Red planet frag, how much????

[molotov]

Great thread here.

When I first started in this hobby I really wanted a red planet frag. There are vendors in Calgary that were/are selling a 1" frag for fifty dollars. The attraction for me was because it was considered to be rare. Now that I've been in the hobby for about a year a lot of the tanks I've seen have red planets. Everyone's got them now and I now have no desire to pay a premium for a coral that is in every sps tank.

That being said and to answer your question, I would pay $15 for about a 2" frag. It's still a nice colourful piece. I just don't think it commands the price it used to. It's a supply and demand thing and it I think it's a common coral now.

[fishytime]

I was thinking $20 to $40 and Laurie was thinking like $60.... And just to clarify, the frag is not just single 1" long branch, but a small cluster of nubs

[lastlight]

I'd still pay 20 - 40 for a nice small cluster.

there are a lot around but they also still get bought up fast so it can be tough to find one.

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by fishytime

I was thinking $20 to $40 and Laurie was thinking like $60.... And just to clarify, the frag is not just single 1" long branch, but a small cluster of nubs

I'm guessing at this point we can conclude Laurie is wrong and Doug can commence victory dance.

[Rogue951]

Originally Posted by lastlight

i just bought a 2" piece with prob 10 branches for $35 in town.

this coral grows like a weed it doesn't command the same price anymore as many have it...

PLEASE tell me what you do to make it grow like a weed.
Mine's growing and coloring up nicely but significantly slower than the rest of my sps.
I have 3 frags in different places, and while the amount of light they get seems to change their coloration(more green vs red), the growth rate is the same.

I remember a year or so ago a 1" frag was $30-50 on here.
I think I paid $30 for the big one, and $10 ea for the 2 small less than 1" ones.

[asylumdown]

Originally Posted by lastlight

i just bought a 2" piece with prob 10 branches for $35 in town.

this coral grows like a weed it doesn't command the same price anymore as many have it...

+1. I just got some a few weeks ago and it's by far the fastest growing thing in my tank. In a way, this is a good thing - a super rare coral becomes democratized and the price falls because all the early adopters end up becoming producers over time. Imagine how cheap iPhones would be if simply by owning one, you could start to produce more of them in time.

What's even crazier is that the true red planet that's in half the SPS tanks the world over is all descended from a single colour morph of a single colony somewhere out in the Pacific. For all we know, that colony might have been the only one of the species with that particular colouration, which would mean there's probably more of it in tanks now than there ever was in the wild.

Red Planet would be a good case study to see what potential the informal trade networks of the reef hobby actually have for the conservation of coral biodiversity.

[lastlight]

my piece from concepts wasn't very red at all but i saw and acted impulsively lol. it's looking better every day.

hey doug is the red planet in question grown from the frag i traded to you for the true undata?

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by sphelps

I'm guessing at this point we can conclude Laurie is wrong and Doug can commence victory dance.

Ok I confess Doug was right and I was wrong. Also I apologize for getting the size wrong, the lights were off and I couldn't remember what size it is. I do remember there being a few nubs on either side of it. It is a very nice red colour, l will take pics when I get home.

Originally Posted by lastlight

my piece from concepts wasn't very red at all but i saw and acted impulsively lol. it's looking better every day.

hey doug is the red planet in question grown from the frag i traded to you for the true undata?

Yes it is, he accidentally broke off a piece from the colony yesterday.

[freezetyle]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

I have pink lemonade frags that I can't give away.

ive been looking for one of those!