Pricey Corals, what would you pay?

btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Went to Manhattan Aquariums this weekend. What a wonderful store, if you ever get to NYC, definitely check it out.
Anyways, hubby and I are upgrading tanks, and I've been looking at a few pieces for his birthday, our anniversary, etc. He's in the market for some nice acans and some crazy colored zoanthids. They're pricey, but we have all the basic pieces. Now it's time to splurge on the nice (and quite expensive) exotic stuff.
Here's some pics with the prices they're going for, tell me what you'd buy and what you'd pay. Keep in mind, this store is in Manhattan, so they do charge more and we live on LI where they mark stuff up.
**There is a website listed on these pics. DO NOT ORDER FROM THE SITE! There is no guarantee and you won't get the customer service you'll get from SWF. I will only buy from this company if I can go there and see**
All of these prices except the first are based per polyp. All polyps are fresh cut when you order, so they're not healed yet and there is no 14 day guarantee. It's hope and pray.
Would you buy any of these? If so, which ones? Which ones would you buy if they were less? How much would you pay for one of these if you were to buy it?
First is the cheap non-rare one: It's a 4" colony going for $140

Second is a zoanthid frag. $50 per polyp:

Hellfire Chalice $250 per eye:

IronMan Acan $100 per polyp:

Manhattan Project Acan $200 per polyp:

Pom Pom Acan $125 per polyp:

Sex Bomb Acan $75 per polyp:
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
I want the full colony rock, because it looks like there are two types on there. I saw all of these corals in person on Sunday.
If it were completely up to me, I'd buy the Manhattan Project just because in person, it's truly is amazing, the Iron Man and the Sex Bomb(this I'd get 2 or three heads, since it's cheaper). I'm in the air about the zoanthids.
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
If you are going to buying just a polyp or two you may want to check out Mr.coral
In the $10 section they often have really good buys on crazy nice acans.
Those zoas are sick!
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
mr coral tries to be one of the big boys when it comes to exotic corals. imo, they dont have alot of the nicer things other retailers like vivid, unique corals, or world wide corals has.
i look for the exotic stuff too which is why i usually trade with local hobbyists to keep the prices down.
out of the ones you showed above, i would choose the hellfire chalice.
ive had many acans. theyre wonderful and all but names on acans doesnt work like names on zoas and chalices. rainbow acans usually lose their color for many hobbyists because they can be finicky with lighting.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
I could never bring myself to pay that much for anything ... OF COURSE I never get to see it in person.....BUT STILL
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
Agreed, they may be a tier below in grade but look at the pics Tommie posted and the one i posted. are they really much different? Other than price i mean :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by nikeSB http:///forum/thread/384420/pricey-corals-what-would-you-pay#post_3367356
mr coral tries to be one of the big boys when it comes to exotic corals. imo, they dont have alot of the nicer things other retailers like vivid, unique corals, or world wide corals has.
i look for the exotic stuff too which is why i usually trade with local hobbyists to keep the prices down.
out of the ones you showed above, i would choose the hellfire chalice.
ive had many acans. theyre wonderful and all but names on acans doesnt work like names on zoas and chalices. rainbow acans usually lose their color for many hobbyists because they can be finicky with lighting.
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jstdv8 http:///forum/thread/384420/pricey-corals-what-would-you-pay#post_3367365
Agreed, they may be a tier below in grade but look at the pics Tommie posted and the one i posted. are they really much different? Other than price i mean :)
yes. not many people get the chance to see what comes into wholesalers, but alot of them are just plain normal looking compared to some of the corals they get. whoever gets to cherry pick the unique pieces gets the advantage of putting a premium on the corals. i can rainbow out almost any acan and make them look great, but getting combos like yellow and green only are pretty rare. contrasting mouth colors are also pretty rare when it comes to acans. ive seen all red acans with hints of green, so that makes it rainbow. but it still never gets to the wow factor as some of the more unique pieces. when juicy corals was still around, they had the sickest acans around. austin aqua farms still gets some nice ones in and they get snatched up fast.
whats worst is that i can call home to the philippines and have someone look for a pylei wrasse which would cost less than 10$ for a pair, but yet we see them here for over 200$ for a supermale
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
It is definitely nice to be able to see these pieces in person. A few months back a LFS had a beautiful redish acan and the tentacles were not your generic clear/white color, they were red as well so the price went up tremendously.
Mr Coral's has some nice stuff, but if I'm going to pay this much per polyp, I want to be able to go to the store and pick it out and see it in person, so Unique Corals/Manhattan Aquariums it is for me.
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
i dont think you'll be disappointed at all from unique corals. as a photographer, its easy to tell when corals are being overblown like what many vendors do. i have a couple of UC rarities and their photos are pretty damn close
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by nikeSB http:///forum/thread/384420/pricey-corals-what-would-you-pay#post_3367442
i dont think you'll be disappointed at all from unique corals. as a photographer, its easy to tell when corals are being overblown like what many vendors do. i have a couple of UC rarities and their photos are pretty damn close
I got to see all of these in person on Sunday. Manhattan Aquariums is their store front and Unique Corals is their web store. The guy brought me into the basement to see all the corals that were listed on the web. That Manhattan Project piece is absolutely amazing in person. IMO, they could have taken a much nicer shot of it. And I have to agree, their pics are usually very close to what the actual piece looks like. I picked up quite a few SPS from them this weekend, and they haven't updated their site yet and my pieces look just about the same as their pics do.
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
Quote:
Originally Posted by BTLDreef http:///forum/thread/384420/pricey-corals-what-would-you-pay#post_3367437
It is definitely nice to be able to see these pieces in person. A few months back a LFS had a beautiful redish acan and the tentacles were not your generic clear/white color, they were red as well so the price went up tremendously.
Mr Coral's has some nice stuff, but if I'm going to pay this much per polyp, I want to be able to go to the store and pick it out and see it in person, so Unique Corals/Manhattan Aquariums it is for me.
Tommie, I think that's my point, they are 10 bucks! LOL
I'm not opposed to spending a load on cool corals. I dropped $200 recently on a zoa pack from a guy on RC and am currently looking at another pack but SPS this time. of course 200 for a 10-15 piece pack isn't that much compared to a $250.00 polyp of acans
 
deton8it

deton8it

Member
Have you seen how much people want for 'Utter Chaos" zoanthids? Most places want over $100 per polyp for a zoa. That's crazy.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
People will pain INSANE prices for some things. I've had people swarming me for weeks because I've been selling Blue Hornets on a local forum for $5 a polyp. People thought I was nuts. I got an awesome deal on them, so why not share
 
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