Stop with the names!

[Durhamreefer]

why does it have to be cannabis? Why can’t it just be social media and the constant need to have “the experience”.

sorry, just decided to take that personally. Has nothing to do with you

I just hate the stigma on cannabis when the problem isn’t a plant, it’s people who’s life revolves around getting another social media brain zap when they get a like or click a like or see that somebody might be thinking of clicking like.

Lol, it doesn't have to be...

 

[Durhamreefer]

why does it have to be cannabis? Why can’t it just be social media and the constant need to have “the experience”.

sorry, just decided to take that personally. Has nothing to do with you

I just hate the stigma on cannabis when the problem isn’t a plant, it’s people who’s life revolves around getting another social media brain zap when they get a like or click a like or see that somebody might be thinking of clicking like.

To be realistic about it all it's the money that drives this thing. There are increasingly fewer people in the frag business that actually care about anything other than the money - the "likes" don't pay them, just fuels the ego a bit.

 

[176327]

To be realistic about it all it's the money that drives this thing. There are increasingly fewer people in the frag business that actually care about anything other than the money - the "likes" don't pay them, just fuels the ego a bit.

i actually meant the people buying it, obviously not the people selling.

I totally agree with you, but the buyers are setting the hype price here not the vendors. The vendors are exploiting the desire for hype.

but yeah, muneh.

 

[Opus]

I'd be fine with color scheme rather than names. Orange and blue zoas, gold torch, green hammer with purple tips.. Use of just colors instead of some stupid name would cut the price in half. At the same time would be much easier to find. It's not like the coral dealers created the frag in a lab.

Not sure that would be the case in all instances. I'm seeing torches labeled as Just "gold" going for more than "dragon soul" torch.

And we can't just blame the sellers, you have to go back to the wholesalers and importers. They are just as guilty.

I'm just not sure doing away with names would solve the price issue. I can remember when duncans first hit the market in the early 2000s at $200+ a head and people were buying them up instantly. It took several years for them to drop in price. Rarity does play a role in some of the price game. If strats were plentiful they wouldn't go for $2000/polyp.

 

[|Frank|]

I agree that the prices are insane for almost any piece of coral. But some of these names are hilarious not gonna lie lol. Also how else could you tell different coral morphs apart without naming them?

 

[MaxTremors]

To be realistic about it all it's the money that drives this thing. There are increasingly fewer people in the frag business that actually care about anything other than the money - the "likes" don't pay them, just fuels the ego a bit.

The ‘likes’ do pay them, on instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, ‘likes’ equal ad revenue and brand sponsorships/paid posting. If you have over 50k or 100k followers that are engaged with the content you create (meaning they’re watching/viewing it and leaving likes/comments), you can make a decent living. When you get into the millions of followers, you can be making millions just from your social media. I don’t really do social media, and have no idea how big the audience is for these sites/pages, but social media is not just for ego stroking, it can also make serious money (not to mention increased sales from marketing on social media).

 

[MaxTremors]

I'd be fine with color scheme rather than names. Orange and blue zoas, gold torch, green hammer with purple tips.. Use of just colors instead of some stupid name would cut the price in half. At the same time would be much easier to find. It's not like the coral dealers created the frag in a lab.

Well, they are kind of grown in a lab, so to speak. All of these chop-shops are importing corals from the same handful of maricultured coral farmers, who all have roughly the same species/morphs (if two coral farmers are farming in the same area, they’re going to have the same corals). Shop A gets the same coral as shop B, but they look a little different in different conditions, so they both name the same coral something different, and the end result is that the names are meaningless from an identification standpoint (which is the only half-reasonable argument that can be made in favor of the name game).

I don’t necessarily have a problem with coral farmers who grow out a particular distinct specimen for years and name it something, people like Jason Fox and Steve Tyree come to mind. They collected specimens in the wild, aquacultured them, and then named them, they are specific, documented, almost pedigreed corals, which is completely different than someone importing maricultured corals, naming them, and then charging double or triple acting like it has the same sort of provenance or years long history of proving to be a good aquarium specimen (ie is relatively hardy, keeps its coloration, etc.).

The name game is probably one of the most rotted, soulless aspects of the hobby. Its all about the money, there is no love or dedication put into chopping up corals that someone else took the time to grow and nurture (and get paid nearly slave wages for back breaking work, this is a whole other ethical discussion to be had, the person who grew the coral for years gets a couple dollars for it, and the person chopping it up makes hundreds if not thousands per colony). In a way, I kind of feel like a lot of these vendors haven’t earned the right to name a particular coral.

And don’t even get me started on Live Sales, they go hand in hand with the name game and are borderline predatory in the way they manipulate people into thinking if they don’t buy a particular coral now, they’ll never have another chance (they’re basically exploiting FOMO).

