Australian rare fish pricelist

[patro]

I think some of you guys don't realise how affordable the hobby is overall for the average U.S. reefer and why its different elsewhere in the world.




That sums it up. You guys also import from round the world - we can only do that with fish and our population is tiny. Thats why fish don't come with 14 day guarantees either - although that may not be a bad thing. We also have a huge divergence in prices paid for the same species bought from local shops - sometimes 50-100%.

Theres an enormously inflated bureaucracy associated with collection & import and you can see where costs rise. That said a personifier here can be had relatively cheaply if I deal direct with a collector; but aren't readily available in shops due to low local demand.

The other thing is coral pricing. If you guys didn't have marketing gurus behind some of your fad corals they'd be a helluva lot cheaper; especially from some exporters who keenly watch what happens online and in auctions etc.... Everyone wants a cut of the pie. These ultra cherry picked acans aren't rare inthe true sense of the word at all. But you may as well maximise your collection of endemic corals because one day coral collection will be closed, as this is a political hot potato, especially in Queensland.

Finally, if you think our fish are expensive, you should look at our hardware prices. Recently I looked at importing a Deltec sc2060 from Germany. Why? Because its $3-400USD cheaper landed than the locally distributed ones. And its not just at the high end stock thats pricey, its Salifert test kits, cyclopeeze etc... JM2c

but in saying this, we have a population of 22 million people, while america has 350 million. we have a pretty big market for such a little population.

i can also see your from australia. i wish we had the companys like ORA here. id have a huge SPS tank already haha

 

[suta4242]

Sorry, but I don't agree. We just don't have anywhere near the numbers of reefing hobbyists, to sustain the same level of competition. No imports of aquacultured fish also means we can't access them cheaply from other countries either. Don't expect anything like ORA in australia until coral collection and, ultimately, ornamental reef fish import is banned. Only then will breeding and aquaculturing become a viable industry in Australia. As its been pointed out elsewhere, this may be on the cards sooner rather than later.

In sydney alone, theres a huge divergence in prices among shops. Now if you're from SA then I can see why everything would be expensive as you guys are pretty isolated. But online stores are starting to make inroads on what was, until fairly recently, a bricks & mortar dominated business. So livestock choices should expand for remote reefers and prices should come down.

All the best, and good luck with your acro!

 

[patro]

Sorry, but I don't agree. We just don't have anywhere near the numbers of reefing hobbyists, to sustain the same level of competition. No imports of aquacultured fish also means we can't access them cheaply from other countries either. Don't expect anything like ORA in australia until coral collection and, ultimately, ornamental reef fish import is banned. Only then will breeding and aquaculturing become a viable industry in Australia. As its been pointed out elsewhere, this may be on the cards sooner rather than later.

In sydney alone, theres a huge divergence in prices among shops. Now if you're from SA then I can see why everything would be expensive as you guys are pretty isolated. But online stores are starting to make inroads on what was, until fairly recently, a bricks & mortar dominated business. So livestock choices should expand for remote reefers and prices should come down.

All the best, and good luck with your acro!

well i didnt mean we are booming, i was saying that even if we have a tiny population, theres still a reasonable market for these marines. in adelaide alone there a plenty of business' offering marines. and its tiny.
in brisbane there are plenty too. and im sure sydney and melbourne certainly have more.

i know why everythings expensive and we dont have the market to sustain aquaculturing, its just a dream that one day we will have half the availibilty of the american market.

i wish an online store like liveaquaria opened for business, it would be great. but unfortunetly our market wont support it enough for it to work.

 

[Jordani]

I emailed them about the genicanthus personatus LOL and quote (I have none in stock now, but can normally get as many as I want whenever I want.):lmao:

You can obviously tell that he didnt take these pics of the rare fish himeself. You can find them on goolge easily.

 

[The Escaped Ape]

thankyou for you imput. the whole reason i posted this thread was to show the major price difference between the american market and australian market.

You're welcome. I'm lucky to be in Japan as a hobbyist, but to be honest, it would be better back in my native UK to an extent and heaven for a reef tank enthusiast, as far as I can make out, is Southern California.

 

[D-Nak]

To put this simply, you can jump into the water in Australia and see nice looking fish. For the most part, you can't do that here in the U.S. Have you seen reef tanks in Hawaii? There aren't many. Since importation of coral is illegal, reef tanks look like what you'd see if you jump in the water. Therefore, the harder it is to import something (based on laws or physical location), the more expensive it will be. It's all about location, location, location.

