Prices Of Corals & Fish May Keep Me From Returning ?

[427HISS]

My wife and I were in this beautiful hobby years ago, but I've been saving money and buying the needed products to return, but the prices for even frags and small fish have skyrocketed ! We went to our favorite stores in Omaha yesterday and we were shocked at the prices for livestock (and on the internet) that may keep us from returning to the hobby.

We like buying fish at a young age, but buying just tiny frags at high prices is hard to swallow. Plus those frags will take a long time to grow out. The display tank is 125g. We attended a local swap meet and was very disappointed as the prices were comparable to the business's on the internet. I thought,...that club members would "SWAP meet" that the corals would be free, to below the markets or swap with others members, but NO....

Lighting... and some powerheads are ridiculously high !!!

Heck, when our local car clubs get together, we swap or sell at a low cost on parts all the time, so why not with the reef hobby ?

 

[TX_REEF]

There are quite a few budget options for equipment, if you have anything specific you’re looking for let us know and we can offer budget alternatives! I agree on livestock prices, but I’ve found patience is key when looking for deals. I always buy neglected looking frags that are on sale for cheap and nurse them back to healthy myself. You can also find good deals on fish if you look around, for example I picked up a lyretail anthias a couple weeks ago for only $13 (vs $40-$50 which I usually see around these parts) just by shopping around to a LFS that was “off the beaten path”. And welcome back!!!

 

[Reefer Matt]

My wife and I were in this beautiful hobby years ago, but I've been saving money and buying the needed products to return, but the prices for even frags and small fish have skyrocketed ! We went to our favorite stores in Omaha yesterday and we were shocked at the prices for livestock (and on the internet) that may keep us from returning to the hobby.

We like buying fish at a young age, but buying just tiny frags at high prices is hard to swallow. Plus those frags will take a long time to grow out. The display tank is 125g. We attended a local swap meet and was very disappointed as the prices were comparable to the business's on the internet. I thought,...that club members would "SWAP meet" that the corals would be free, to below the markets or swap with others members, but NO....

Lighting... and some powerheads are ridiculously high !!!

Heck, when our local car clubs get together, we swap or sell at a low cost on parts all the time, so why not with the reef hobby ?

Yeah, “swaps” are flea markets for reefing livestock and supplies, and not the free swaps of yesteryear. The best way to get coral at great prices is to make friends with local Reefers and join any local groups either online or in person. Fish are a whole other story usually, but deals can be found sometimes. The simple answer is reefing became much easier, and now many Reefers are trying to cash in. But the market just changed, so prices may come falling down soon anyway.