breeding for profit or to help the hobby????

[young_rico]

ok i guess ideally we should help each other conserve species that face extinction from their natural habitats due to invading species, pollution, etc. but you are right we live in a country that was built on greed. MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND.

I was just wondering if i was the only one who felt this way.

 

[gnuisance]

I'm with you man, there were some fish that came in recently that I really wanted but the person was asking $15 for each fry. I just couldn't afford it with the expensive shipping on top. IMO it is much better to deal with another hobbyist than with someone who is trying to make a profit. This is why many LFS start out nice and end up with overpriced neglected fish

 

[Eric A]

Maybe they need the money to repay what they paid for the fish, or the expedition trip in the first place.

 

[GMFISHNUT]

Rico, I have a feeling you are talking about me and the Istlanum fry you PM'd me about. I understand the way you feel and there's no hard feelings!
There are a couple of good reasons why I can't just give the fish away. A couple have been mentioned already. I have to take into account the fact that I have spread some of the fish to a Vendor on this forum hoping he will distribute them and make them available to hobbyists who are interested. If I give them away at a cheap below market price before he begins to sell them then what I gave him to move become worthless. Although boxes become available from shippments I've received there is still the expense of supplies, foods etc...that I try to make up for when I have some fry that are desireable, not to mention my electric bill for running all these tanks, pumps, heaters....! Definately will not be making a profit for my efforts but maybe I can pay some of the fish expenses.
Also please take into account that I paid alot of money for the breeders and the rediculous price it cost me to have them shipped from California.
Anyway, look out for some to be available soon from a vendor on this site. Maybe you guys in Texas can get a group order going and save on the rediculous shipping cost! Good luck!

 

[zorba4884]

im now breeding jag fry for hobby but i still need people to pay for them because it makes it cheaper for me to feed, water and eletricity bills smaller or save for another tank, although i just sell for what ever the going pice is for fry usally 1/4 of what the lfs sell fore. But ill willing give larger fry to people who want 1 for a displaytank cheap and free to my friends.

 

[young_rico]

Rico, I have a feeling you are talking about me and the Istlanum fry you PM'd me about. I understand the way you feel and there's no hard feelings!
There are a couple of good reasons why I can't just give the fish away. A couple have been mentioned already. I have to take into account the fact that I have spread some of the fish to a Vendor on this forum hoping he will distribute them and make them available to hobbyists who are interested. If I give them away at a cheap below market price before he begins to sell them then what I gave him to move become worthless. Although boxes become available from shippments I've received there is still the expense of supplies, foods etc...that I try to make up for when I have some fry that are desireable, not to mention my electric bill for running all these tanks, pumps, heaters....! Definately will not be making a profit for my efforts but maybe I can pay some of the fish expenses.
Also please take into account that I paid alot of money for the breeders and the rediculous price it cost me to have them shipped from California.
Anyway, look out for some to be available soon from a vendor on this site. Maybe you guys in Texas can get a group order going and save on the rediculous shipping cost! Good luck!

this was never about your fry. i cant argue with anyone's price. i know it can get expensive when you have a lot of tanks. believe me i know. i have 14 tanks running and its driving my wife crazy. i run through prime like crazy because im constantly doing water changes. this was something i wanted to post months ago. i just thought someone would beat me to it but basically this was just to see if i was the only one that looked at it like that. here in houston its mostly trophs, petros, and peacocks. i have noticed this on my local forum too. people will give away fry to someone they know but then want to charge the next hobbyist $10, $15 for a newly spit fry and claim that they cant afford to do it cheaper when they just gave some fry away. i apologize if you thought this was posted towards you. i guess the timing was bad since i had just pm'd you about some fry.

 

[dogofwar]

You're not alone.

I think that we need to separate the concept of hobbyists keeping (threatened / endangered) fish in glass boxes from actual conservation (i.e. planned management of a natural resource to prevent exploitation, destruction, or neglect).

Cichlids are (rapidly) evolved to their environments and (when the environments change) the fish change. That's why the concept of re-introducing captive (fish tank) fish into the wild makes little sense.

And I also think that we need to separate the reasons why fish are expensive and/or rare in the hobby from whether or not they are threatened or endangered in the wild. There are plenty of fish that are abundant in the wild but rare in the hobby...and plenty of fish that are threatened / extinct in the wild that are abundant in the hobby.

There is a finite (and small) market for a fish like istlanum or beani. These aren't widely commercially produced fish for a reason. So those who have invested in bringing these fish to market have the right to charge whatever they want...or whatever the market will bear. $10 per fish is not outrageous.

I usually charge a little $ for fish because people tend to not care for "free fish" no matter how rare or unique. It just seems to be human nature.

Matt

ok i guess ideally we should help each other conserve species that face extinction from their natural habitats due to invading species, pollution, etc. but you are right we live in a country that was built on greed. MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND.

I was just wondering if i was the only one who felt this way.

 

[oscarcrazy]

I hear ya rico, but people want to make some money to offset set their hobby costs. And, as with everything, there is a buddy price.

oh, those gts you gave me are raising a brood!!!!!!

 

[young_rico]

glad to hear they are doing good.

 

[JTRG05]

There always has to be a rare item that only a few people can have. And those items are generally the most expensive. This is just kind of how human economics always end up. Look at the rare/expensive items on the market in your communities, if everyone owned a Ferrari, no one would want a Ferrari. Online video games are a perfect place to witness this in action, the economy in games follows this to a T. It's not just supply and demand.

As far as paying off the costs of a hobby, if a hobby doesn't end up costing you money, you are in the vast minority. A hobby is something you spend money (or at least try to break even) on in your spare time for fun, not try to get rich off of, I'd rather not turn my hobby into a job, but others see it differently I suppose.