Coral Prices - insane or am I?

[gskidmor]

After 12 years of (mostly) successful reefkeeping, I had to move a bit so I took a few years off and I'm looking to get back in the hobby. I have a bunch of the parts and I'm making the space...but I was looking at some of the admittedly beautiful pieces like the bubble shrooms or jawbreaker variants or some of the rainbow acros...all the prices are pushing or go over the $1K mark. Hundreds of dollars for a few polyps of zoanthids?

I don't know what to say. Are people actually paying these prices?

[Pslreefer]

Unfortunately yes. People want the latest, greatest, rarest and there is no shortage of those willing to pay whatever it takes to get it.





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[gskidmor]

On top of that, I see LED lighting is still just as controversial now as it was then!

I would love to see some of these corals in peoples tanks though - I will have to get Dr. Google on top of that one.

[Pslreefer]

This little nub sold for $999 in November during a wwc sale








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[gskidmor]

Is that second pic what it turned in to already? If so, that's really good growth

[Pslreefer]

No, thats the colony.


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[gskidmor]

That's nice and all, and I know it's all wildly subjective, but that doesn't strike me as a $1k nice coral.

[KarenLR75]

We had never done coral before, although we have done saltwater (fish only). I'm still in shock at how much the tiniest of frags costs...and since I don't know much about all of the differences between LPS, SPS, Zoes, etc. I'm terrified of buying some coral monster that takes over the whole tank while killing all other corals in it.

[Breadman03]

There’s the high end stuff that has commas in the price tag, but there’s plenty to be had for $20-100.

[rffanat1c]

Love me some $5 frags. I like to watch it grow. Plus my LFS always takes trade ins for credit. Grow some coral, trade it in and get some more.


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[ca1ore]

Also keep in mind that today's 'rare' is tomorrow's 'common' ..... with prices adjusted accordingly.

[Hal]

Originally Posted by Pslreefer

This little nub sold for $999 in November during a wwc sale








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Meh. Show it to me under normal lighting.

I can make anything look amazing with that much actinic light. I refuse to buy any coral if the seller only shows it in actinic light. Do us all a favor and show me your corals under lighting conditions that are what it will REALLY be viewed under.

[RCS82]

Originally Posted by Hal

Meh. Show it to me under normal lighting.

I can make anything look amazing with that much actinic light. I refuse to buy any coral if the seller only shows it in actinic light. Do us all a favor and show me your corals under lighting conditions that are what it will REALLY be viewed under.

This is true, although I think it is a great look piece

[gskidmor]

I was taken in by some of the rainbow mille's and tenius's - beautiful. The prices sent me in to a bit of a shock though!

[RCS82]

You can also buy a car for a million dollars. Maybe not the best comparison but close enough for me.
You are right though, lots of great corals out there none the less. Everybody will have a different value for them.

[sde1500]

Plenty of great looking inexpensive corals. Whatever is currently the rage is expensive, and some of the more insanely colored pieces are expensive too. My tank is close to fully stocked at this point, with a lot of great (IMO) looking corals that I did not spend insane amounts on. It certainly can be done.

[Pslreefer]

Originally Posted by Hal

Meh. Show it to me under normal lighting.



I can make anything look amazing with that much actinic light. I refuse to buy any coral if the seller only shows it in actinic light. Do us all a favor and show me your corals under lighting conditions that are what it will REALLY be viewed under.

This actually from one of the best and most reputable lfs’s in the country. World Wide Corals. Though it is expensive and I wouldn’t buy it, they are very honest about their pics.

I buy exclusively from them as well.


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[Hal]

Originally Posted by Pslreefer

This actually from one of the best and most reputable lfs’s in the country. World Wide Corals. Though it is expensive and I wouldn’t buy it, they are very honest about their pics.

I respectfully disagree. Nobody views their corals in NORMAL circumstances under only actinic lighting. I view that as misleading.

