Why are Anthias so expensive?
- Thread starter NasotheHutt
- Start date
I think a better question is "Why are damsels so cheap?"
Much of it has to do with freight costs, which make up the majority of the cost in any marine animal. You can ship a damsel in a tablespoon of water (not that I recommend it or practice it), but you can't do that with anthias. They require more water which = more freight $$$ built in. Also, hobbyists are just willing to pay more for some fish than others. Yellow Tangs are an excellent example. Somewhere during the 30 years of this industry/hobby, someone decided that yellow tangs should be cheap fish. So now hobbyists get miffed if they have to pay over $25 for one. No one makes any money off of yellow tangs that retail for $25. However, there are plenty of other tangs that cost the same as yellows, but hobbyists are willing to pay more for them. Hobbyists are more willing to pay $$$ for an anthias than they are a damsel.
Much of it has to do with freight costs, which make up the majority of the cost in any marine animal. You can ship a damsel in a tablespoon of water (not that I recommend it or practice it), but you can't do that with anthias. They require more water which = more freight $$$ built in. Also, hobbyists are just willing to pay more for some fish than others. Yellow Tangs are an excellent example. Somewhere during the 30 years of this industry/hobby, someone decided that yellow tangs should be cheap fish. So now hobbyists get miffed if they have to pay over $25 for one. No one makes any money off of yellow tangs that retail for $25. However, there are plenty of other tangs that cost the same as yellows, but hobbyists are willing to pay more for them. Hobbyists are more willing to pay $$$ for an anthias than they are a damsel.
Hobbyists are more willing to pay $$$ for an anthias than they are a damsel.
There's definitely a value perception at work. Chromis at $2/ea are considered "boring, cheap, and expendable". If they were only available for $20/ea, I think you'd suddenly find a lot more people extolling their virtues.
There's definitely a value perception at work. Chromis at $2/ea are considered "boring, cheap, and expendable". If they were only available for $20/ea, I think you'd suddenly find a lot more people extolling their virtues.
Well, $2 or not, Chromis viridis are one of my favorite fish.
They are great dither fish that make all the other fish feel comfortable in the tank. Nothing boring or expendable about them! Now, the cheap part is a harder argument.
I wish anthias were cheaper just so that I could afford to put more in the tank but am quite content with those chromis!
Randy
I wish anthias were cheaper just so that I could afford to put more in the tank but am quite content with those chromis!
Randy
Mary, thanks for the down low!
I have s school of 15 chromis in my tank, and the fact they school is really impressive in larger numbers.
So, roughly in USD what to the collectors make on each fish, say anthias? AND when fish die in route or are DOA who "eats" that?
I have s school of 15 chromis in my tank, and the fact they school is really impressive in larger numbers.
So, roughly in USD what to the collectors make on each fish, say anthias? AND when fish die in route or are DOA who "eats" that?
I am wondering how much do the collectors really get for what they collect. How much does this industry really "support" these third world contries.
Rover, in the end I know that the consumer gets bent over and done dry! BUT if I were a LFS owner, and I get 5 dead fish out of 30, and 5 more die within a day. Is that my loss or does the wholesaler cover it.....where is the inital markup from dead fish?
Rover, in the end I know that the consumer gets bent over and done dry! BUT if I were a LFS owner, and I get 5 dead fish out of 30, and 5 more die within a day. Is that my loss or does the wholesaler cover it.....where is the inital markup from dead fish?
It depends on the wholesaler. Some have a 24 hr DOA policy some have a bit longer and if you have a good realtionship with them they will usually work stuff out with you on any damaged in shipping cases ( torn fins etc.) In that case the LFS is refunded for the DOA. Anything after that that dies is usually made up for in the mark up of the other fish. I think there is usually a 60-70% margin on most fish (a little less on some regulars). The more death an LFS has, the higher the margin neccessary to break even. This is where things are a bit different in live fish. A bag of salt does not need a huge life support system, employees to care for it, food, medicine, and there is no danger of it dieing un-expectedly. SO the margins on dry goods are a but lower. Most people simply compare the wholesale cist of a fish to the retail cost and feel ripped off when it's actually fairly difficult to make money on the fish.
Glenn
Glenn
I'm not sure what the actual collectors make in countries like the Philippines and Indonesia. I deal directly with the natives in Fiji, and they get paid mucho $$$ for what they send me. We are paying them over 3 times what they used to get paid for live rock. This is because I feel it is so important to make the reefs- which are THEIR resource- profitable to them. I can pay them 3 times more and still make a decent profit, so I think that's fair. However, the general attitude seems to be "Pay the natives as little as possible and keep the profits for yourself". Bad idea. Bad for the collectors, bad for the reefs, and bad for the industry.
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I agree Mary , This is probably the single most important issue facing the Hobby?The middle men take too much of the profit away from the caretakers of the reef........I praise you for paying more to assure the reef is looked after !
Another reason for the expense would have to be difficulty of capture. Damsels are easy to capture, Pseudanthias are very difficult.
Damsels you can usually knock over in a minute or two, but in some cases I have spent almost 30 minutes to catch one P. squamipinnis and this is not in a coral situation, which would make it even harder. Typically, Pseudanthias will hole up very deep in to caves and crevices and take a lot of manouvering.
Damsels you can usually knock over in a minute or two, but in some cases I have spent almost 30 minutes to catch one P. squamipinnis and this is not in a coral situation, which would make it even harder. Typically, Pseudanthias will hole up very deep in to caves and crevices and take a lot of manouvering.
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