What makes coral high end?

bct15 · Oct 30, 2015

I have seen lots of people call their coral "high end" lately. It had me wondering what makes a particular coral "high end"?

Is it who or where you bought it from, the species, the name, etc?

Thanks

Jlobes · Oct 30, 2015

the price

byars73 · Oct 30, 2015

marketing

den75 · Oct 30, 2015

You want a high price call it high end. Someone will fall for it.

luke33 · Oct 30, 2015

They paid a lot for it, although most of these high end corals are chopped up $20 mariculture colonies : )

happyhourhero · Oct 30, 2015

Pictures under blues only and some capital letters in front of the coral's name make it high end.

Acro becomes DTF Spaceplasma Millepora and $$$ comes after.

ksfulk · Oct 30, 2015

bct15 said:
I have seen lots of people call their coral "high end" lately. It had me wondering what makes a particular coral "high end"?

Is it who or where you bought it from, the species, the name, etc?

Thanks

Snarky replies aside, typically a "high end" coral is one that has a distinict lineage (traceable or untraceable to a pioneer aquarist or vendor) such as "Tyree" or "ProCorals", a unique or distinict color pattern or variation (typical of zoanithids), and/or a rare piece from a part of the ocean that is typically not harvested. As it has been said, anything can be called "high end" but typically you will see variants or lineages that are the determining factor.

Zoaddicted · Oct 30, 2015

Supply and demand. Low supply and high demand raises the price.

The coral should also look decent. Solid Green acroporas for example are in low demand. Green is a common color and most acro collectors dont really want to pay much for them.

Usually "New" corals are high end at least for a little while. Currently theres a big shroom craze and people are paying hundreds of dollars for mushrooms.

Theres a few bubbly rhodactis mushrooms coming in lately. Space invader bounces and orange/red bounce. Personally I think these arent rare in the wild. I think theyre just rare in this hobby because they are illegally smuggled in. Years of coral collecting and we finally see a wave a new "bounce" mushrooms? Someone went night diving in the restricted area.

Low supply+high demand+looks cool=high price tag

If the coral propagates fast/easy, the supply will increase and the price should fall.

Diesel · Oct 30, 2015

ksfulk said:
Snarky replies aside, typically a "high end" coral is one that has a distinict lineage (traceable or untraceable to a pioneer aquarist or vendor) such as "Tyree" or "ProCorals", a unique or distinict color pattern or variation (typical of zoanithids), and/or a rare piece from a part of the ocean that is typically not harvested. As it has been said, anything can be called "high end" but typically you will see variants or lineages that are the determining factor.

^^^^^^Spot on^^^^^^^

Don't forget that LE (Limited Edition) and Signature has some playing time too.

WetWhistle · Oct 30, 2015

happyhourhero said:
Pictures under blues only and some capital letters in front of the coral's name make it high end.

Acro becomes DTF Spaceplasma Millepora and $$$ comes after.

Oh Oh I want a high end DTF Spaceplasma Millepora!! lol

ReefMadScientist · Oct 30, 2015

Following.

Zoaddicted · Oct 30, 2015

ReefMadScientist said:
Following.

This might become one of those threads lol. Lets start talking about the walt disney acro again!

ReefMadScientist · Oct 30, 2015

Zoaddicted said:
This might become one of those threads lol. Lets start talking about the walt disney acro again!

You know it is bound to happen LOL.

Seems like every weekend there is that ONE thread that gets it all going

Zoaddicted · Oct 30, 2015

As far as lineage,

I dont think lineage matters or can be really verified beyond 1 previous seller. Who cares if steve tyree touched the mother colony of your frag 8 years ago? How many corals have dropped their origin's name?

I bought a green bounce from RAP CA 2015.

If I wanted to sell it for 300$ on facebook and I said Lineage back to WWC booth at RAP Florida 2015. Can you prove me wrong? Would most people believe me?

Ive never even been to Florida but I can bet you most buyers wouldnt even question it.

Lineage does help sell corals though. If I had a browned out Walt Disney frag that I bought from a respectable reefer who had the colony, i could list him as lineage and if he agreed to verify. That definitely helps sell high end corals.

watchguy123 · Oct 30, 2015

It needs to be pretty, it needs to be bright, and it needs to have colors not commonly seen. Kind of like the RR USA Pink Floyd:

ReefMadScientist · Oct 30, 2015

watchguy123 said:
It needs to be pretty, it needs to be bright, and it needs to have colors not commonly seen. Kind of like the RR USA Pink Floyd:

I never understood why they call it the Pink Floyd. You always assume it will look Pink lol

Tegridy Reef · Oct 30, 2015

I think it's on how hard to get it in
Is it easy to frag
How well it grows
What the consumer thinks it worth
That's why I love watching autions I think shows true price

diablomaster9045 · Oct 30, 2015

Zoaddicted said:
This might become one of those threads lol. Lets start talking about the walt disney acro again!

ReefMadScientist · Oct 30, 2015

I'll throw some fire into this thread.

What makes corals high end? Ask Mike. All you need to learn is how to photoshop and fix your raffles with endless WD frags.