The hobby expensive because we are making it so

jft

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I have been keeping reef tanks for 30 years since the 80 s I can tell u its alot about snake oil and over the years ALOT of disreputable people gouging their fellow Human beings tainting the Hobby and the industry. Wether its fancy supplement bottles or the Latest and greatest filter like rollermats HAHA which I would never use personally Money and greed drives alot of it sadly!
 

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That would be my plan. First I need to learn how to frag

All I have now is Rhondactis mushroom, toadstool, and GSP that are in the fragable range
I have a hammer that will be ready here soon. I need to get a dremel to separate the stems. Breaking it could cause issues. The stems are short. Fragging corals, is a new joy of reef keeping.
rollermats HAHA
Oh dear, I forgot about these. I got nothing to say to that. ;Hilarious
 

BestMomEver

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I haven’t read all replies so excuse me if my post is redundant or offense to anyone. About 8 months ago I lost nearly every coral in my tank. While I was letting everything “settle “ I did not venture into a LFS or look online at anything. There was no need. Yesterday I went into one of my local LFS’s and was shocked to see a yellow tang for $100. Two years ago I paid about $30 (if memory serves me right). Talking with the manager he indicated that the prices of fish has skyrocketed. Of course, there are many reasons for the increase in prices and I do believe we are greatly responsible. But I do believe you’re correct and I’m also sure there is a way to do this hobby fairly cheaply.
 
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Reefing102

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Roller mats, I haven’t even looked into them but I’ve got the general concept and not even going there either based on what I’ve seen
 

Goaway

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was shocked to see a yellow tang for $100.
Just 100? Right now I can't get my lfs to bring one in for less than 300. I'd pick that booger up.
Edit: hawaii has banned reef trades. So, yellow tang is very expensive due to rarity and now being bred with birth deformities being common.
 
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Reefing102

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I haven’t read all replies so excuse me if my post is redundant or offense to anyone. About 8 months ago I lost nearly every coral in my tank. While I was letting everything “settle “ I did not venture into a LFS or look online at anything. There was no need. Yesterday I went into one of my local LFS’s and was shocked to see a yellow tang for $100. Two years ago I paid about $30 (if memory serves me right). Talking with the manager he indicated that the prices of fish has skyrocketed. Of course, there are many reasons for the increase in prices and I do believe we are greatly responsible. But I do believe you’re correct and I’m also sure there is a way to do this hobby fairly cheaply.
Jeez at $100 you should grab it! I see people trying to sell theirs for $200-$300 plus due to the Hawaii ban. Granted you can buy captive bred now from Biota for $150 which I think is reasonable.
 
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Reefing102

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Just 100? Right now I can't get my lfs to bring one in for less than 300. I'd pick that booger up.
Edit: hawaii has banned reef trades. So, yellow tang is very expensive due to rarity and now being bred with birth deformities being common.
Beat me to it
 

G Santana

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I have been keeping reef tanks for 30 years since the 80 s I can tell u its alot about snake oil and over the years ALOT of disreputable people gouging their fellow Human beings tainting the Hobby and the industry. Wether its fancy supplement bottles or the Latest and greatest filter like rollermats HAHA which I would never use personally Money and greed drives alot of it sadly!
Roller mats make me laugh.
$30 a month $360 a year versus $30 for several years.
I change my socks every other day it takes 30 seconds!!!
I am convinced that this is a look at what I have item to own lol
 

Joe462

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I haven’t followed Cinci, they’re about 3 hours away, so they have a Facebook group? I have most of the Central Ohio and Cleveland area ones I could find
2 hours for me. I don't know if they have a facebook group so much as just a page, Cincy Reef. They might also still operate their own forum, but i'm not sure, i haven't checked in a long time.
 

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Not that I agree with it, but this is how every hobby I've been in has become. I'm new to saltwater, but I've been into computers, knives, firearms, EDC, and my brother in law is a sneaker head.

Every single one of these hobbies has a distinctive line where there are enthusiast and profit seekers. Worst time is any limited edition or highly sought after drops. People buy them out and flip them.

I don't have a solution for fixing this, but the best thing I have done with every hobby is join a group of enthusiast and form the friendships. That's when people give the bro deals because they aren't mostly profit oriented.
 

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I've been into computers, knives, firearms, EDC, and my brother in law is a sneaker head.
Computers, electronics and sneakers have a terrible thing in the menu called "scalpers" they buy up everything and price it 3x to 5x more. Yes, It's everywhere.
 
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Not that I agree with it, but this is how every hobby I've been in has become. I'm new to saltwater, but I've been into computers, knives, firearms, EDC, and my brother in law is a sneaker head.

Every single one of these hobbies has a distinctive line where there are enthusiast and profit seekers. Worst time is any limited edition or highly sought after drops. People buy them out and flip them.

I don't have a solution for fixing this, but the best thing I have done with every hobby is join a group of enthusiast and form the friendships. That's when people give the bro deals because they aren't mostly profit oriented.
I can also agree with this. You see this right now with the “popular” corals
 

terraincognita

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TLDR, but I think also as a hobby it has had a HUGE spike in the last 10 years due to large changes in equipment. Newer all inclusive tank packages and overall just demand increase.

the amount of new coral only shops just in Los Angeles is crazy.

to think a county of 10M can support idk, 30-40 different fish specific shops. That’s pretty wild. Granted most also have birds or reptiles, so I can see both hobbies possibly.

but there’s a few like vivid aquariums. I own a small restaurant and I swear he has almost as many staff as me. (Not really but feels like it sometimes :p)

he’s a coral vendor (SUPER Awesome guy by the way, I get a chance to talk to him every now and then when he’s in the shop) he’s now nationwide coral vendor due to great sites like this

and he’s employing 6-8? Other people at the same time and making a living for himself?

