Calling out all vendors... Ultra Rare Super Toxic Holy Garbage...

[Nonya]

So I just did a 5-minute Google search for an orange montipora colony I've got. I found no less than 5 corals online that look like the same colony, but with 5 separate "unique" names. I think I'll rename mine the Crit21 Nuclear Orange Aurora Pileofeces Montipora.

 

[littlebigreef]

So I just did a 5-minute Google search for an orange montipora colony I've got. I found no less than 5 corals online that look like the same colony, but with 5 separate "unique" names. I think I'll rename mine the Crit21 Nuclear Orange Aurora Pileofeces Montipora.

In library cataloguing there's this thing called 'authority control' that organizes each item (in this case media) by using a single distinct spelling of the name along with other attributes (ie size, format, date etc). It's a Herculean task when dealing with mass produced things likes books, audio tapes, CD's and so on.

How many different printings of the bible or Peter Pan do you suppose there are? Now consider how many different formats Peter Pan exists in across media and how many occurrences in each media (there's at least 18 different movies featuring Peter in one capacity or another.

The point I'm making here is that in a ocean of coral it's not realistic to expect vendors (who's only desire is to make money) to be consistent with names across the board (and with each other) on stuff that's generally unique and prone to presenting differently under various conditions. It's hard enough for the Library of Congress to do it with immutable mass produced media, it's a fool's errand to try it with coral. So, hate the name game don't hate the players.

 

[Nonya]

The point I'm making here is that in a ocean of coral it's not realistic to expect vendors (who's only desire is to make money) to be consistent with names across the board.

My point is that they probably should be consistent, especially if they're a well-known seller who's looking to claim their corals are "signature", laying claim to a coral as their own "discovery".

Even so, I'll never pay top dollar for a not-so-unique coral just because someone's marketing it as an ultra-rare-super-toxic-holy-Limited-Edition-"Famous Bob" coral. After all, Famous Bob didn't actually create the corals with his name on it.

 

[littlebigreef]

My point is that they probably should be consistent, especially if they're a well-known seller who's looking to claim their corals are "signature", laying claim to a coral as their own "discovery".

Well, good luck convincing everyone in the industry to go along with that.

As for the branding, I hear ya, I agree.

 

[Asagi]

Bounce mushrooms. Ridiculous prices for something nobody wanted just a few years ago.

How much?

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

I can’t believe this thread is still alive. I would have expected it would have degenerated into name calling by now

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I can’t believe this thread is still alive. I would have expected it would have degenerated into name calling by now

Me too, you crazy tax person!!!!!!

 

[HB AL]

Glad I have so many lfs's so I don't need to pay the premiums those specially named corals command. I can find the exact same coral locally for half the price without the ridiculous price.

 

[F i s h y]

In library cataloguing there's this thing called 'authority control' that organizes each item (in this case media) by using a single distinct spelling of the name along with other attributes (ie size, format, date etc). It's a Herculean task when dealing with mass produced things likes books, audio tapes, CD's and so on.

How many different printings of the bible or Peter Pan do you suppose there are? Now consider how many different formats Peter Pan exists in across media and how many occurrences in each media (there's at least 18 different movies featuring Peter in one capacity or another.

The point I'm making here is that in a ocean of coral it's not realistic to expect vendors (who's only desire is to make money) to be consistent with names across the board (and with each other) on stuff that's generally unique and prone to presenting differently under various conditions. It's hard enough for the Library of Congress to do it with immutable mass produced media, it's a fool's errand to try it with coral. So, hate the name game don't hate the players.

There is a standard naming system... scientific names speak to specific biology and were once the common name in the hobby. Now they are all skittles famous bobs... I prefer the scientific names...

 

[F i s h y]

My point is that they probably should be consistent, especially if they're a well-known seller who's looking to claim their corals are "signature", laying claim to a coral as their own "discovery".

Even so, I'll never pay top dollar for a not-so-unique coral just because someone's marketing it as an ultra-rare-super-toxic-holy-Limited-Edition-"Famous Bob" coral. After all, Famous Bob didn't actually create the corals with his name on it.

Why does my "Famous Bob" look different than yours?

 

[littlebigreef]

There is a standard naming system... scientific names speak to specific biology and were once the common name in the hobby. Now they are all skittles famous bobs... I prefer the scientific names...

