RockStacker
Reefing newb
By Golly! saltwater livestock prices have really shot up since I last shopped.
A bit of a background:
I first set up my 55gal tank in 1999. It started as a FOWL tank, then it slowly evolved into a soft coral tank a couple of years later.
When I was stocking with corals initially (circa 2001-2002), these are the prices I usually encounter:
Medium-Large Toadstool Leather Coral (about 6" across): $15.00
zoanthids (about 50 heads): $20.00
mushrooms (about 10 heads): $10.00
Green Star Polyps (about 100 heads?): $15.00
False Percula (juvenile): $5.00
Chromis: $0.50
damsels: $1.00
From there, I basically just fragged what I had and traded with other hobbyists so I did not have the need to buy from stores.
Fast forward to today:
Due to a relocation and teardown of the tank, I had massive coral die off in my tank and I was shopping around to restock.
Boy what a difference a decade makes :)
zoanthids (3-4 heads): $10.00 - that would make a 50-head colony $125.00
Toadstool Leather (1 inch frag): $20.00 - scale that up to a 6" coral and it is $120.00
Mushrooms (2-3 heads): $30.00
Green Star Polyps (about 50 heads): $80.00
False Percula (juvenile): $30.00
Chromis: $5.00
damsels: $8.00
I can't make a comparison on LPS and SPS since I did not really get into those even back then.
Live Rock prices seem to be on par with prices 5 years ago.
On a related note: Back then, regular gas was around $1.40
Man, if only my salary actually tripled in 10 years like gas prices did...
A bit of a background:
I first set up my 55gal tank in 1999. It started as a FOWL tank, then it slowly evolved into a soft coral tank a couple of years later.
When I was stocking with corals initially (circa 2001-2002), these are the prices I usually encounter:
Medium-Large Toadstool Leather Coral (about 6" across): $15.00
zoanthids (about 50 heads): $20.00
mushrooms (about 10 heads): $10.00
Green Star Polyps (about 100 heads?): $15.00
False Percula (juvenile): $5.00
Chromis: $0.50
damsels: $1.00
From there, I basically just fragged what I had and traded with other hobbyists so I did not have the need to buy from stores.
Fast forward to today:
Due to a relocation and teardown of the tank, I had massive coral die off in my tank and I was shopping around to restock.
Boy what a difference a decade makes :)
zoanthids (3-4 heads): $10.00 - that would make a 50-head colony $125.00
Toadstool Leather (1 inch frag): $20.00 - scale that up to a 6" coral and it is $120.00
Mushrooms (2-3 heads): $30.00
Green Star Polyps (about 50 heads): $80.00
False Percula (juvenile): $30.00
Chromis: $5.00
damsels: $8.00
I can't make a comparison on LPS and SPS since I did not really get into those even back then.
Live Rock prices seem to be on par with prices 5 years ago.
On a related note: Back then, regular gas was around $1.40
Man, if only my salary actually tripled in 10 years like gas prices did...