I think that’s a great thing as well.

ultimately I think prices will balance and find a settle point in the next 5 years as some people leave tbe hobby / increase rises and demand lowers.

maybe it’ll happen again in 2035 or 40 with new generations
 
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Reefing102

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I've been out of reefing for awhile just getting back into it....sticker shock and miss the good ol days of trading frags....I think getting back to trading would be a good thing!
Definitely. I’d love to see regular frag swaps come back not the massive corporate sponsor ones
 

DaneGer21

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This a basic hammer, torch or frog going for $60-$80 plus a head is ridiculous. Should be closer to $30/head. $30/$40/frag is reasonable to me.
I agree! Here’s my last sale of them…


A few days later they showed up on Facebook for triple the price. That’s what I get for being generous…
 

Bccarty151

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I agree! Here’s my last sale of them…


A few days later they showed up on Facebook for triple the price. That’s what I get for being generous…
People suck sometimes!
 
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I agree! Here’s my last sale of them…


A few days later they showed up on Facebook for triple the price. That’s what I get for being generous…
I agree! Here’s my last sale of them…


A few days later they showed up on Facebook for triple the price. That’s what I get for being generous…
dang. Not sure how I missed that. However my tank was not ready at the time anyway but heck of a deal. Keep me in mind next time you need to frag more, if you have any left. It does suck that people take advantage like that.

Edit: Not sure on why it double quoted
 

jeepreefer1

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This is just a rant and I realize it’s not going to change a thing and yes I’m aware of the economics of supply and demand. Please note if you see a reference to something you may have posted, it is not a personal attack on you and I will not be mentioning any names. I’m using what’s been posted simply as a reference to justify my standpoin

The hobby expensive because we are making it so…

I say this not because I don’t want to spend money on the hobby, I say this as we are pricing the average hobbyist who are the ones who will continue this hobby, out of the hobby.

Now I realize this hobby is not what it was when I stopped following the “latest and greatest” in equipment, lighting, and everything else. I can easily just say, well I remember when a small colony of hammer or torch or frogspawn was $50 for 8-10 heads. I realize this is not realistic to expect the the same 10 years later.

With that said here are my issues:

Corals - What the heck is going on with the pricing? I’m not saying the cartoon names, as I understand the reasoning behind it. I’m saying since when is a half inch frag worth $500-$800? I say this after reviewing a “flash sale” and nothing I clicked on was below $300. Yes I’m well aware of plenty of other vendors that do not price this high but still $70-$100 per frag is well outrageous.
Now that’s not to say it may or may not be some rare species or slow grower that deserves the price but I mean seriously.
Well okay, those are vendors, they’re out to make money, fine.
I now turn to us “hobbyists”. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read, “well my tank is an investment” or “I only frag to recoup the cost of running the tank and last year I sold $16k in coral”. I’m sorry but if your tank is costing you $16k a year, you really have something wrong with your tank.
I also see a lot of the “Well it cost me “x” so I’m not selling it for less” like these deformed mushrooms we call “bounce mushrooms”. $500/less than 1/2 inch frag. Seriously? That’s just ripping off the hobbyist.
I can guarantee that if I was to ever get one of these mushrooms (it’d have to come cheap), I’m not going to frag it out the moment it gets 1 inch big. I’ll let it multiply on its own and sell them for cheap. No labor involved other than removing from the rock. There’s no reason a mushroom, a freaking mushroom, one of the most prolific growers in home aquaria, should cost $500. At most maybe $100 for a full single mushroom that has some super color variant.

Based on current market value, I supposedly have close to $2k in coral in my tank with my “Firemouth” Green Rhondactis Mushrooms and Neon Green Toadstool and Indo Hammer. I have no plans on fragging any of it because my tank is not an investment. My tank is for my enjoyment.

Okay fine, tell me to find local hobbyists who are out there to help you out. “Many local hobbyists will just give away frags”. Please tell me where these hobbyists are cause they aren’t local around here or in the selling forum here.

Now I understand that there is plenty of reason for increased cost due to import/export bans, Covid, inflation. However, I would say, a large percentage is “captive grown” now, with certain exceptions obviously, so captive grown should reduce the cost, I would think.

Anyway, if we continue to price gouge, this hobby will become what all the “true collectors” or “investment hobbyists” want. One that only the 1% can afford.

Go ahead flame away. I can feel it coming. Bring on the heat! It’s already 80 degrees and humid as all get out outside anyway
I agree, prices have been driven up to a ridiculous level. When hobbyists that sell see what vendors are getting they go up also. The whole market gets driven up. Kinda silly what we do to ourselves.
 

ClownWrangler

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That’s capitalism!
Long live the free market.
Nothing wrong at all.
If you were on the selling side, you’d be happy.

Not necessarily. Deliberate artificial scarcity such as export bans with exceptions to select groups undermines capitalism. Regulatory such as high costs of licensing and permits are also deliberately designed to keep small scale entrepreneurs out of the market and undermines capitalism.
 
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