Right, obviously that works to a point... you want a montipora setosa or a digata, a spongdes or palmata? What I'm talking about is when someone contacts me and wants to swap a frag of utter chaos for a rasta. They're both zoanthids, same species. Names, at the simplest level, were introduced so we can tell the difference between two of the same species with readily definable distinguishing characteristics. The non-sense its devolved into is something else especially when branding comes into play. Its not an XYZ Rasta, its a rasta. In that same vein we don't need 20 different names for the same tenius coral that pigmented slightly differently. I've been at this about 25 years now so I've seen the change, I just don't believe there's much you can do about the name game.

 

[JaimeAdams]

The thing that does bother me is the hobbyists that sell things for high end retail prices. I do feel that if people are buying then more power to them, but the hobbyist to hobbyist transaction is what I've seen go bonkers over the last several years. There are way more people who are buying, trading and selling coral as commodities than simply having excess over growing their tanks.

I, as a brick and mortar retail store, have a ton of over head. I have the electric bill that went up 40% a few months ago, employee costs, commercial rent, insurance, blah blah blah. Then you have the kids on here with their bio cubes in their moms living room selling $600 strat polyps. The price of international cargo freight since the pandemic has basically quadrupled. My last 2 shipments of Acropora from Indonesia were doa, which I have to just eat. People come back into the hobby after years looking for those $25 mushroom rocks and the truth is I have more in just freight than what we would sell things for years back.

I do get the calling some random everyday coral some new fancy special name to make it more desirable is a gimmick. I see it more from like your " chop shop" vendors than aquaculture facilities.

I will say I've worked retail for years selling coral and 90% off people coming in are always asking what this one or that one is called. Sometimes I joke and ask if they want me to make up a babe and add a zero onto the price.

 

[Dom]

Vendors charge these prices because we as hobbyists are willing to pay them.

Case in point: Why do hobbyists spend 5... 6... $700.00 on a roller mat system when they can achieve the same results with a piece of white felt from the hobby store for 29 cents?

 

[FishTruck]

bring back the local frag swaps!!!

 

[Wasabiroot]

Don't forget adding the vendor name before the strain name, as if to imply the coral you are purchasing was collected by that business exclusively and not the 40 others selling clones of the same animal
Or the livesales with one copy of a frag everyone is inquiring about and then 40 pages of green psammacora at a 5 dollar discount...gotta clear out that inventory somehow

 

[zheka757]

lets name fish same way as they do to corals..
this is yellow tang

this is "Ulra" tang

this is "holy grail ultra" tang

 

[Asagi]

lets name fish same way as they do to corals..
this is yellow tang

this is "Ulra" tang

this is "holy grail ultra" tang

To be fair guys these are rare fish. The more rare the more value it has. Just let folks spend their money. Not like any of this is a necessity.

 

[Amphibious Wallet]

Vendors charge these prices because we as hobbyists are willing to pay them.

Case in point: Why do hobbyists spend 5... 6... $700.00 on a roller mat system when they can achieve the same results with a piece of white felt from the hobby store for 29 cents that will do the same thing?

Seems to be the way. A (relatively) niche hobby that can happily price things at luxury levels because, well, everything else is priced as such. Buy a crappy light and deal with pest algae and your stock may die. Buy a crappy pump and your stock will die. Buy a crappy heater etc.

It's a rather social hobby so peer pressure is definitely around and some vendors seem to be skirting around with lock-in, but the hobby as collective seems smart enough to not let that really take hold (at least not just yet) - though manufacturers are well within their rights to and most folks would rather pay extra for compatibility, simplicity and ease of replenishment anyway. Let's just hope subscription services like BMW are rolling out don't become a commonplace, some products already require an internet connection to function.

BMW starts selling heated seat subscriptions for $18 a month

Now being sold in South Korea, the UK, and elsewhere

www.theverge.com

As a sales guy in a totally different industry, I can appreciate raw costs, R&D, tooling/jigging/production lines, more R&D, shipping/freight, storage, picking/packing and minimum margins - it still hurts seeing 1/4 of the final cost being for the physical product itself.

/rant I guess.

 

[zheka757]

To be fair guys these are rare fish. The more rare the more value it has. Just let folks spend their money. Not like any of this is a necessity.

this isn't about rare or not or expensive, its the fact that they all are still yellow tangs!!! this is what this thread was all about, to many different names of same corals. just because this coral adopted to your LED's different then the guy you got it from who used t5's doesn't make this coral any different, and don't need to have a new name.

 

[Asagi]

this isn't about rare or not or expensive, its the fact that they all are still yellow tangs!!! this is what this thread was all about, to many different names of same corals. just because this coral adopted to your LED's different then the guy you got it from who used t5's doesn't make this coral any different, and don't need to have a new name.

We used to call these guys puke tangs back in the day. I don’t want one, but if you like RARE things. Those tangs certainly are RARE. LOL