I don't get designer clownfish

[D-Nak]

This comes up every once in a while -- not just designer clowns -- but with anything in this hobby. It just comes down to disposable income, what someone personally deems as expensive, and the overall interest in something.

For example, I think that my threshold between cheap and expensive is $50. For anything. even if something is a deal at $50, I still must think about it. $40, eh, not so much. For those people with higher disposable incomes, this threshold might be higher. But, if you're particularly interested in something, you're likely to spend more for it.

Translate this to designer clowns, and someone with a higher disposable income may buy a designer clown on impulse since 100 bucks for a clown may not seem that expensive. Or they like how it looks, so they spend extra for it.

So, to answer your question about is it worth the money... well it depends on how much money is worth to you. And with all things, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". With designer clowns, you either like them, or you don't. If you think they're ugly or too expensive or both, then it will be hard for someone to convince you to like them.

In terms of the price coming down -- it depends. There are more breeders breeding designer clowns, so it should bring the price down on the more common patterns, but there will always be new morphs that will command higher prices based on rarity, lineage, or both. Lightning maroons and Da Vincis comes to mind.

I think it's good for the hobby to have a wide range of choices. That way, more people can enjoy it.

 

[Allmost]

there is no "need" for any tropical pet to fulfill,

my ex GF tried really hard to make me understand that point, didnt work though :lol: hahaha

just kidding around now, have a good long weekend everyone

 

[ninjamini]

From an outside looking in perspective, we're all crazy. :jester:

Yep been told that.

 

[Susan Lohrer]

If it's not like a car, it's like a motorcycle (and let me please point out that I'm not one of "those" bikers who intimidate car drivers, I'm really very polite and nice).

I don't need a motorcycle at all. Or even a bicycle. I could ride a little-bitty scooter, but I choose to ride a 600CC sport bike. Or my husband's liter bikes if he's not looking. There's no scenario that would ever make bikes as powerful as these necessary on public streets (they'll do highway speed in second gear without really even trying that hard), but they're a heck of a lot of fun to ride. And they look cool. And the exhaust note of hubby's Vf1000 is sweet. :bounce2:

Designer clown is to aquarists as Ducati (or whatever bike you think is all that) is to motorcyclists.

 

[audigex]

Tank: Anywhere from £300-2000 or even more if you go really big
Equipment, ornaments, decoration: £100's
Water and electricity to run the equipment: £100+/year
Food: £10's-100's
Fish: £12?

I don't see the logic. Sure, if the fish you want are cheap then don't pay over the odds for them - my cheapest fish was £10. But by the same measure, my most expensive bought was £85, and the most expensive if bought from a shop (I was given it) can be upward of £100. If the fish you want are rare enough that demand outstrips supply, they will be expensive, and it's up to you to decide if you want to pay that or go for something similar and cheaper.

If we wanted to do this hobby cheaply, we'd all have 20 litre Betta tanks.

 

[reelfishy]

Yeap.. Agree with the OP. The Snowflake in the pic, I bought for $30 from my LFS. They get batches from local breeder and sell them cheap. Usually there are 3~4 really nice looking ones from the batch.

 

[OH GOD]

Its not a designer clown but i saw Ultra Brite Occelaris Clowns 39.95

I just shook my head.

 

[GhostCon1]

I agree with you, and will go a step further, I dont understand paying extreme money for ANYTHING in this hobby. The thread about those peppermint angels blows my mind, those angels for for 30k! I could pay off both mine and my wifes car and really change my life with the money that person spent on a single fish that just might die the moment he plops it in the tank. I wish I had the disposable funds to do things like that, but even if I did, I doubt I would. Id rather give that type of money to someone who could use it better and go buy a flame angel. lol

And that is exactly what happened to his peppermint angel.

Just said he'd be better prepared next time.

Seriously, what do most of the people on RC do for a living and how can i get in on that?!?!

 

[BlueFyre]

I only have 1 salt water tank. I can only have 1 pair of clowns in it. So I figured I might as well buy what I really like. So I have one picasso and one percula. I love this pair.

 

[GhostCon1]

I only have 1 salt water tank. I can only have 1 pair of clowns in it. So I figured I might as well buy what I really like. So I have one picasso and one percula. I love this pair.

That's the first Picasso I've seen that looked good to me. Can you get a better side pic?

 

[leveldrummer]

And that is exactly what happened to his peppermint angel.

