I'd like to write a short piece about "fad
corals", and the price inflation it causes in the reefkeeping hobby.
In recent years, (mostly due to the popularity explosion of reefkeeping, and
subsequently the large numbers of online coral vendors) various coral species
have become the "in" coral and the prices of these corals have
skyrocketed. Law of supply and demand you say? Higher prices
benefit the reef, conservation efforts, and the poverty-stricken collectors,
you say? Nay. Prices are driven up artificially by a combination of
the consumer's "must have" attitude towards that species and vendors
purposefully restricting the amount of corals they sell in a given amount of
time.
If you've been reefkeeping for five years or so, I'm sure you remember the
"acan craze" (and if you don't, read on). Various species of
the Acanthastrea genus (most notable A. lordhowensis) became so
popular that they were selling for $50+ per polyp. Before this
species became a "fad coral" it had been selling for $50 per colony.
People became obsessed with having "acan lords" in all colors, and
collected them as if they were a rare, valuable commodity. The odd thing
was, they weren't (and aren't). This species is very easily collected
(I've literally walked out into the surf and picked up colonies) and is very
commonly imported. In fact, it became more commonly imported! Why
was the price so high, you ask? Vendors began restricting sales because
the consumers were willing to pay outrageous prices! In fact, Acananthastrea
spp. sold much more at $50/polyp than it ever did at $50/colony!
Why? It was advertised as "Rare! Hard to find! Unique
color morph!" and more by the vendors, and the consumers ate it up,
excited to own a "one of a kind coral" (there's no such thing, as
those of us who have been on a reef know) and gladly paid through the
nose. The “acan craze” is just one example, although I could list a half
dozen species/color variations that experienced the same artificial price
inflation.
Why is this artificial inflation a bad thing? Firstly, because it means vendors
are lying to their customers. There isn't a shortage of A.
lordhowensis, there never was, and they're not rare or hard to get. However,
in response to unreasonable consumer obsession, vendors were able to command a
premium price for an incredibly common species! Secondly, avoid buying
fad corals because artificial price inflation doesn't benefit the hobby
whatsoever. The only person benefiting is the middleman/vendor, who has
no real effect on the import/export/legislation of our hobby and basically only
cares about his profit margin (with a few exceptions, of course). The
wholesaler doesn't benefit by making an increased profit, which means the
collecting station doesn't receive more profits, which means the collectors
aren't making any more money to take home to their families. Keep in mind
that corals are collected from third world countries, and the collectors are
paid in the area of a few dollars a day. If the profits from greedy
aquarists wanting the latest "rare corals because they're rare!" were
filtering all of the way down to the collector trying to feed his family, I
wouldn't be writing this.
Don't buy "fad" corals. I don't care what the advertising says,
it's not "unique" or "one of a kind" and I seriously doubt
it's "rare". In fact, don’t
even buy from vendors that are artificially pricing their corals at outrageous
sums. Why pay $700 for a colony that the vendor payed $10 for?
Believe me, it'll cost $70 next year, when a new species has replaced its
status as the "unique, one of a kind, ultra rare" fad coral.
Image: the author's S. haddoni © Mike Maddox
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