Fish priced into oblivion and out of the hobby

[bluelagoon]

I was at a LPS and they got on some 2" discus in.They were nothing special and looked peppered.$100.00 give or talk $10.WOW!!Those discus probably won't get sold right away and will probably stay in their tanks for awhile.By the time someone does buy them they'll wind up being stunted from the lack of proper care.I would say that these fish were very expensive and not great discus to begin with.

[ssevasta]

I was at a LPS and they got on some 2" discus in.They were nothing special and looked peppered.$100.00 give or talk $10.WOW!!Those discus probably won't get sold right away and will probably stay in their tanks for awhile.By the time someone does buy them they'll wind up being stunted from the lack of proper care.I would say that these fish were very expensive and not great discus to begin with.

Those Discus sadly will probably die before they are sold if they’re that ugly and expensive.

[CliffsDiscus]

I got some Discus after the Aquarama show a couple times
from the winners they were selling quarter size for $200
each. The Discus never came out looking like their
parents.

Cliff

[Paul Sabucchi]

Amongst mbuna keepers HYBRID is definitely a dirty word!

[pastry]

Regardless of hobby or business... the nature of supply & demand applies. If ever regulated, bad stuff happens that out weighs the good.

Example: raise minimum wage, low income bracket suffers higher unemployment rate ( business has its own nature. No matter how ironic.).

[LizStreithorst]

[QUOTE=pastry;1277534 raise minimum wage, low income bracket suffers higher unemployment rate ( business has its own nature. No matter how ironic.).[/QUOTE]

That has not been my experience. I have found that when minimum wage is a living wage people spend more and even workers with few skills have an shot at a job where they can learn a trade if they want to. I guess we understand economics differently.

[Hart24601]

If one wants a shock get into reef keeping... Wow. I have a friend locally that just dropped $1,000 for a 1/2" acro coral. No joke, not exaggerating.

I set up a 60 cube, got the tank/stand for free along with a lot of equipment from my generous friend and he has wholesale accounts for the equipment I didn't have.

I got a lot of corals locally from hobbiests.

When I added up my costs I was at over $9,000. For a 60 cube that just had a lot of tiny coral frags and still looked empty.

Everything is expensive now.

[Discluv]

That has not been my experience. I have found that when minimum wage is a living wage people spend more and even workers with few skills have an shot at a job where they can learn a trade if they want to. I guess we understand economics differently.

Agree.

[Jack L]

If one wants a shock get into reef keeping... Wow. I have a friend locally that just dropped $1,000 for a 1/2" acro coral. No joke, not exaggerating.

I set up a 60 cube, got the tank/stand for free along with a lot of equipment from my generous friend and he has wholesale accounts for the equipment I didn't have.

I got a lot of corals locally from hobbiests.

When I added up my costs I was at over $9,000. For a 60 cube that just had a lot of tiny coral frags and still looked empty.

Everything is expensive now.

that is one reason i never did salt, and the fact that it seems like very few of them are able to thrive, also at the time i was researching, 10+ year ago now, the destructive collecting techniques were also off putting. though now i see some species are being farm raised.

[ssevasta]

that is one reason i never did salt, and the fact that it seems like very few of them are able to thrive, also at the time i was researching, 10+ year ago now, the destructive collecting techniques were also off putting. though now i see some species are being farm raised.

Setting up a massive 250-300 gallon SPS reef tank has always been on my bucket list but I know it’s going to cost me between $15-20K to do it. At some point in the future when I can have that cash set aside for it I’m sure I’ll have a blast. However in the here and now the zebra colony is possible so it’s my current project.

[Phillydubs]

Setting up a massive 250-300 gallon SPS reef tank has always been on my bucket list but I know it’s going to cost me between $15-20K to do it. At some point in the future when I can have that cash set aside for it I’m sure I’ll have a blast. However in the here and now the zebra colony is possible so it’s my current project.

Any updates or any healthy fish located for a fair price yet?

[ssevasta]

Yea my search has produced some interesting details. So far I’ve found breeders selling 1.5 inch fish for between $100-125 but won’t ship and the cheapest price on shipped 1.5 inch fish I’ve found so far is $140 each but I’m sure the price will probably scale lower in a group purchase of five or more. As of right now I found a local breeder that has five sexually mature adults and five juveniles that I’m currently negotiating with. God willing I should have my group before Christmas which is ideal because it was meant to be my big purchase this year. Btw once I source my group I’ll be more than happy to share everything I’ve learned with breeders and shippers.

[sanjay21]

Yea my search has produced some interesting details. So far I’ve found breeders selling 1.5 inch fish for between $100-125 but won’t ship and the cheapest price on shipped 1.5 inch fish I’ve found so far is $140 each but I’m sure the price will probably scale lower in a group purchase of five or more. As of right now I found a local breeder that has five sexually mature adults and five juveniles that I’m currently negotiating with. God willing I should have my group before Christmas which is ideal because it was meant to be my big purchase this year. Btw once I source my group I’ll be more than happy to share everything I’ve learned with breeders and shippers.

Goodluck Sean ! keep us posted.

[HarryDk]

Seem like the hobby is far more complicate than I though .
2 year in the hobby and I have keep thing simple for my wallet lol. Start with 20 small, regular discus at $20 each. Spend good time and care for them, end up sold most of the group but the final 9. Recently tempting to get some of the premium imported discus worth $400 each ... so I secretly hide $80 from my wife every month, after 5 month I have my fish ^__^ and report to the wife "he only $90 on special" . Like many said, this is a hobby, go with what you can afford.
Hopefully I can try breeding soon, have a few pair in my collection

[kalawai]

I throughly enjoyed this thread... The passion in opinions on how the hobby has changed by pocketbook. After buying a big aquarium at a very good price I’m having to try and clean the hard water grime and old nasty gravel it had in it, time and patience has come into play. It’ll be awhile before I’m thinking to get any livestock.
In the nineties when Zebra Plecos weren’t as expensive as they are now... I had a small colony and they did produce young and sold them to local shops and fellow aquarist. I never really made much money on them...just went back to aquarium supplies. I made the decision to sell off my colony...Boy, what stupid thing to do.
At the time, I didn’t see what would happen as these fish became harder to acquire as they became illegal to collect. I never should have done that...live and learn.