Just said he'd be better prepared next time.

Seriously, what do most of the people on RC do for a living and how can i get in on that?!?!

Whose peppermint angel died? O_O

I sure could have used that 20k to pay off some student loans and a car! Anyone feeling generous?

 

[BlueFyre]

That's the first Picasso I've seen that looked good to me. Can you get a better side pic?

Sure!

 

[dc]

Very nice looking fish BlueFrye!

How boring would it be if we all liked the same thing? I love some of the designer clowns and some look awful. As long as it's not my money I don't care.

We all have priorities on what we spend our money on. I have lot's of kitchen gadgets and I get abused all the time about spending too much money by relatives. Hey they make me happy.

 

[cet98]

Very nice looking fish BlueFrye!

How boring would it be if we all liked the same thing? I love some of the designer clowns and some look awful. As long as it's not my money I don't care.

We all have priorities on what we spend our money on. I have lot's of kitchen gadgets and I get abused all the time about spending too much money by relatives. Hey they make me happy.

amen.... :thumbsup:

 

[GhostCon1]

Whose peppermint angel died? O_O

I sure could have used that 20k to pay off some student loans and a car! Anyone feeling generous?

There's a fresh bumped thread in the large tank section, guy has a ton of angels. I can't remember the name.

I know if I had a 30k fish, no matter how much disposable income I had, I would freak out. Even if I was Bill Gates.

 

[OrionN]

What I don't get is when people spend incredible amounts of money on equipment. How often do you look at your equipment? I look at the life inside my tank, not the super expensive stuff that sits inside a cabinet. But at the end of the day, it's up to you what you want to buy. You're the one that works hard to buy it.

I rather spend 3000 for equipment and 1000 on animals than 1000 on equipment and 3000 on animals.

I just recently spend several hundreds on dosing pumps (labs grade with steel rollers that will last for years) and just give away my AquaMedic twins and single dosing pumps. These junks, with plastic rollers, sale for aquarium does not last 6 months. They are not that much cheaper than a used lab grade pump.

 

[OrionN]

Some believe the more money you spend on your system, the better and easier to keep what's inside. Not always true, but for some equipment, it is.

Hey, you just got to know. There is nothing worst than fry you whole reef system with a cheap Rio pump (happened to me, cracked and poison my whole system with copper) or wipe out the whole fry tank with a cheap heater (happened all the time but did not happen to me)

 

[triggerfish1976]

It's human nature to want to be unique and special so people pay more to own something they think is unique so they can show it off and feel special (most RC threads prove this). Of course marketing and getting people to think that a product will make them special is the main driving force behind the demand and higher prices. Companies like Apple, Mercedes, Rolex, etc. do a very good job at this and now we are seeing it in this hobby. The amazing thing about designer clownfish is no two are generally alike especially picasso style variants.

Sure there are some animals that are truly rare or the cost to obtain them is very high (peppermint angels) but these variant clownfish aren't really that rare given the amount of people breeding them these days. The thing is prices will go down as the new "it" clownfish takes away the spot light but you won't see prices bottom out to $20-$30 because the amount of time and money it takes to produce these fish will not allow it.

The reason why a standard occelaris or percula are so cheap is because they can be bred in mass or caught in much bigger mass from the wild.

 

[D-Nak]

The crazy part about all of this is that if you truly want a special clown, you look for a tank bred clown that's perfect. Misbars (not to be confused with variants) are typically a result of improper or poor husbandry techniques. Those people who are really into clowns will search for perfect specimens, and they don't weigh heavily on cool patterns. Instead they take everything into consideration -- from bone structure, fin size and proportion, color intensity, and disposition.

 

[triggerfish1976]

The crazy part about all of this is that if you truly want a special clown, you look for a tank bred clown that's perfect. Misbars (not to be confused with variants) are typically a result of improper or poor husbandry techniques. Those people who are really into clowns will search for perfect specimens, and they don't weigh heavily on cool patterns. Instead they take everything into consideration -- from bone structure, fin size and proportion, color intensity, and disposition.

I guess it compares to pure bred dogs and designer bred dogs like cockapoos or the like. Some people will pay thousands of dollars for the perfect pure bred dog speciman and also thousands of dollars for what basically is a mutt just because of cuteness or a fad.
I personally have bought rare and expensive fish and expensive pure bred dogs so i am not knocking anyone that does, more power to you.