a ripoff for a number of reasons.

They put fancy names on them to make them sound cool/different, but they are really just a regular coral you can get elsewhere without the fancy names.

It's largely based on colors, but those colors are usually a lie. They grow the corals under specific lighting conditions to get those colors to come out. And then they photograph them under the deep blues to get the most vibrant colors out of them. If you want to run your tank at a deep blue all the time as they did, you can probably maintain them. However, if you run your lights with more white light due to fish etc with only shorter periods if any of the deep blue - the corals will change colors and look nothing like what you bought.

Many of the colors are based on new growth areas as well, so the pictures will often contain a lot of new growth to give the appearance of awesome colors. However, when the coral grows out, the main colors will be the majority of what you actually get. Like I have a micromussa, and the colors on it when it's a new growth are amazing with a variety of colors, green, red, blue, and yellows. But that's just on a new head, when the heads mature, those colors leave and it's mostly just red/blueish. Yet I could easily take a picture of that new growth, charge more and pretend it's something it's not, and this is common. You are getting what you ordered, but what you ordered and end up with is just like that one you already have often times.

Not to say all colors are a lie. The new growth is always going on, so you get those nice tips, those colorful edges and so on(when you don't lose them to lighting differences), but when they get bigger it's just not as much. The bigger colonies often look a good bit like others.

And I'm at the point where I want big colonies, not a frag tank.

 

[GHOSTLY]

My ego won't let me have cheaper frags. The dream is for designer pieces like gmk and jf homewreckers that cover the tank

 

[Chrisv.]

My ego won't let me have cheaper frags. The dream is for designer pieces like gmk and jf homewreckers that cover the tank

By the time they cover your tank, they will be nothing more than Pandoras. Buy corals because you like them, not for your ego.

 

[lanceinhuntsville]

You know that there is something wrong when private equity firms are buying up online coral vendors

Wonder if we’ll see them lobby for legislation against hobbyists selling to each other.

 

[Cell]

Completely subjective question that depends on multiple factors including your disposable income, coral husbandry ability, your local market or ability to ship etc...

 

[Big Smelly fish]

For me being retired and watch what I spend, No not worth it. The prices are ridiculous even fish prices have sky rocketed over the last decade. Its not going to change so long as people buy, Years ago you could pick up a colony cheaper then what half inch to one inch frag cost. You really can't blame the vendors the are just taking advantage of the opportunity to finally make some money and not just get by.