I have to agree with you Ian. I personally will not buy wild coral first hand. Everything in my tank is either aquacultured or a frag from a local reefer. I also agree with you that aquacultured coral have much better colours and do not seem to waste away like a wild coral would. I know it sounds hypocritical but I dont like the idea of scorching wild reefs so we can enjoy them in our living rooms. I feel the same about live rock thats why for my tank I used all eco dry rock and seeded it with a few pieces of LR from a friend. Hopefully in the next decade our hobby will have major advancements in fish breeding so we could sustain our hobby and leave the oceans alone
Sorry for a bit of a rant but I always find myself wondering why people buy wlld lol