I don’t know, even with all of the advancements in technology and equipment, and the expansion of the knowledge base of the last 10-15 years, I can’t help to lament the good ol’ days. Which is really bizarre for me, because in general I’m not a nostalgic or overly sentimental person, and I’d usually say that the ‘good ol’ days’ don’t exist, but man has the hobby changed.

 

[176327]

Not sure that would be the case in all instances. I'm seeing torches labeled as Just "gold" going for more than "dragon soul" torch.

And we can't just blame the sellers, you have to go back to the wholesalers and importers. They are just as guilty.

I'm just not sure doing away with names would solve the price issue. I can remember when duncans first hit the market in the early 2000s at $200+ a head and people were buying them up instantly. It took several years for them to drop in price. Rarity does play a role in some of the price game. If strats were plentiful they wouldn't go for $2000/polyp.

were talking about aquacultured corals, not wild colonies.

 

[desagon]

I just ignore it all and avoid all of the flashy flash sales.

 

[Reef.]

Agreed, and I'm sick of the doctored photos. Was just looking at one store with $300 single polyp blastos, photos rediculously doctored. And who's buying all of these corals being sold for $500 to $1000? With the exception of Austin Aqua Farms and a few others, I feel like I'm walking into a used car dealer lot to be scammed every time I look at corals online. I don't put on orange glasses to look at my tank.

And I just saw one of "those" post: I just bought such and such. Dumped it in my tank. Is it good or bad

I love when the colour of the photo has been turned up so much it’s hard to see where the frag plug stops and the actual coral starts.
Many like that on here in the sales section.

 

[MONTANTK]

I care less about the names and more about the super doctored photos… or even worse… how every chop shop names a coral that has been named by several other chop shop. How many Acros and zoas are out there that are identical but go by multiple names

 

[Cell]

I guess next time I want some zoas, I'll just call my LFS and tell them I'd like a blue one, a red one, and a green one. I'm sure I'll be totally happy with the results. Then when someone sees my awesome blue colony, they can call the LFS and say they want blue zoas too, and they'll get the exact same thing, right?

Naming is necessary.

 

[MaxTremors]

I guess next time I want some zoas, I'll just call my LFS and tell them I'd like a blue one, a red one, and a green one. I'm sure I'll be totally happy with the results. Then when someone sees my awesome blue colony, they can call the LFS and say they want blue zoas too, and they'll get the exact same thing, right?

Naming is necessary.

Lol. Who calls their LFS and buys zoas sight unseen?

 

[Jekyl]

I've bought packs of coral on a couple occasions by just describing the color profile I'm looking for. No names or species specified.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Im neutral here and just want to add, there was a just a topic on this over the weekend. It unfortunate that we DO have people going out on impulse and buying a fish and/or coral because it is either cheap or beautiful.
It is virtually impossible to stop them BUT we can offer them advise to research, and Respectfully.

We can blame the stores for selling them such specimens at will and without asking them about :
their tank (size and equipment)
experience
what they all have in tank already
age of tank

This would lead to additional and necessary sales and a relationship for which I did when I had my pet store.

 

[TuxUrchin07]

Lol people somehow buy stuff without knowing what it is... I mean... at least ask who you bought it from. Someone's gonna end up buying something that only eats corals cuz it looks nice and then they are gonna be like "oh no I bought a new unknown fish that eats corals and now everything is dying please help me because I didn't search up if it was reef safe or not on google"

 

[BeltedCoyote]

I think one of the most ridiculous things I’ve seen lately is a vendor I shall not name call corals “luxurious”

I mean, really. I understand charging more for corals that aren’t readily propogatable but beyond that?

 

[TuxUrchin07]

I feel like corals should just be judged by colour and looks. This one has 7 colours then 100 or something like that

 

[Staghorn]

Funny thing, in Hong Kong, a lot of reefers use toilet water because Hong Kong’s sewage system uses salt water from the ocean, so they take water from the toilet, filter it (not exactly sure on what kind of filtering), and use it for their reef tanks because it’s much cheaper than using filtered tap water with salt mix. They even refer to it as ‘toilet water’.

Reef Store and Hobby Around the World: Hong Kong edition

Best Fish Stores around the world: Why do reefers love them so much? Hong Kong Edition 2020-10-11 stevenliu9 Hello Everyone, Steven here! Today we are starting a new exciting series by interviewing fellow reefers from around the world and compare the livestock, pricing, and some different...

www.reef2reef.com

Man, you make some Pruno in one of those Hong Kong salty toilets and you get a fine wine. Give ripple a run for it’s money.

 

[Jekyl]

Man, you make some Pruno in one of those Hong Kong salty toilets and you get a fine wine. Give ripple a run for it’s money.

The scotch of toilet brews.