increasing prices on hard to keep fish

[igot2gats]

Do you think prices should be raised on harder to keep fish such as Copperband Butterflys, Mandarins, Moorish Idols, etc., so that most people would have to think twice about buying them, thus a possible better survival rate? (Assuming only veteran reefers would buy a higher priced fish)...

Thoughts?

 

[arnoldrew]

Prices are what the market will bear. If the price is too high then the fish won't sell and the stores won't carry them. I'm not sure how you propose to enforce "raising prices" on such fish.

 

[igot2gats]

I'm not sure, it was just a thought.

The reasoning behind this is so that newbies don't go out and buy a fish like a Mandarin that's $20 because it's fairly cheap, and colorful....obviously not knowing the difficulty of keeping it is / getting it to eat prepared foods.

It would be nearly impossible to do this, (I think) but it's more of a thought provoking kind of question in attempt to help the hobby out.

 

[Cbsailor11]

As a newbie I'm not sure higher prices would help to deter some from making ill fated purchases. Some people just buy a fish/coral before knowing its true requirements.
I personally do a fair bit of research before making any livestock buys. Actually has kept me from Mandarin and CBB purchases. I look into max size, min tank size, food needs, water parameters, etc. Some etailer sites show this info,some don't. Also I've been to several lfs. I prefer the ones where the staff asks " What size tank do you have.", "What's in there now?","How old is the setup?". I wish more stores did this to better advise buyers then just making a sale.

 

[jerpa]

Education will help the uninformed but higher prices won't curb the irresponsible. There are just as many fools with access to funds as there are without.

 

[Cbsailor11]

@jerpa. Agreed. But as I put together my 180g, I'm going from having funds to none

 

[Da Maui life]

@jerpa. Agreed. But as I put together my 180g, I'm going from having funds to none

It's not a hobby for the poorly funded.

 

[Allmost]

I dont think it would make a difference ... most ppl like that dont care if they spend 1 dollar or 1K ..

 

[igot2gats]

Education will help the uninformed but higher prices won't curb the irresponsible. There are just as many fools with access to funds as there are without.

I agree about being educated. But, there are people who don't even know about reefing forums. So, that isn't the only answer. But, it's part of it, so you're correct on that front.

I understand it wouldn't rid all of the problems. But I do feel there has to be a price point for difficult fish that would make some people think twice. Thus, not buying the fish as an impulse buy.

You have to take baby steps in order to help the grand scheme of things. Obviously, no matter the price, there will ALWAYS be people who just don't care, and will keep buying fish/inverts/corals that they don't know how to care for, and have an endless wallet.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[ReddyW]

It's not just the reefer that has a responsibility here. The LFS needs to match livestock to the customer. Most I've seen don't, and many sell whatever to whomever. It seems the most successful LFS are the ones that start you down a path to ruin, and sell you solutions to problems they created along the way. I'm sure they didn't start out with that intention, but soon discovered that selling little bottles of snake oil was much easier and more profitable.

 

[Moort82]

Completely agree that raising the price won't help. It will just make those mis-selling them more money.
I've ran a lfs and i wouldn't stock things such as CBB's, cleaner wrasse, moorish idols etc unless the customer specially ordered them. I did keep mandarins but our policy was to only let them go when they were eating frozen. Unfortunately these policies didn't really work as you'd spend half an hour talking about the specific needs of the fish and why they weren't normally suitable choices, then find out a couple of weeks later that they'd gone down the road and bought them anyway, and they were either dead or on their way.

So yes i do agree that education is the key but most people don't listen. It would be better to stop them even being imported but thats not realistically going to happen. Its a shame as you think how many don't even make it to a tank and they still feel its worth doing.

 

[feh]

I don't think raising prices would be a good idea and could a negative effect. I think educating people more on harder to keep fish and inverts would be a better idea.

 

[arnoldrew]

I still want to know how one would go about raising prices on these fish across the board.

 

[Paul B]

I don't feel that copperbands or mandarins are hard fish to keep. Like all fish you should not buy one if you don't know how to feed them. They live as long as most fish if you do a little research. Moorish idols are a different story and are considered difficult. I have had many of them and none for more than five years.
But copperbands and mandarins are fairly easy. If you are the type of person who buys a fish and feeds it flakes and pellets, there is an entire assortment of creatures that you will not be able to keep. Instead of raising the price, the LFSs should inform people how to keep that animal before they sell it to you. We all know that isn't going to happen because they are not in business to teach, they are in business to stay in business and if people keep buying mandarins and copperbands and kep trying to feed them flakes, pellets and seaweeds, the LFS will make a nice profit and it will be good for them. Unfortunately, not so for the fish.
Almost all the fish we keep should live at least ten years, even copperbands and mandarins. The only fish with a shorter lifespan are smaller fish like clown gobies, pipefish, seahorses and manta rays. Unless of course you have a large enough tank.

 

[GreshamH]

I don't feel that copperbands or mandarins are hard fish to keep. Like all fish you should not buy one if you don't know how to feed them. They live as long as most fish if you do a little research. Moorish idols are a different story and are considered difficult. I have had many of them and none for more than five years.
But copperbands and mandarins are fairly easy. If you are the type of person who buys a fish and feeds it flakes and pellets, there is an entire assortment of creatures that you will not be able to keep. Instead of raising the price, the LFSs should inform people how to keep that animal before they sell it to you. We all know that isn't going to happen because they are not in business to teach, they are in business to stay in business and if people keep buying mandarins and copperbands and kep trying to feed them flakes, pellets and seaweeds, the LFS will make a nice profit and it will be good for them. Unfortunately, not so for the fish.
Almost all the fish we keep should live at least ten years, even copperbands and mandarins. The only fish with a shorter lifespan are smaller fish like clown gobies, pipefish, seahorses and manta rays. Unless of course you have a large enough tank.

Manta rays are a small fish with a short lifespan?

I think you meant something else as they are large, and can live from 50 - 100 years :lol:

The real problem with both mandarins and copperbands is the CoC tends to starve them, and most herbivores as well.

Fish can spend several weeks in the CoC prior to even getting to the LFS.

 

[atreis]

Should prices be raised? It's not a bad idea. The problem is: How? If left up to the vendors, the first one that doesn't follow the directive wins everyone's business. The other vendors would be forced to lower their prices again in order to continue to sell those fish at all.

The only way to really have this happen and work is through centralized regulation (of some sort - there are various ways to go about it), which somehow I just don't see happening.

 

[jimroth]

I think high prices make fish more attractive. If gem tangs were the same price as Kole tangs, no one would think they are special.

 

[Allmost]

I think high prices make fish more attractive. If gem tangs were the same price as Kole tangs, no one would think they are special.

in some cases yes, example is Clarion angel. they used to go for 200-300 ... now u cant find one below 3K

 

[KafudaFish]

"Yep I just added this little beauty to my system."

"What is so special about that fish?"

"I don't know but the store charged me $2000.00 so I figured it must be rare or special."

 

[jnc914]

in some cases yes, example is Clarion angel. they used to go for 200-300 ... now u cant find one below 3K

I first saw Clarions being offered on a semi- regular basis back in 2003-ish and they were $300. Then their availability seemed to dry up a bit. Now, I believe Cortez Marine are the only people licensed to collect them and the price on them have skyrocketed.