Fish Prices Lately

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

The days of doing a budget tank with $5 damsels and adoptions and the coral frag tank of frags $25 and under are still here I think. It would just maybe take you a little longer to get that diversity and livestock.
D

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

This is definitely a hobby where cash is king.
Lol
D

 

[doubleshot00]

Guys, I wish it was all due to shipping but I used to work at a LFS and they're just not hurting the way the consumers are...I can say this because I've seen invoices stating what the shop paid for the fish. It's all business but I think the shops could help out the customers a little more than they do...

This now i know rent at certain stores are higher than some but still. Its the LFS. If they are getting people like me to buy them then they can charge it. But imo im being more selective on where i buy from now. Online imo is the biggest rip off for fish and definitely coral.

 

[doubleshot00]

Now if the QT thats a different story. Ill pay $150 for a tang or wrasse. But if i got to QT im doing a job imo.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

This now i know rent at certain stores are higher than some but still. Its the LFS. If they are getting people like me to buy them then they can charge it. But imo im being more selective on where i buy from now. Online imo is the biggest rip off for fish and definitely coral.

I agree that it's just the free market...if the can sell it they have every right to charge whatever they want...I feel you guys pain though because I know everyone has that special fish they've always wanted but the prices are ridiculous and some of it just isn't justified if you ask me

 

[BZOFIQ]

LoL that's a little salty...

Like the rest of this hobby?

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Like the rest of this hobby?

LOL haha

 

[doubleshot00]

I agree that it's just the free market...if the can sell it they have every right to charge whatever they want...I feel you guys pain though because I know everyone has that special fish they've always wanted but the prices are ridiculous and some of it just isn't justified if you ask me

Exactly.

Two LFS had a Melanarus wrasse one was $70 the other was $46. I still decided to skip as i had to many deaths lately to throw more $ down the drain.

But if more LFS charged a premium and QT i would pay for it in a heartbeat.

 

[BZOFIQ]

I've had great luck with Petco around the corner. They get decent stuff here and their prices are cheap. There has been a lot of AC fish from ORA or the like very cheap. Gobbies, blennies for $20-$30. Picked up a two-bar rabbit for $39.

Not too long ago picked up a few of filefish, you know the ones that make aiptasia disappear for $19.99 a piece. You can't beat getting aquacultured fish for 20 bucks.

 

[131696]

Just wait if that bill passes and you can only get stuff in your state Or bootleg it from another state.lol

 

[doubleshot00]

Especially considering most corals are aquacultured now. I understand the prices of, say, scolymia, because I know for the most part they still have to be taken off the reef. But something like a zoa shouldn't have the "designer" price tag on it, especially with how fast the majority of them grow

The coral prices imo are pathetic but people are paying it. Like all these flash sales these vendors are having on here.

 

[bnord]

I just saw 2 small plain Fox faces at 2 different shops for 120 each

Am fortunate that tanks are now to the point that (knock on wood) nothing is dying and I am more concerned with re-homing growing fish

however, I raise eggs for high end Resturant Sunday brunches and I have gone from slightly better than break even to "well I guess ill do it for the tax break" based on chicken feed, that is produced in the adjacent country - i.e., no airfreight -

so grin and bear it and get a QT tank set up because you really cannot afford to lose anything now, can you...?

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

I qt nothing.

 

[doubleshot00]

I qt nothing.

 

[gibec]

LoL that's a little salty...

Its the hobby.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

What do you guys think of my new welcome picture I made? Lol. It basically asks anyone new here to r2r where they r from on the reef. Lol. Ok shower time.
D

 

[Lyss]

I have to stop spending for anything but essential across the board at this point -- it's time to save b/c money is flying out the window. As for reef specifically I just restocked some inverts and the only difference I really noticed at reef cleaners was the minimum $ spent on an order to get UPS shipping has increased.

But I went to order a fish directly from biota the other day and when I got to checkout the next day air shipping was over $80! I just ordered fish from them in Feb and it was about $35 or $45 I believe. Not sure what happened there but needless to say I emptied my cart and didn't get the fish.

 

[Nate Chalk]

Inflation hit an all time high again or close too.

yeah

makes sense

 

[schabiazabi]

Prices going up, because you keep paying. That's how inflation worked for hundreds of years, but don't worry they all end. Massive deflation on the horizon, with big unemployment and possible major rest. Then fish will be cheap.

I just saw 2 Wild Caught Clowns for $450. They can keep it. I live by the ocean, so I get water from there. Tank cost me like $10 to built. Fish I will either breed myself or have frag tank with few cheap crabs and be happy that way. And the funny part is, I actually have money, just ain't stupid.

 

[MONTANTK]

Guys, I wish it was all due to shipping but I used to work at a LFS and they're just not hurting the way the consumers are...I can say this because I've seen invoices stating what the shop paid for the fish. It's all business but I think the shops could help out the customers a little more than they do...

I’ve seen the wholesale prices and they’re way up. I don’t think it’s shops being greedy. I’m sure some out there are but if you’re seeing a flame Angel for $100 the store probably paid $50 for it plus shipping. My observation a few years back was that fish sold for double what the store paid. Based on the wholesale lists I’ve seen and what other LFS (and some online retailers), that still holds true