You wouldn't buy a car at night, not having looked at the color of the car during the daytime. We shouldn't be expected to do so for our corals either.

[marinelife]

Ever since the name game started prices went crazy. I try to stick with lower cost sticks that only color up after I get them!

[alton]

Originally Posted by RCS82

You can also buy a car for a million dollars. Maybe not the best comparison but close enough for me.
You are right though, lots of great corals out there none the less. Everybody will have a different value for them.

I have to agree. It only helps the market, otherwise we would see the same old stuff. I like the new $3 million dollar Bugatti, 1500HP what a beast. I still wouldn't buy it if I had the money to blow, whether you crash it or it gets bleached, to me it is not worth it.

[sde1500]

Originally Posted by Hal

I respectfully disagree. Nobody views their corals in NORMAL circumstances under only actinic lighting. I view that as misleading.

You wouldn't buy a car at night, not having looked at the color of the car during the daytime. We shouldn't be expected to do so for our corals either.

There are people out there that run blues only on their tanks, or very very heavy blue and a little white. So yes it is what it would look like. And their colors would only look a little more muted with some white on them.

This discussion seems to come up a lot, but the market supports the prices, so there we have it. One thing I don't get is blaming it on names, sure its a marketing scheme, but I've gone back to much older TOTM tanks and many of the colors are...bland. I've seen people rant and rave about bounce mushrooms and stupid names and stuff, and show their brown and red disco with one brown bubble and be like "so I've had bounces for ages, whats the big deal?" well, WWC bounce has crazy fluorescent orange, green, and yellow colors, yours is brown...I don't play the hype game much, can't afford it, but you can't deny that colors are really starting to get wild compared to what was around "back in the day".

[gskidmor]

I agree with the colors - they're what caught my eye! I was just surprised at the pricing. Hopefully some of those rainbow SPS will come down or people in my local club (SoCal) will have some cheaper!

[Joe0813]

I can never bring myself to spend 200 for a coral never mind a price tag with a comma in it. all it takes is something to happen to the tank/equipment and kill a 1000+ dollar coral

[gogreen.herbert]

Originally Posted by gskidmor

After 12 years of (mostly) successful reefkeeping, I had to move a bit so I took a few years off and I'm looking to get back in the hobby. I have a bunch of the parts and I'm making the space...but I was looking at some of the admittedly beautiful pieces like the bubble shrooms or jawbreaker variants or some of the rainbow acros...all the prices are pushing or go over the $1K mark. Hundreds of dollars for a few polyps of zoanthids?

I don't know what to say. Are people actually paying these prices?

I agree with you trying to get everithing together and thinks have come up to much. Corals are untoucheble.

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[der_wille_zur_macht]

Originally Posted by gskidmor

I agree with the colors - they're what caught my eye! I was just surprised at the pricing. Hopefully some of those rainbow SPS will come down or people in my local club (SoCal) will have some cheaper!

Wait 5 or 6 years, often the $1k corals are $100 or $50 corals at that point.

Also, you have to think carefully about whether or not it matters that you get THAT specific coral, or just some nice looking corals.

This whole coral scene reminds me of baseball cards when I was a kid. I remember being envious of my friend's Don Mattingly rookie card. That thing was worth a hundred bucks! I REALLY REALLY wanted it. Then one day, I woke up and realized it was just a piece of cardstock with someone's picture on it. The value came from hype, it was not intrinsic to the tangible thing. I stopped worrying about having a specific $100 baseball card and just had fun swapping more common cards with my friends.

One of my LFSs has a frag tank that has a whole section at $5 each. Sometimes they have a $1 section, too. I've bought several of my favorite corals from those sections. Some of my other favorites over the years have been free. I literally can't count the number of free frags, or traded-for-free, that I've had, but its probably been at least in the several hundreds.

Moral of the story: If you want THE Don Mattingly rookie card, right now, no matter what, you're gonna pay. If you just want some nice looking frags, and you're willing to get to know the local scene, that's a different story.