Prices in this hobby

Oh snap! A coral price complaint thread and a lighting price complaint thread on the same day!

I been wanting to make this post for years. Do you see how many LFS come and go? either they go bust from asking too much or go bust from lack of sales. I bought 5 orange yuma's in my day for 15 dollars.

This was back in 2002. Now its anywhere from 25-35 a piece and pending on color. DISGUSTING.
 
I been wanting to make this post for years. Do you see how many LFS come and go? either they go bust from asking too much or go bust from lack of sales. I bought 5 orange yuma's in my day for 15 dollars.

This was back in 2002. Now its anywhere from 25-35 a piece and pending on color. DISGUSTING.
Yea I wonder how some even stay in business.
Some should go bust just for the way they keep their tanks!
 
Prices have gone up on the super high end pieces but there are lfs that are old school and you can find really cheap neat coral. Just look around you’ll find the good prices!
 
You just have to be careful who you buy from. Research what the going price is, and then wait to find a good deal on it. I know TCK usually has pretty good live sales on here for sticks. I am sure there are a lot of smaller vendors out there that people don't even know about yet honestly.
 
Yes, but it s a frag...not the corals we buy in the day. How much was it after shipping, etc?
 
This is a coral. Not a frag....

20200701_212309.jpg
 
This hobby is like a child play compare to others but it’s not cheap. At least this hobby is not a drug habit that you support that eventually going causes your life. If nothing dies, I am spending $100 a month which is not bad at all comparing to smoking or drinking which I don’t do both.
 
All the coral prices started getting crazy when the bans started, it was the Indonesia ban that put it over the top...

There's no ban. It's regulated, its only ban on live stock that cannot be over sighted. Everything is sold from brood stock and check during shipping.

My LFS gets all his live stock from Indonesia.
 
There's no ban. It's regulated, its only ban on live stock that cannot be over sighted. Everything is sold from brood stock and check during shipping.

My LFS gets all his live stock from Indonesia.

Actually, there was some sort of ban that was going on several months ago, and it was lifted and no longer a ban, but it was what drove some of the coral prices up...
 
It's all up to you. If you want to spend it spend it if not do something else. Coral prices are pretty outrageous though & most of them look the same. I'm more of a fish keeper so that was a no brainer for me.
 
As a collector of hobbies this one is on PAR if you will... with the others. (ham radio, Jeeping, physics, water sports, gaming) there is always some bit or bob that is eager to eat a spare $500+
 
This hobby is very expensive though
I've had other hobbies that put this to shame, did dirtbiking when I was younger, the bike along cost as much pretty good setup. Real RC cars are expensive as hell too. I'm sure there a 100 other that are same. People just have expectations going in or expect things to stay stagnant. Inflation is a real thing, banning of coral exports is a real thing. Don't know what people expect. If it's not your bag anymore, that's life. I'd argue if you're doing a reasonable setup and don't go after the "Named" corals. You can have a great looking reef and a great setup for a downright bargain as far as entry fees into hobbies go.
 
Not all corals are expensive. If it costs a lot, it's probably rare, and looks really cool. You can fill your tank with xenia, and palys for the cost of gas to your local reefers house. heck I have had LFS's give me odd palys, or GSP in the past. but those are not very interesting in modern times. People want the cool stuff, just like people want Lamborghinis over Honda Accords the vast majority of the time.
 
There's no ban. It's regulated, its only ban on live stock that cannot be over sighted. Everything is sold from brood stock and check during shipping.

My LFS gets all his live stock from Indonesia.

The Indo ban on everything from coral to fish lasted almost an entire year where absolutely nothing was being collected atall. And only JUST recently started to open back up, it drove prices through the roof and it will take quite a long time for them to drop. Honestly I sincerely doubt they will ever drop as low as they were pre-ban.
 
I been wanting to make this post for years. Do you see how many LFS come and go? either they go bust from asking too much or go bust from lack of sales. I bought 5 orange yuma's in my day for 15 dollars.

This was back in 2002. Now its anywhere from 25-35 a piece and pending on color. DISGUSTING.
I still buy from my LFS but the majority of my corals are picked up from local reefers. Make friends in this hobby. A lot of times people will just give you something, since they want the redundancy, or crazy cheap.
 
I've had other hobbies that put this to shame, did dirtbiking when I was younger, the bike along cost as much pretty good setup. Real RC cars are expensive as hell too. I'm sure there a 100 other that are same. People just have expectations going in or expect things to stay stagnant. Inflation is a real thing, banning of coral exports is a real thing. Don't know what people expect. If it's not your bag anymore, that's life. I'd argue if you're doing a reasonable setup and don't go after the "Named" corals. You can have a great looking reef and a great setup for a downright bargain as far as entry fees into hobbies go.
Your not lieing there. I get sick when I think of how much money is wrapped up in my race quad. Ever since I put that on the backburner and took up this hobby my gf hasnt even questioned how much I've been spending on it unlike the fourwheeler.
 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%
  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%
  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
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