Armatus everywhere!

[Hao]

READ THE WHOLE POST!

To all the people who are posting, reading, and thinking at this moment.

First of all, I have been out of MFK for several days. I was on vacation, and yes I do need a break at least or anyone in this world.

I have to spend time with my family as well. Family first, this goes to everyone in my opinion not only to me.

Catalina Island, Disneyland (twice in 5 days!!!) and Balboa Island were my destination points. Love the time with my family. Specially when I can only spend so much with them with my toxic schedule and busy life.

Anyone wants some photos? To prove it? just joking...its family time. I have been on my own vacation on and off for 2 weeks with intervals. I get pm's, text messages and calls about fish. I try my best to answer them in the timely manner but when we are spending time with our family we try our best to be with them.

And just to make things clears as well if people did not get any reply via text messages or missed calls.. my phone was soaked wet by my son. I do not have any phone right now nor am I on a rush to get a new on. I am very tech-freak myself I bought a new LCD screen and will replace it when it arrives in the mail.

lets get back to this armatus fiasco... I did not even get to read the thread that was told to me on my subforum about the armatus. I never got to even post any comment or my side of the story.

I was out for 2 weeks on and off. I DID NOT HAVE ANY SHIPMENTS!!!

If this is still not clear.. I DID NOT BRING IN ANY FISH MEANING I DID NOT BRING ANY ARMATUS!!! .... let us be clear..with a smiling face..

I am greatly offended by the way people thought that I sold the whole batch to John. No I did not, because I never had any since last year.

let refresh last years scenario... (enjoy reading it)

here is the link...
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=150092

I brought the fish, i was 80% sure it was armatus but i cannot guarantee since it was my first try on the fish. its not a black and white fish that can be said that it was an armatus or not. and what do i get... people jumped into conclusions. I don't mind and I really do not need to care about it. $50 for an armatus... was equated as fake armatus. maybe i should sell it at $250 to $500 so it can be the real armatus. no offense to anyone who jumped into conclusions. just need to explain things further.

this year is not the same as last year. every single year that passes by is different and the fish i get or other vendors are all different one way or the other. just look back about a little over a year... L25 was being sold for cheap and no one really wanted it and some sold it for less than cost. now it is banned you are even luck if you can get a 30cm/12 inch for less than 200 dollars.

for the $50 armatus... i sold hundreds but also tons of people backed out after people started to say on the post that it was fake. i wonder who should i blame for that. i don't hold grudges..life goes on. no need to think about silly things. but surely it was offending for me when the people i thought were my friends were the same people that chewed me up and spit me me out like useless gum.

my goal when i started is to provide the hobbyist with the most reasonable price on the fish they were buying nothing else. but surely i need to be compensated in some sort for my effort, time and money spent. the fish can cost $1, $5, $10, etc... but the DOAs, the shipping cost, customs, permits, water, electricity, gas, time, and investment. So if you see it being sold for $250 and you can't afford it then keep it simple..simply bump the thread if you like it or close your computer and go to sleep. no need to put hard feeling on the thread or flame anyone.

This forums is for every single hobbyist to enjoy and not to argue and get into fights about fish. This is a hobby and not a wrestling match. This is a passion and not a show off. And this is not about money it is what you love to do!

now can everyone shake their heads and take a cool shower and close this arguement.

For every single person who read this... YES I GIVE FREE FISH (NOT ONE BUT A LOT OF THEM) TO MY FRIENDS (WHO I KNEW MORE THAN JUST FISH) AND SOMETIMES IT MAKES ME FRUSTRATED TO SEE THAT THESE SAME PEOPLE ARE THE ONES WHO STABS ME AT THE BACK)

This is my last remark..i hope this clears the minds of the people who doubted me.

WHEN I GET SHIPMENTS I WILL POST THEM UNLESS IT WAS A SPECIAL ORDER. ANYONE CARE FOR 1,000 NEON TETRAS?

very well said and thanks rich you made me feel alot better

 

[jlnguyen74]

I'll wait cause right now every vender is in freakout mode. They seem to think they are selling gold bricks and not armatus.

275-350 bucks for a 2.5-3'' armatus


When they get down around 100 or some tats come around I will empty my piggy bank. lol

Good luck!!!

yep they are starting to roll into HK as well. Picked up these lil 2inchers for 220usd a pop. From what i know many more are coming to town.

 

[hybridtheoryd16]

Good luck!!!

No problem at all

I love this fish just as much as anyone. BUT I have allways been a person that would never support greed no matter how much i wanted something.


Read rich's post about all the things that go into getting a fish to market. Those same things went into this batch of armatus, just like they did with last years much cheaper batch.

Fuel cost are around 50% less at this time.
The guys in the grass huts catching these fish aren't raising there prices 500%.
Food and all other cost have not raised 500%.

So its possible we have some severe greed going on or last years batch rich took a several hundred % loss on the armatus. I beleive even at 50 bucks there's a decent profit to be had.

But thats just my thoughts and I am not scared to say it. After all this is a disscussion right?

A bet you got loads of pics of all those little buggers right?

 

[channarox]

its always been this way...for any "cool" or "the in thing" fish.
they come in in small numbers....people are willing to pay great amounts of cash for them.
then they start becoming more easy to find,the price drops little by little.
then someone brings them in CHEAP,and many a times,this is a one time thing.
its not just armatus,remember the kelberi?or azul?
then the price goes way high again because people know what they are getting this time round,they trust in sellers.
but then there are those who make a fuss that "oh,remember how cheap they were LAST TIME?"
the past is the past,now is now.
things tend to change,all the time.
much like a cycle.
it goes on and will keep going on for any fish.
and not just fish,it seems to happen in many hobbies.
just the way it is.
simply put,are you willing to pay the price for the fish youve always wanted?
even knowing they often come in small and fragile?

