The price we pay.

Aquarist76 · Oct 11, 2019

I try not to regret purchases. If I buy something I have to be OK with what I am paying before I buy it or I just don't buy it. That goes for all things.

Do Not Regret: $1500 Male Blue Stripe Tamarin Wrasse (that's the most I've spent and I thought I'd regret it but I don't, yet)

Dorinda · Oct 11, 2019

Wow! Thanks everyone! Your so helpful with some get ideas. Beautiful pictures.

Evan28395950 · Oct 11, 2019

$300 for og bounce, already has paid for itself with it being easy to frag/sell

ccombs · Oct 11, 2019

I paid $135 for a peach hammer coral. I don't have any regrets, it is a show stopper in my tank and I am proud to say I have kept it alive and it is thriving!

Ling_Thing · Oct 11, 2019

gotem86 said:
About $400 for this beauty

Lol I got this one for 500

BeardedMcG · Oct 11, 2019

$125 x2 for orange storm clowns.

code4 · Oct 11, 2019

Whitetail bristle tooth tang. $250. Yellow belly regal angel $300 and regal angel for $100. No regrets. Tang over a year and angels just over a year now. Love watching them grow.

eea60123 · Oct 12, 2019

I regret seeing the prices explode because people think you need the “one eyed one horn blind purple people eater acro”. I remember $15 frags and have a hard time justifying $100’s on a spec of a frag they just cut and have illuminated under 12 ecotech g4 pros at 1000% blue. I’d die if I killed something that high and without it encrusting I worry how long ago it was cut and how hardy it is. Love the cut to order vendors. I regret the vendors and the “ designer” labels. Hard to find vendors today that allow people who don’t have $400 to spend on a 1/4” frag to get nice corals without going softies. Harder to enjoy the hobby with the inflation.

pdxmonkeyboy · Oct 12, 2019

Amen. I am fortunate to have good sources for livestock and collector grade sps. I practically give frags away locally, but part of the joy for me is spreading the love around and getting it back from time to time. Too many vultures around these days.

That is a sweet tamarin BTW.. kind of overpaid a bit, but still a beautiful fish. I had a female for years that i really enjoyed.

Borg · Oct 12, 2019

I’m currently at the $300 fish range.My buddy has a 220 and he has $11k worth of fish in there at the moment.

Dorinda · Oct 12, 2019

Ling_Thing said:
Lol I got this one for 500

That is beautiful!

Deaf clown · Oct 12, 2019

For me, it’s not so much on what I spent on that I regret it’s what I got for free-except maybe the monti caps I had and eventually gave away for free.

But Kenya tree, red mushrooms, and hollywood stunner...the spongodes is slowly creeping on that list.

Bob Weigant · Oct 12, 2019

$550 for a Lennardi wrasse that made it all of 4 days.

Dorinda · Oct 12, 2019

Ling_Thing said:
Lol I got this one for 500

That is beautiful!

Bob Weigant said:
$550 for a Lennardi wrasse that made it all of 4 days.

Aquarist76 · Oct 12, 2019

Brian Bieger said:
That is a sweet tamarin BTW.. kind of overpaid a bit, but still a beautiful fish. I had a female for years that i really enjoyed.

I agree it's a lot. I don't know about overpaid, that's relative. I've only seen 3-4 come up for sale in the last couple of years (males anyhow) so I guess they can charge whatever they want. The others were snapped up in seconds. Supply and demand, can't fault them. It was $2K but I had a 25% off coupon so I had to bite at it. Now to get him a girlfriend

Too bad LA no longer sells them with a 14 day guarantee.

I did have a female that died about a month ago after doing great for 3mo. Was in quarantine for 2mo and in my DT for 1 mo and then got what I presume was velvet and died w/n 48hrs. Awfully weird as none of my other fish in the DT are or had been sick. That was about a $1K loss for 3mo of fish. Upset but still don't regret it. You take risks in this hobby.

ScottR · Oct 12, 2019

I highly recommend joining a reef club. Or starting one. I’ve managed to merge multiple reef clubs into one. Less of a club but we chat often and buy and sell corals, frags of all sorts, fish and inverts. Lots of freebies, trades and cheap stuff. I’ve personally given away hundreds of dollars worth of frags for free. I find it as a way of sustaining the pain of this hobby: $$$

And we also talk other things not reef related. Some of my best buddies.

seahorse_man · Oct 12, 2019

Crosshatch Trigger.

This was when I was working at a fish store though and got everything at wholesale cost.

Tyguy35 · Oct 12, 2019

I paid $60 bucks for a 5 head gold torch after my lfs mislabeled it as a much cheaper torch.

Dorinda · Oct 12, 2019

Aquarist76 said:
I agree it's a lot. I don't know about overpaid, that's relative. I've only seen 3-4 come up for sale in the last couple of years (males anyhow) so I guess they can charge whatever they want. The others were snapped up in seconds. Supply and demand, can't fault them. It was $2K but I had a 25% off coupon so I had to bite at it. Now to get him a girlfriend Too bad LA no longer sells them with a 14 day guarantee.

I did have a female that died about a month ago after doing great for 3mo. Was in quarantine for 2mo and in my DT for 1 mo and then got what I presume was velvet and died w/n 48hrs. Awfully weird as none of my other fish in the DT are or had been sick. That was about a $1K loss for 3mo of fish. Upset but still don't regret it. You take risks in this hobby.

I agree with taking the risk. It's worth it.