Corals and designer names.

i agree that is a BS way to charge more,, but it is nice sometimes especially with zoas to make it easier for us to describe them, its easier to say i got eagle eye zoas, then say i got some zoas that have a purple mouth with an orange ring and then a purple ring with a green skirt..

but it is ridiculous the price people are trying to charge just cuz it has a name..

yesterday i got a huge colony of armor of god zoas mixed with another kind of pretty zoa..i paid 40 for the whole colony, prolly 50 heads..so i was bored and looked at what other people have said about them and a couple of forums had people charging 40$ a polyp for them, supposedly they are listed as rare zoas on a rare zoa site, but come on 40$ for a polyp just cuz its armor of gods..that mean i could sell this whole colony for 2000$..thats crazy and BS the price something brings just cuz it has a name

 

I never liked the designer names, it makes the hobby seem like stamp collecting. I like the hobby for the science, biology and the beauty of nature. I don't have interest in collecting living trinkets.

 

I like the designer names when I am selling frags. When I buy designer named corals, I wanna shoot whoever named it. Fortunately, eBay has made it easier and cheaper to purchase designer names.

as for naming your own corals then selling them. I don't see why not. I have a number of corals that I could probably name and make a killing on eBay, but I'm not in it for the money. I use fragging as a way to pay for the hobby.

 

I hate the whole naming thing. I find it more difficult to know by the "designer" names than the scientific. When I started researching corals I had no clue what stuff was called. But I was able to learn by looking at taxonomy classification and remembering that digitada, undata, and capricornis were all members of the Montipora genus.

I still don't like the designer names...zoas shouldn't cost more just because it looks slightly different than another coral.

 

If you are an aquaculturist with two zoa colonies in your tank with different colors and different growth rates, how do you allocate? Lets imagine one of your two colonies, colony A, is a dull brown with a little green to them and the other, colony B, is a rich blue, with a bright red fringe and a little white rim to make the fringe stand out. Unfortunately, colony B grows much slower than colony A.

Now lets say you price all frags the same. Any price you set that is fair for the unpopular brown ones will result in all the really nice ones selling right away. Worse, because your price is set very low on colony B, the mother colony will be sold down as small as you're willing to let it go and you'll still be answering calls every day from people who want it.

Setting a fair price for each will allow you to create a market for the cheaper ones, making them a useful product and coincidentally helping you offset your costs of growing the pretty ones while at the same time making sure that those who want colony B the most are more likely to have access to it.

None of this is a defense of dishonesty. Please see my posts above concerning the importance of encouraging uniform naming conventions. All I'm trying to show is that a) scientific names don't mean much in a coral context, since we as hobbyists want color and visual appeal, and b) while price certainly helps keeps stores in business (there are no multimillionaires in this business), it also helps make awesome corals available.

 

Guys, by making up a new name for some coral then you are just adding to the same exact hype you are complaining about.

I feel that the insanely nice corals (like stuff that you literally never see) can be merited a nice catchy name to help with it's appeal... However, naming a plane Jane coral or a small variation is pointless. I also am a strong advocate of keeping the prices low! A few years ago the hobby was about trading coral and enhancing captive diversity... Maybe selling a piece for like 20-30$ simply to cover costs.

I for one am not out there to make money... I have spent hundreds, if not thousands of dollars importing corals from across the US, Australia, and the Philippines. Despite the fact that I have shelled out all this money to bring in pieces that nobody in my area has, I do not sell a single coral for over $40 and 90% are under $30 (even my various designer pieces from large name people in the hobby that have not even been released yet). My demand is high and my prices are low. There is no need for excessive prices, even when the piece is absolutely gorgeous.

 

I can honestly say I have never made a profit selling corals or equipment, and I am some what suspect when people say they are making a big profit selling higher end zoanthids. But it is what it is.

With that said if you see Pink Bunnies you will know where they came from. ;D

 

???? It's illegal for anyone in PI to export stony coral aor anything with live rock attached.

 

He may be importing softies...

 

I think the point is being missed here.

Nobody... and I mean nobody is going to rename a ORA coral to something else. You would devalue it. The money is in the lineage to ORA.

Just like nobody is going to take credit for growing out a Tyree and then name it some cool name.... he would loose money. Nobody is going to pay me more becaue I renamed a Tyree Purple Monster to a Wilson Psychopathic Purple People Head Eater.

Limited edition corals comand premium prices due to their limited nature and what they look like. Not everyone agrees that a Tyree Myan Sun Favia should go for $150 a head and you should have to get on a two year waiting list to get it.... but that is what some are willing to do.

Next.... lets get real here... just because sombody had a few bong hits and wants to give some Acro asome convoluted stoner name... does not mean you need to pay more for it. I can name a turd a "Cosmic Brown Bear Sapce Warrior" but that does not mean sombody will pay more for it.

You pay for a coral based on how rare you think the colors are or how common they are or how easily you can get the same thing at a better price for. Without some sort of linneage, I'm not paying anything more than going rate for coral. If I really see something that is not every day stuff, yes I will pay more for. And yes I have paid quite handsomely for some insane pieces that are just stunning in person.

However... what I bought was nothing more than a head of coral... it just had incredible color to me and I knew it would not be around for long.

Also.... an acro is an acro and a favia is a favia and a zoa is a zoa. A green zoa does not have different care needs compared to a blue one. And yes there are many different types of acros... but they have generally the same care needs all the same. The only exception would be the deep water acros and you would generally know if you are getting those. But as far as looking up the specifics of the tens of thousands of color combinations and names for all the corals out there... you just are not going to find much. Most reputable growers that know their stuff give the scientific name and the care requirments regardles of what color it is.