 

[Luc]

I think it is a simple rule of DEMAND versus SUPPLY, so many theories aside.

Sorry, one more versus "pocket power"
Sorry, and one more, whether u are really keen on the purchase, price aside.

Luc

 

[jlnguyen74]

I love this fish just as much as anyone. BUT I have allways been a person that would never support greed no matter how much i wanted something.

Nothing special and cheaper the better.

That's why you are still doing what you have to do... BTW, why do you love this fish?

Ok I am tired of looking at allmost empty tanks while waiting for my dream fish to come around....

 

[hybridtheoryd16]

Thats pretty good but armatus aren't my #1 fish.

You can ask anyone that knows me and they will tell you I am more fanatical about Tatuaia than armtus.

I like schooling preds over a apex predators anyday. Thats all i have. Shoal of aces, shoal of hujeta, and once had a shoal of tat's. All mini shoals.


Thats pretty good though. I give a A+ for effort.

 

[rkc772]

the fish comes in at a cost, doa's, freight, gas, time and effort. Now i tried to earn 20% out of the $50 and ship it and DOA do you think i earned? in reality no i did not earn last year. i loss money on the fish. you ask me why...ok when some members started to state that it was fake guess what... i had to refund all the paypal payments. and it resulted into a loss instead of a profit. this is fact, and this is reality.

with regards to greed, their is a fine line to that statement... some of the vendors, LFS, and importers buy their fish at a different price range compard to me and other sellers. I am giving the lowest possible price at the most perfect scenario with no DOAs. But when DOAs come about they loss is realized. If they are selling the fish at $250 each that is their decision, that is their business and that is not really greed. Greed is when someone has enough and still keeps taking without consideration. In business if every single businessman thinks he is greedy no one will stay in business for a long time. Are we not all greedy in some manner? if we were not greedy we would give all that we have and rent a room with the cheapest bed with no electronics at all.

Nothing against anyone in particular. I am giving these statements straight forward for everyone to realize that you cannot asume things when you do not even have facts. I saw the thread and read the 6 page thread that was done on my subforum and i know wrote what and who did what. I will not call your names out. its none of my business. i will continue what i think is best for the hobbyist nothing more nothing less. STOP THE DRAMA AND GET OVER IT. We are all adults... that is my presumption unless i am wrong.

 

[mad ness]

an 18inch armatus just arrived at LFS. 2400USD asking. this is the first large armatus I've seen in person. Hope it doesn't shank the 2 kelberi's it's housed with.

as channarox said, these cycles can be seen all around us and as Luc mentioned, principles of simple economics. same's seen with fine wines, hot cars, the stock market ... and Im starting to doubt what the LFS had said about armatus export getting banned. My speculation is that they will start rolling in, that the draught was probably some kind of temporary bottle neck at the grass huts level. My guess is these fish are abundant. As willing persons like myself have completed their purchases, prices should come off but unlikely not back to 50 this cycle. Supply for goods that have had a quick inflation prices usually over shoot. Some people might get lucky later on.

Now back to these wonderful beasts... Hybrid mentioned shoaling. while armatus is not a shoaler, how many X sized armatus do you guys reckon could be kept in an X sized tank?

 

[hybridtheoryd16]

the fish comes in at a cost, doa's, freight, gas, time and effort. Now i tried to earn 20% out of the $50 and ship it and DOA do you think i earned? in reality no i did not earn last year. i loss money on the fish. you ask me why...ok when some members started to state that it was fake guess what... i had to refund all the paypal payments. and it resulted into a loss instead of a profit. this is fact, and this is reality.

with regards to greed, their is a fine line to that statement... some of the vendors, LFS, and importers buy their fish at a different price range compard to me and other sellers. I am giving the lowest possible price at the most perfect scenario with no DOAs. But when DOAs come about they loss is realized. If they are selling the fish at $250 each that is their decision, that is their business and that is not really greed. Greed is when someone has enough and still keeps taking without consideration. In business if every single businessman thinks he is greedy no one will stay in business for a long time. Are we not all greedy in some manner? if we were not greedy we would give all that we have and rent a room with the cheapest bed with no electronics at all.

Nothing against anyone in particular. I am giving these statements straight forward for everyone to realize that you cannot asume things when you do not even have facts. I saw the thread and read the 6 page thread that was done on my subforum and i know wrote what and who did what. I will not call your names out. its none of my business. i will continue what i think is best for the hobbyist nothing more nothing less. STOP THE DRAMA AND GET OVER IT. We are all adults... that is my presumption unless i am wrong.

i think your personal definition of greed is severly flawed. About the electronics and cheapest rooms and stuff. Unless you are missing your mortgage payment to buy a new stereo or game system. Then that would be greed. But buying things you want with hard earned money isn't greed to me.

To me greed in business is when you have something for sale and realize that there is a high demand for that product, so the price goes way up.

And it doesn't have to be the same person to do it. Like in this situation.

But greed is a funny thing that has a way of teaching its own lessons.

I have no drama about the dead armatus at all. And you will not find me in any sellers subforums creating it. I am in here for discussion and thats what i am doing.

I only wish that the people that brought these in would have thought it over a little better. So we could have more armatus on mfk.