Are Beani's really worth the price tag???

[---XR---]

it has to do with supply and demand. not many beanis=higher price.

bingo-

this is all it is.

people see a rare fish and say- WOW! i need to have this so all my fish friends will be jealous, the more people see the fish that isn't commonly seen in the market the more the price is driven up. just search "beani" and look at the threads with people drooling all over the fish. people love rarity, and pay absurd prices to have it.

 

[GMFISHNUT]

I wanted to try the Beani because I've heard so much about them but never had seen any in person. When I heard Jeff Rapps had some adults available I wanted to see what all the buzz was about and took a ride to his facility. I have to tell you that they are stunning. I've heard from many hobbyists that they are "not an attractive species, kind of balnd with not too much color". Bull, they are freekin amazing!! I picked up two trios from Jeff. The two males are about 8" and the fems are about 6". I placed one trio in my 220 gallon tank with a pair of Blue Labridens and a young pair of Chancho. From the other trio I placed the male and the bigger of the two females in a 120 with a complete divider. Within a week two of them in the 220 had paired off and were protecting one side of the tank. Let me tell you the female has since laid eggs and her colors are amazing. She went from a green base color with black freckling to a strong yellow gold color with a black mask and belly.
If anyone is considering them and is on the fence, get some you will not be dissapointed!!

 

[---XR---]

look at cichla kelberi, the first ones brought in and seen on the market were a few hundred a piece for juvi's. after a few loads of them were brought in they were $35 per piece. the rare fish market in america is so small the price fluctuations happen that rapidly.

there are people here that would give thier left testicle to get there hands on a "fogo" cichla. they may be thousands when there are a few, once there is successful breeding, or exportaion on a mass scale, they will be the price of mono's and tems.

 

[Reagan]

I have 4 3-4". Well worth it. Very cool fish and very out going. I realy like this fish. Man George they look great.

 

[Tongue33]

cichla Kerbeli's are a great example of this. Rapps was selling them for a fortune and people were spending thousands on them. Not long ago he was selling juvies for $35 or something like that.

If you like them because you like the actual fish and it is something you are interested in then I think it is worth the price. Otherwise don't mess with chasing the popular fish of the month.

look at cichla kelberi, the first ones brought in and seen on the market were a few hundred a piece for juvi's. after a few loads of them were brought in they were $35 per piece. the rare fish market in america is so small the price fluctuations happen that rapidly.

You guys must understand Just to clarify There was a HUGE Vendor error by another vendor on the Kelberi And now that vendor asks for ID's on his cichla before pricing them. This happened..Rapps had to come down to that level too... The price dropped.... Then.... It went back up... Infact the 24k's are still GOING UP. As well as the Rapps Kelbs... Also Pinima.. Notice the price jumped 40.00???? For good reason too... Many cichla now will start to climb back up.. Especially if things are enforced... But enough about the OFF topic My bad..

They are as aggressive as they say. At three inches you have to give them LOTS of room. Are they expensive? As pointed out....supply and demand. In a few years it will be like any other hard to find cichlid (Barred Midas, Zaliosum, Micropthalmus, etc.) People will breed and sell, demand will be satisfied and they won't be as new and shiny.

I picked up five juveniles after seeing some of the photos of them in breeding coloration. Eye of the beholder.

Breezy...what a lovely avatar. And such a beautiful managuense.

This Species is also one that was brought in By a Hobbyist in recent past. And sold way under Rapps Price.... And was bringing more!!... then they were bred a month are 6 ago... And that person was selling for under the Rapps price... Obviously the vendor is not going to be able to Dump the fish if they are seemingly readily available by hobbyists for a fraction of the cost the vendor is pricing at..

I mean waht 1.5-2 years ago.. Rapps couldn't keep them in stock at any size small or medium.. AND THEY WERE 500.00!!! Gone within very short period of time!

And would still be this way had someone else not went out Caught some brought them back and said I will have A BUNCH MORE soon...and then they were bred and the are still being bred... And sold for less... than the 500.00 tag from the past...

Rapps Xyloaensis STILL sell for 100.00 at 4-6"..... STILL!! I still hear behind the scenes about how someon is getting those from Rapps... So to see Beani at 100.00 for that size is Kind of amazing in my opinion.. Even if most think they are overrated..

Prices are what many hobbyists pay to get the rare... And many Breeders taht are included in breeding programs would gladly pay good money for the chance to be the first to make a species avaialble non wild... I mean.. I Love a challenge.. And breeding fish that no one has bred or fish that few people have bred is A huge part of the fun for me

Hobbyist isn't all Oh cool I buy the fish to just look at them... That is nice.. but that is not the full definition of a hobbyist... Kinda like this site... If we all didn;t fit with our different ways.. Well the site would be like so many others... Non populated with stagnant year old posts...

Anyway..

Over priced... In my opinion no Why? Cause.... Although they spendy... They are 1/10th of what they were 1.5-2 years ago And will continue to go lower...

Over priced due to looks.... No, in my opinion.. they are quite nice.

