20,000$ in 4 fish

[graveyardworm]

Found an ad on Craiglist once where someone was trying to sell a mated pair of Gem Tangs for $150 plus some other stuff. It was obviously a bogus ad. Not only the price, but mated as well? I dont think so.

 

[mcbaes72]

I paid $115 for a med. sized Sohal Tang...and I thought THAT was expensive already. If I had that type of $$$$, I'd rather use it on a down payment on a car or better yet, towards a bigger tank and upgraded equipment.

 

[Parzifal]

those do look like beautiful fish. I wonder who this doctor is, if hes willing to pay that much for a single fish i have some artwork my 3 yr old cousin drew i want to sell him. But in reality people pay tens of thousands on single koi fish. If he has the money to drop on our wonderful hobby that's awesome, its just going to help us all if he keeps doing it.

 

[discus510]

I paid $115 for a med. sized Sohal Tang...and I thought THAT was expensive already. If I had that type of $$$$, I'd rather use it on a down payment on a car or better yet, towards a bigger tank and upgraded equipment.

honestly i think if someone is spending 20k on 4 fish there goin to have a state of the art aquarium system to house them in with the best of everything or at least he think its the best

 

[Stripe01]

well thing of it this way if the LFS dont make money on fish than wat else r they goin to make money on. and as to the fish store takin risk yes its the risk of the fish dying. the diver take no risk. i dont think a shark goin to bite when they havestin for the fish. i want to make sure so those fish cost 5000 a fish or 20000 a fish?? ill rather get the black tangs =) once tank is stable im thinkin of gettin 3 black tangs

The diver takes no risk? It's not like they have a group of pro divers with only the best equipment catching fish in these poor countries. It's well known that many collectors have died while diving.

 

[mcbaes72]

honestly i think if someone is spending 20k on 4 fish there goin to have a state of the art aquarium system to house them in with the best of everything or at least he think its the best

Good point. In that case, I wonder which is more expensive, his aquarium system or his livestock. Too bad we'll probably never find out.

 

[noahm]

Poor man's Gem

Yellow tail wrasse. Same look.

20 bucks and it can go in a small tank.

 

[tplummer]

Geeze you could buy a nice pair of barret 50's with high end scopes, maybe even add night vision for that kind of dough. $20K in fish? Now that I think of it my down payment on one of my new investment properties was not even that much. As my Grandfather used to say, "a fool and his money are soon parted". LOL Pretty fish though.

50 cal eh? Mr, I like the way you think. ..

 

[fufu]

islanders probably eat these for lunch.

 

[mcoomer]

If you've got that kind of money, why not get what makes you happy. When I'm king I'm gonna have one helluva tank!

 

[D to the P]

Well seeing as how the fish are found off of the Eastern African coast, I guess they're so expensive because of having to pay pirate ransom haha. That's way too expensive for any pet. I could buy scuba equipment, a round way ticket, and hotel fair with that amount of money and have plenty left over for another trip to the REAL reefs where they are found.

 

[lougotzz]

$5k is so over priced. Ive seen them online for $2500 You guys know he bought this for bragging purposes right?

 

[greenmonkey51]

$5k is so over priced. Ive seen them online for $2500

Prices on these type of fish are very volatile. There may of only been a few fish that came in or the bribes to get them out of the country may of went up.

 

[greenmonkey51]

Only problem with that analysis, greenmonkey51, is that I am betting the guy really taking the risk, i.e. the diver going down there to get the fish, only gets a tiny fraction of the 5000 asking price. The fish store owner, risking virtually nothing, gets way more.

I'm not sure, but I think gem tangs are deep water fish. If they are then the local yahoo's are not collecting them. It will be the best of the best collectors and they will command a much higher profit than the guy out catching clownfish. A lot of the price is also shipping and fees from the import/export.

 

[DGee]

dangerous? what place are you referring too?

Well if memory serves they are only coming from one place as others have stated in Africa and they are a deeper water fish. From what I remember reading the area they come from is only accessible for a very short period of time of the year and is a dangerous place to dive on a good day.

So your average run of the mill collector won't be out fetching gem tangs whenever they feel like it.

I know there's a member around here that's form Africa and I believe he said the local price there was still around $500 USD, maybe he'll see this thread and pop in with a little more knowledge on the gem's since he owns one.

 

[Stanley-Reefer]

I'd like a gem but if I did that, I'd have to name my sohal the diamond cutter. That $120 would tear into that $2500 pretty quick...

 

[David Jr.]

Rather have a conspicuous angel. I think they're awesome.

 

[premilove]

seeing this makes me hate myself for not buying a gem for 900 when i had the chance.

 

[precko]

You guys are getting ripped off, over here they go for around £500-650 so between $800-1000, I am looking into getting one as my centre piece fish, they only come up a couple of times a year though.

 

[ser_renely]

I still don't get how this place is any more dangerous then the next. Super invested Shark water? Depth? Caves?

I almost swam into a shark the other day, I see a shark most of the times I am snorkeling, to my regret. You have to be doing something really stupid to get attacked by a shark 99% of the time.