Rare Cichla

[jlnguyen74]

It's funny how all the super rare species of cichla (and any fish for that matter) always end up in Asia and Europe. The fish follow the money. With the right connections down south, and the right connections for an importer, you could get them.

Heck, even do your own collecting trip. Gather the required permits, bribe and payoff the required officials, and ship the fish to the exporter/importer of your choice. Again, it all comes down to how much time and money you wanna invest. Most folks can make the time, but don't have the money. Those with the money, but not the time, will just pay others to do it for them.

On the contrary, money is the reason that rare fish is hardly landed in the US. Of course, money is the mean to obtain fish, or anything, but without desire to own one, and only looking at the fish by its $ value, instead of its availability, that sets the hobby in the US back, way back, in comparision with other country. There's no market for rare fish here, while you can find rare fish in LFS at other country, for one reason, no desire!

 

[johnmoore55]

Damn I didnt know those monos were rare. Had a local distributor selling them for $35 bucks. Gunna keep my eye out now.

well some monos are very common but some like the ones mentioned are very rare.

 

[johnmoore55]

On the contrary, money is the reason that rare fish is hardly landed in the US. Of course, money is the mean to obtain fish, or anything, but without desire to own one, and only looking at the fish by its $ value, instead of its availability, that sets the hobby in the US back, way back, in comparision with other country. There's no market for rare fish here, while you can find rare fish in LFS at other country, for one reason, no desire!

agreed. there are the select few people on mfk that will spend the money and buy these kind of rare fish but like you said its not a big group soo some people may see that its not worth the trouble of importing them.

 

[johnmoore55]

if anyone on here even knows where to begin on a collection trip for rare and beautiful cichla im all ears .

 

[jcardona1]

On the contrary, money is the reason that rare fish is hardly landed in the US. Of course, money is the mean to obtain fish, or anything, but without desire to own one, and only looking at the fish by its $ value, instead of its availability, that sets the hobby in the US back, way back, in comparision with other country. There's no market for rare fish here, while you can find rare fish in LFS at other country, for one reason, no desire!

I doubt 'desire' is the problem. You see, money and the desire go hand in hand when it comes to rare fish. You can't have one and not the other, otherwise, you get no fish! The desire to own these fish is out there, trust me. The problem is the money. What good is the desire if you don't have the money to spend on them?

 

[johnmoore55]

yaa a lot of people will want them but not to many can afford it. to bad they have to be soo expensive. i understand why it is expensive, but exporters would probally make more money if the fish were cheaper. I mean you see bahia kelberis go for $200 for a 5 inch fish! they are beautiful dont get me wrong but damn thats a lot of money for most people to spend on a fish.

 

[s2convt]

I doubt 'desire' is the problem. You see, money and the desire go hand in hand when it comes to rare fish. You can't have one and not the other, otherwise, you get no fish! The desire to own these fish is out there, trust me. The problem is the money. What good is the desire if you don't have the money to spend on them?

IMO the issue is not about money. There's plenty of it here in the states as well as overseas in Asia. I think it comes down to a curtural difference.

In the states status is about the size of your house and the type of car you drive.

In Asian countries, there are similarities to the states but there is a lot of value put in to having rare fish and it's just not about having rare fish but the wealth these fish bring to business. The theory of the growth and development of the fish is a direct correlation on how successful the person will be.

Here's an example, if I am in the market for a super red arowana (illegal in the states) I have better luck finding an underground market for it in Chinatown rather than wall street.

I just think Asian culture puts more value into fish than Americans and there just is a greater demand for fishkeeping in Asia than there is here.

 

[gangster]

IMO the issue is not about money. There's plenty of it here in the states as well as overseas in Asia. I think it comes down to a curtural difference.

In the states status is about the size of your house and the type of car you drive.

In Asian countries, there are similarities to the states but there is a lot of value put in to having rare fish and it's just not about having rare fish but the wealth these fish bring to business. The theory of the growth and development of the fish is a direct correlation on how successful the person will be.

Here's an example, if I am in the market for a super red arowana (illegal in the states) I have better luck finding an underground market for it in Chinatown rather than wall street.

I just think Asian culture puts more value into fish than Americans and there just is a greater demand for fishkeeping in Asia than there is here.

Very well put. Its like going to Italian restuarants for example...out of 10 you probably wont see a tank in one of the restuarants. In a restuarant that has asian cuisine your most likely to see about half of them w/ aquariums.

 

[hillbilly]

I know a couple of guys who together import fish from time to time. It is VERY expensive. The cost of importing far exceeds the value of the fish. So, you have to have a large order, with dozens of boxes to make it worth the expense. It also helps with out of pocket costs if you have people who have pre-ordered fish from you before you get them stateside. Larger fish have a pretty high mortality rate. They don't ship well internationally, due to rough treatment, and time delays, often for 24,48 hours or more. You can end up S.O.L., huge expense for nothing. Small fish ship much better, because they don't consume the limited amount of oxygen as quickly. That's why most imports are small, juvenile fish. I have been told that they are always at least some dead loss on such shipments.

 

[jcardona1]

IMO the issue is not about money. There's plenty of it here in the states as well as overseas in Asia. I think it comes down to a curtural difference.

In the states status is about the size of your house and the type of car you drive.

In Asian countries, there are similarities to the states but there is a lot of value put in to having rare fish and it's just not about having rare fish but the wealth these fish bring to business. The theory of the growth and development of the fish is a direct correlation on how successful the person will be.

Here's an example, if I am in the market for a super red arowana (illegal in the states) I have better luck finding an underground market for it in Chinatown rather than wall street.

I just think Asian culture puts more value into fish than Americans and there just is a greater demand for fishkeeping in Asia than there is here.

Doesn't really explain the insane collections of rare fish in Europe, although it is true that Asian cultures put more value towards fish. To them, it's a lot more than just a pet.