That's my opinion on the subjects

 

[armac]

You guys must understand Just to clarify There was a HUGE Vendor error by another vendor on the Kelberi And now that vendor asks for ID's on his cichla before pricing them. This happened..Rapps had to come down to that level too... The price dropped.... Then.... It went back up... Infact the 24k's are still GOING UP. As well as the Rapps Kelbs... Also Pinima.. Notice the price jumped 40.00???? For good reason too... Many cichla now will start to climb back up.. Especially if things are enforced... But enough about the OFF topic My bad..








This Species is also one that was brought in By a Hobbyist in recent past. And sold way under Rapps Price.... And was bringing more!!... then they were bred a month are 6 ago... And that person was selling for under the Rapps price... Obviously the vendor is not going to be able to Dump the fish if they are seemingly readily available by hobbyists for a fraction of the cost the vendor is pricing at..

I mean waht 1.5-2 years ago.. Rapps couldn't keep them in stock at any size small or medium.. AND THEY WERE 500.00!!! Gone within very short period of time!

And would still be this way had someone else not went out Caught some brought them back and said I will have A BUNCH MORE soon...and then they were bred and the are still being bred... And sold for less... than the 500.00 tag from the past...

Rapps Xyloaensis STILL sell for 100.00 at 4-6"..... STILL!! I still hear behind the scenes about how someon is getting those from Rapps... So to see Beani at 100.00 for that size is Kind of amazing in my opinion.. Even if most think they are overrated..

Prices are what many hobbyists pay to get the rare... And many Breeders taht are included in breeding programs would gladly pay good money for the chance to be the first to make a species avaialble non wild... I mean.. I Love a challenge.. And breeding fish that no one has bred or fish that few people have bred is A huge part of the fun for me

Hobbyist isn't all Oh cool I buy the fish to just look at them... That is nice.. but that is not the full definition of a hobbyist... Kinda like this site... If we all didn;t fit with our different ways.. Well the site would be like so many others... Non populated with stagnant year old posts...

Anyway..

Over priced... In my opinion no Why? Cause.... Although they spendy... They are 1/10th of what they were 1.5-2 years ago And will continue to go lower...

Over priced due to looks.... No, in my opinion.. they are quite nice.

That's my opinion on the subjects

How many do you own and how is your breeding program going? Can you post picturs of your endeavours to reproduce this fish?

 

[dogofwar]

Value is in the eye of the beholder.

Beani's cost what they do because people are willing to pay that much for them.

Why people are willing to pay what they are for them doesn't have to be rational to other people...only to those spending the money.

Too often, though, the seeming reason that some people buy fish is to tell others that they have them. It's much better to have rare fish and covet them in private

I will agree, however, that the bandwagon effect isn't necessarily an all good or bad thing for the hobby.

This isn't limited to fish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_bubble

 

[ewok]

beani are rare because of the whole supply vs demand thing. they were rare in the hobby for the last decade at least because:
1- they were not 'pretty'. there are plenty of other better looking fish no doubt that cost a fraction of the price a beani might command. so as demand slides, there's less incentive to breed them, collect them etc.
2- beani were purported to be ultra aggressive. i think they are aggressive to an extent, but i mean what large cichlid doesn't have some kind of personality to it? that's why we love these guys, right? i wouldn't classify them as ultra aggressive in general, but it DEPENDS ON THE INDIVIDUAL fish!
3- beani are somewhat delicate when it comes to getting bloat. i've had ALL my beani come down with bloat at one point in time or another, but i've turned things around and now that i know what not to do i.e. overfeed, leave water quality lacking, i have not had a single problem.

at the end of the day, this all boils down to what you are looking for. some people wouldn't pay $10 for a red devil. some people plonk down hundreds for a prime looking specimen. some people will pay $$$$ for the latest and greatest whereas some people are fine keeping oscars for the entire time they are fish keepers. most people fall somewhere in the middle, and what matters most is you keep what you want, and not cuz something is super elusive, super rare, super aggressive etc. that's just falling victim to someone else's opinion.

i wanted to keep beani because they were different, they were rare and admittedly i've been around and have been fortunate to have kept enough types of fish where i was curious to see what this was like. like a moth to a flame i put down money and got what i want. was it worth it? well it's been a good experience. i have one show quality male left after i sold two to conkel and lost one to a self inflicted injury, but it's all part of the great fish keeping experience. would i do this again? well it depends. if something attracts my eye enough i'll go for it. otherwise i'm ok going back to basics, or continuing to try new things in the hobby.

my two cents.

 

[JoeFatFish]

Beani are know as Mojarra Verde, not Guapote Verde. Guapotes are the Parachromis cichlids.

problem is they are almost impossible to find in fish stores, and Rapps wants 100$ for 1 4.5"-5" specimen, and The beani's common name is Green Guapote, It looks like a guapote, and it's a large carnivorous fish from central america. So if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck......

 

[JoeFatFish]

Once again, the locals call them "Mojara Verde", not Guapote Verde. Guapote is used commenly for cichlids in the Parachromis group, and is a local description used in Central America (Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala etc...) Beani are in Mexico, North-Western Mexico. The term Guapote is not used is Mexico, at least not in the North. Maybe in Chiapas? Verde means green for those who don't know Spanish.