You know all this talk about this and that it all comes down to one thing. "What you have in your tank and what you wish you had in your tank". That is is it. When people walk into my house and I get to share my knowledge of my collection with them that is what is rewarding and the visual beauty and grace they exibit. AND now I can say I have Kelberi! As far as looks at a young age none of my Cichla were super attractive at less then 8''. You know I have said this more then once and will say it again. Any Cichla keeper is going to need one thing - Patience. PERIOD.
As far as Rapps and the prices over the pond. It's purely the demand I don't think Rapps is trying to make a buck but he is making some money but more or less he is getting a highly sought after item that WAS NEVER TO BE SHIPPED HERE TO THE STATES EVER AGAIN. So even if he charged what were paying for our rare Sting Rays I bet someone will pay the price tag. But at the end of the day in this hobby how can anyone complain about money?
Of course yes I wish I could get a Kelberi for $45.00, but there charging $50.00 + for Orino's at the LFS so imo anything Rapps ask us to pay is worth it because it's the demand not the man. And he was able to get us all an item that we may never have seen anywhere else except the Buy and Sell section here on MFK for about five times the amount we paid dealling with someone I know I can trust to get me quality cichlids.