 

[buffalo123]

Most marine fish are quite colorful Royal grammas , dotty backs, some of the common angels and butterflies. So rare is usually a waste of money in my opinion. Keep in mind that often those looking at fish in your aquarium are impressed by the colors even if its a school of yellow tail damsels. Saying that there is always a fish you would like to have and what you pay rare price for at one store may be found at another for a much more reasonable price. A $20 royal Gramma look like they are worth alot so let the buyer be aware.

 

[locust]

Im sure those are Australian dollars and not American Dollars, but still, those prices are rediculous. You would think you being next door to the barrier reef you'd get some good prices.

Exactly, so you can understand how infuriating it is. The whole system is completely backward here. Did you know that we have some of the best seafood right here in Australia, but in most cases it is not even available to us? It gets imported to Asian countries and we get the Vietnamese Basa fish to buy. Unbelievable.

 

[iamwrasseman]

amphese feminus for $150 ? I WOULD BUY TEN AT THAT PRICE !

 

[buffalo123]

Exactly, so you can understand how infuriating it is. The whole system is completely backward here. Did you know that we have some of the best seafood right here in Australia, but in most cases it is not even available to us? It gets imported to Asian countries and we get the Vietnamese Basa fish to buy. Unbelievable.

thats sounds backwards to me too

 

[curlykid]

:lolspin:wah? 5 chromis for 60 bucks, 2 cleaner shrimps for 180?

 

[suta4242]

Grass isn't always greener is it? To the aussie whingers: would you rather be a reefer picking up coral here often at comparitively cheap prices, or pay the ridiculous prices for sought after stock in the US?

Sure there are no Florida rics, cheap blue carpets etc... but theres plenty of decent coral if you bother shopping around. And it usually arrives in good nick at your shops or direct from collectors. Maybe if you lived on the other side of the pond you'd be complaining about that?

 

[patro]

Grass isn't always greener is it? To the aussie whingers: would you rather be a reefer picking up coral here often at comparitively cheap prices, or pay the ridiculous prices for sought after stock in the US?

Sure there are no Florida rics, cheap blue carpets etc... but theres plenty of decent coral if you bother shopping around. And it usually arrives in good nick at your shops or direct from collectors. Maybe if you lived on the other side of the pond you'd be complaining about that?

i didnt make this thread to whinge, it was purely to show the price difference.

 

[The Escaped Ape]

Australians are like Brits. We like to moan. But I don't think that's what patro was trying to do. It's completely legitimate to compare prices in the hobby in different territories and wonder why that is. Particularly when a lot of us from outside the US get our info from valuable sites like this and, as a result, a lot of our reference points are from a quite dissimilar market to the ones we operate in.

 

[Giglamesh]

i dont mind paying that little extra for fish and getting my corals alot cheaper

 

[cjdevito]

You're welcome. I'm lucky to be in Japan as a hobbyist, but to be honest, it would be better back in my native UK to an extent and heaven for a reef tank enthusiast, as far as I can make out, is Southern California.

It is. After a decade in Los Angeles I'm far too spoiled by the livestock availability and affordability there to buy any livestock in the local stores here. Even in the US, pricing and availability can and do vary geographically.

 

[patro]

It is. After a decade in Los Angeles I'm far too spoiled by the livestock availability and affordability there to buy any livestock in the local stores here. Even in the US, pricing and availability can and do vary geographically.

you can also order very high quality stock off the internet such as liveaquaria, bluezoo, cherry corals etc
very jealous

 

[wrott]

If it's legal and I lived Down-under, I would collect my own. Even if it meant travelling a few hundred miles to the coast. But I love to SCUBA, so it would be a vacation to collect livestock.
I can understand the reason for the price differential around the world, it seems like common sense. Like the person in Canada paying $20 for a Royal Gramma, whereas, I, in Birmingham, AL, would pay $9 for one.

 

[patro]

If it's legal and I lived Down-under, I would collect my own. Even if it meant travelling a few hundred miles to the coast. But I love to SCUBA, so it would be a vacation to collect livestock.
I can understand the reason for the price differential around the world, it seems like common sense. Like the person in Canada paying $20 for a Royal Gramma, whereas, I, in Birmingham, AL, would pay $9 for one.

collection permits on the great barrier reef are hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase.

 

[mwladdicted]

i just visited a collection shop in australia. I saw there live stock and from what i could see they only had local stuff. they did though have a true personifer for 100 bucks. and 100's of 35 dollar liniatus fairy wrasses. these of course are local prices though......i asked them about there collection permits and they said there only only very few availible. and they cost about 100,000.i have some pics ill post of there shop. it was quite impressive.