Thanks @Sam Parkerabout $45 for one from Sustainable reefs I'd say
Nah, that's cool Sam .. I appreciate your opinion ... everyone has theirs .. cheers mateFew differences, well, others will have an opinion - but this is mine:
Sustainable frags (especially the second gen ones) are more likely to keep the colour that they come as rather than slowly fade off to a boring brown stick that I find a lot of wild ones do. They are also very hardy compared the rolling the dice on wild collected pieces. Just my opinion though :)
Thanks @thepubenator so if I understand your perspective correctly ... Sustainable reefs frags haven't done the adapting bits hence in your example of Yellow Terra, when you pop them under your tank (say running LED or T5), the natural yellow color is sustained?i tend to disagree with Sam in this instance for the below reasons
1. Sustainable reefs conditions are not similar to one that we have in tanks
2. they are typically cut and glued, have not seen many encrusted frags from them
milli frags from ppl tanks which come from colonies that have been in captivity for years , in similar conditions eg light have already done their adapting. look at a yellow terra they all turn green under T5 and LED after a week or so.
that begs the question where everyone would ask .. why would one purchase a tiny frags for 5 times the price of tank-hardened birdsnest ... understand that yours is "non" sustainable ...look at how they have their tanks set up compared to how the average reefer has theirs set up. outdoors, sun light vs indoor and artificial light.
And yes the price is VERY high on some pieces. I saw tiny frags of birdsnest the other day for sale for $55! arguement was its second generation but my birdsnest must be 5th gen + by now and in tanks for over 10 years and would be lucky to sell for $10!
@Coralfarmer = Sustainable Reef , yes?hmm.....interesting.....
we wholesale frags to the lfs, they put whatever price they think is fair on them then you the consumer chooses wether or not you think its a fair price, if our product is/was no good nobody would buy them.
you may not like my company, mabe you prefer someone else idk , what I do know is I offer a commercially viable alternative to wild harvested coral, that's it.
and to be honest the aquarium trade is not our end goal, but that's another story.
I suppose you have to ask yourself why you feel 50 bucks is excessive for a frag, I personally think paying 300+ for a single ric is excessive or 600 for a "gold" euphillia is ridiculous, or 350 for a tiny scolly that glows red and green under pure actinic, not to mention dropping thousands of dollars on a single fish only to have it up and die.....
different strokes for different folks I guess...