Expensive fish

[reefnewbie54321]

Saltwater Fish is chump change compared to my first hobby, Koi. I have paid 6k for my most expensive Koi at a show and this was also one of the "cheap" ones compared to the rest for sale. When people look at my pond they probably cant tell the difference between my $80 Koi I got at the local pond store or the 6K Koi purchased at the Koi show but it doesn't bother me because I know the difference and to me it was worth it. I guess it kind of is about bragging right even though I probably don't brag to anyone about my show koi other then a few people at local pond shops. I like rare fish and will pay a lot for a rare fish just because its rare. I guess I would compare it to any other collectable hobby except I collect fish and have to have the rarest one. I wont buy a rare fish if its ugly though ... that is the one rule I have. I don't like the look of black tangs and wont buy one because I think its ugly even though it is "rare"

 

[zemuron114]

u can find a male for 300 if you shop around. The Hawaiian ones go for more since there is only a handful of people who catch them here.

Koi... i still dont get it... lol

 

[glbtrottr]

Koi are totally foreign to me. I just paid $100 for a Jawfish and felt taken!

 

[copps]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7588957#post7588957 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by KDodds
Most expensive purchased? Quite a few in the $200 range. We just bought a pair of C. semilarvatus at $300. Most expensive fish I ever saw, offered for sale, in person? Probably a Clarion Angel that was going for over $5k. Although, I have heard of fishes going for more.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7589129#post7589129 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by KDodds
Nope, this was in Clifton, NJ, at Absolutely Fish. Are you talking about the guy on Mamaroneck Ave?

It's amazing how prices change over time due to various factors... I grew up in West Milford, NJ (although I played my youth hockey from 6 years old with the Ramapo Saints there in Suffern!) and remember seeing this exact fish store (Absolutely Fish used to be Aqua-Tropics) selling clarions in the $400 range (when they were legally collected), while asfur angels were $700 to $1000 (when Red Sea stuff was UP THERE! Purple tangs then were the black tangs of today)... it's funny how that works... go back in time 15 years and offer asfur angels for $100 and you'd make a killing... just as much as you would today selling clarions at $400...

I've got some fish that are up there... the place I worked at in high school (The Pet Place in Pompton Plains) got a black tang in and if ou think people look strangely at them today you should have seen then... it went for $350. I got my medium sized one a long while ago now for a great price ($225), yet the price for them has shot up due to various reasons recently. It was a perfect size too... as the black tangs have a habit of coming in either just out of the larval stage or 9"+ dinner plate size...

I've got some pricey fish, but the way I look at it is this... the enjoyment factor... being 28 and married with a little guy, I see many of my single friends burn what I spent on my black tang in one night in a bar! My black tang over years has given me much more enjoyment than one night at a bar... no reason to criticize people for what they pay for their fish... we all have our money pits... whatever fish brings you great enjoyment get it ( I do own many chep fish too)... I have an asfur angel and am excited about him... similar to a kid growing up in the hobby now being able to get a conspic for $100 in the future... what troubles me more is people who are in the hobby for three months and ask "what is rare... oh okay I want that..." That is different to me than some of us that have been in the hobby a long time, growing up in it, thinking we'd never be able to own some of these rare fish from around the world...

 

[chucksta1]

Maybe I missed something here....

There was a pole about what a salt tank costs to set up. The responses were that it was in the thirty to fifty dollars a gallon range. That being the case, the fish are the cheapest thing in the tank, and also the most vivid visual parts of the the tank. I run a lightly stocked tank. Whether the ten fish I've got cost a total of seventy or seven hundred really doesn't mater. Everyone seems to be stuck on how much a fish costs here or there. It doesn't matter. what it costs in Nebraska, California or Toronto is what it costs, there's not much you can do about it.

You could also think about it as a time /enjoyment factor. I own a thirty year old Harmon Kardon receiver, arguably a classic with world class sound. In todays money, it has cost me, including repairs, about a grand. It also has 4 hours a day times 365 a year, times thirty years worth of use, for a total of 42000 hours of use. What does that work out to per hour? Virtually free. By the same token, If I look at the tank an hour a day (at least) and a fish lives ten years, what does it really cost to have the fish I really want swimming in front of me? Compared to a cheaper fish, I'd rather buy what I want. In the long run, it's worth it. I've got seven dollar fish and seventy dollar fish. I bought them because they were what I wanted, not for what they cost. The only thing I ever do to reduce the cost is wait until the one I want is on sale (the LFS tells me whether or not that will happen).

