A Very Expensive Coral...

[corpusse]

Originally Posted by andsoitgoes

If I win the lotto, I may just spend that on a coral. MAYBE. But seeing as my entire setup (well, let's not be silly, lots added together would be more than that) cost less than $600, I'll pass. I feel sketchy buying corals for $40!

Obviously aussie corals aren't for everyone. There is no doubt they are expensive, but how is it sketchy buying corals that come from the ocean halfway around the world, which are collected by people who put their lives on the line to get them, then have to be bought by a store and shipped properly and then in some cases bought by a wholesaler before hitting your LFS for the cost of only $40. Yes reef keeping is an expensive hobby but really I think its amazing that corals can be sold for $40.

[Bryan]

I can remember back when when elegance corals were frequently imported, and sold for under $40.00, and one of the easier corals to keep. Then for some reason mortality rates increased dramatically and they were rarely seen in the LFS.

Don't recall what the reason was for the mortality rates. I had one for years and it was huge. Traded it to a LFS as it outgrew my tank and was stinging nearby corals.

[marie]

Originally Posted by Bryan

Don't recall what the reason was for the mortality rates. I had one for years and it was huge. Traded it to a LFS as it outgrew my tank and was stinging nearby corals.

It is some kind of pathogen that is picked up in dealers and lfs's tanks, highly contagious and always fatal. It starts with the oral disk puffing up huge and the tentacles getting smaller and shorter