[airinhere]

The concept of selling by the polyp is a two edged sword.

On the one hand, I see your point about buying a single zoanthid polyp as almost ridiculous. Even small quantities of polyps seem like a trivial purchase.

Of course that is provided the parent colony of zoanthids is large enough to support making large frags. Strangely, this is often limited to the more mundane colors of zoanthids. I have yet to see someone with a thousand polyps of Tubbs Blues or Rose Nebulas.

Most of the more colorful types of zoanthids are more difficult to get ahold of. Any LFS should have tons of zoanthids, but are unlikely to have more than a handful of vividly colored types.

Personally, I am willing to skip buying ugly corals and spend the extra money for more colorful types. They dont have to be named species, but I demand vivid colors for my hard earned money.

The concept of selling per polyp becomes a method of allowing a person with a limited budget the opportunity to buy some of the colorful zoanthids they want to have without paying the higher cost for a full colony.

Have a budget of $50? Buy a 6 inch colony of drab common zoas. OR... Buy a 5 polyp frag of something colorful.

My $50 buys the colorful corals everytime.