Submit to your passion. You'll be happier.

 

[Texsun]

Freshwater definitely takes the cake in terms of pricey fish. Koi, arowana, flowerhorn... pick your FW fish of the month and you will be regularly paying $1k+ to get your foot in the door; $5-10K for first rate stuff not being out of the realm of possibility. Glad I gave that up and went with cheap salty fish...

 

[zemuron114]

i remember when i went into a LFS when i was 16 i think (im 21 now so it isn't a big jump in age.. lol) i saw a male lineatus. It wasn't a full blown male but a nice one with distinctive coloring... then looking at the price (275$) I was like AHHH. No way i could afford that at 16 (well i could but i would hear it from my dad... )
Now i import them directly from Australia... At obviously much cheaper prices. However, now that i have experience with them, if i had to, i would not hesitate to buy a nice healthy one for around 250$. I had one that was sooooooo hard to let go.. it was hands down the nicest lineatus i have ever seen... blew away the one pictured on marinecenter.com!!! he went to a good home though.

same with crosshatches! I've always wanted a pair when i started the hobby, but couldn't find a decent price... moved to Hawaii, hooked up with a diver, and now i've had about 2 dozen in the past 6 months.. lol They are great fish as well!

 

[2004jeepoutlander]

actauly that conspic angel i guess that it what jdizz was talking 1500 is a good deal especailly with a14 da y gurantee. i mean ive seen then in the past years for 2500. the marine centrew had one a few mobnths ago for 2500. as for the price of flame angels welll. prices have risen latly things just arent as cheap as they used to be. Trust me i know i do some whole sale stuff at one of the lfs in my area.

 

[Nano Chris]

I dont think i would buy a fish over $100 as we all know fish die, and you know that $1,000 fish will die, if you have that much money to spend on one fish, you must be into this hobby a lot, or just have money to blow.

 

[NexDog]

I just paid $250 for a baby 1" Red Sea Regal Angel. I can get 4" Indo Regals for $50 all day long but the Rea Sea variety are pricey here and you might see a baby 1" specimen once a year. Just hoping for success with the little guy.

 

[bskiba]

I always hear that the small ones are more expensive on the lists.

 

[PRESTO2345]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7650141#post7650141 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Criminal#58369
I dont think i would buy a fish over $100 as we all know fish die, and you know that $1,000 fish will die, if you have that much money to spend on one fish, you must be into this hobby a lot, or just have money to blow.

Some people spend that money on their car, home entertainment system, movie or music collection, etc. All of those items eventually die or become outdated. We just like to invest our time and effort into reef keeping... :beer: :thumbsup:

 

[Tu Ku]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7576642#post7576642 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Gluestick
You guys should totally check this out, it's insane... http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/CatDisplay.cfm?sku=0089698000000&siteid=20

Foster and Smith are officially fuggin idiots.

 

[McCrary]

Why?

 

[Timbor]

I find it funny that nobody has mentioned the prices people pay for other pets, such as dogs. My parents bought an Irish Setter puppy a couple of years ago for like $800. Then you could look at dogs like great danes... probably a few k for a pup. That's the price people pay for something they want.

Now, I wonder, how do you tell the difference between a $50 koi from your LFS and some $10K super-koi from Japan? It would be funny if you could trick some koi-fanatic into paying you 1K for a fish you bought for $50...

Tim

 

[thor32766]

boy now i am feeling bad about spending 2K on my english bulldog, thanks for the reminder~

 

[Timbor]

Hey, just convince somebody that the koi swimming in your pond is from some rare Japanese breeding line, then sell it to him. You can recoup your loss and even make a buck or two!

I mean, as long as HE thinks its a rare, expensive fish, everything is ok. Nobody needs to know that you bought it for $15 at your LFS. We'll just keep that between you and me!

Tim

 

[iamwhatiam52]

Livestock is cheap at any price when you compare it to the cost of the equipment and the electric bill.

 

[LauraCline]

Fish just aren't worth that much especially here in Florida where a few months of the year you're under the risk of loss due to extended power loss. Of course some of the fish I want are expensive but, in the scheme of things I can get as much enjoyment from a fish that costs $50-$100 as one that costs $1200 - I'd have more time off work to actually look at the fish, lol.

 

[alikatoes]

I have seen Hawaiian Dragon Morays go for $2000 plus. I know the G. personatus, Hawaiian Masked angel retails for nearly $3500 a pair!