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Thread: why is the coral red pencilfish so expensive?

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    why is the coral red pencilfish so expensive?

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    Noticed that the common pencilfishes cost about $2-3 but the coral red ones are going at $10-15. Does anyone know why they are so expensive?

    What is so unique about them anyway?

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    the only reason to that, is rarity.. comparing to the abundant of other pencilfish (3 line, 1 lined, 3 striped)

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    It is indeed "painful" to pay that kind of price for a small fish. Thanks for the enlightenment...

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    you are comparing rarity rather than size and the price. Hope I don't offend anyone by saying that, I have seen some members of the public with the mentality that the size of a fish determines the price of it. Some people find it hard to understand that price of fishes is really dependent on the species and gene rather than its size. Perharps then, would they understand why certain people are willing to fork out big bucks for rare fishes. And because we are in the trading center for tropical fishes, choices and variety is far wider than many countries and we should understand how fortunate we are[]

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    consider yourself lucky that you are able to buy it at all! If we weren't such a major distribution centre we wouldn't have the volume to bring them in at such prices. That goes for other things like fresh fruits, produce, etc. Being a transport hub has its privileges beyond just making money.
    why I don't do garden hybrids and aquarium strains: natural species is a history of Nature, while hybrids are just the whims of Man.
    hexazona · crumenatum · Galleria Botanica

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    Simon and Hwchoy, yes I am still learning to appreciate rarity that's why this forum helps so much.

    Anyway, for those interested in this fish, Gan is selling at $10 each. Saw it at his farm last weekend. He has brought in quite a lot.

    Cheers.

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    ----------------
    On 12/30/2003 2:27:03 PM

    Simon and Hwchoy, yes I am still learning to appreciate rarity that's why this forum helps so much.

    Anyway, for those interested in this fish, Gan is selling at $10 each. Saw it at his farm last weekend. He has brought in quite a lot.

    Cheers.
    ----------------
    is that right? well $10 isn't such a bad price considering it was going for $18-30 earlier this year. I don't think it is VERY rare compared to say the espei, which while it may not be rare in nature, but the political situation makes it very hard to catch and export (the territory is disputed by Guyana and Venezuela).

    so "rarity" should really be "availability". a lot of fishes in Burma for example are not particularly rare but it is simply hard to catch and get out of the country.
    why I don't do garden hybrids and aquarium strains: natural species is a history of Nature, while hybrids are just the whims of Man.
    hexazona · crumenatum · Galleria Botanica

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    In Japan, this species (coral red) would retail for about 2000 Japanese yen. That's about S$34 per piece. And not commonly available. Prices are about there in Taiwan too.

    And in Europe (Cannes, France), I have seend NEON TETRA at 3 euros each, which is about S$6.60 per piece and in US, the same NEON TETRA cost US$2 at Walmart. That's almost S$4.

    So prices in Singapore are generally much lower than most places on planet Earth. When Singapore loses it status as a trans-shipment center due to the air transportation competition (if you've been following the articles about airports and air traffic negotiations in the Straits Times recently) from the surrounding region, then hobbyist will realise that prices will be moving up and up. Species available will become less and less.

    Compared to most places, those living in Singapore really have it good in terms of diversity and eoconomy of both livestocks as well as aquatic supplies.

    Enjoy it while it last, as it may not be forever.

    Cheers,
    I have dwarf cichlids in my tanks! Do you?

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    In that case, I will "chiong ah" to get a few... []

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    alamak Benny, these are consider tropical fish thus more expensive in those temperate countries. because maybe due to the lack of demand of these tropical fishes thus the higher price. No demand, so LFS who sell them got to sell higher.

    could be due to the higher setup up cost that people people off in europe and US to rear them, need for a heater, water conditioner blah blah blah.

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    Dear Daz, read and see if what you typed made sense, I am sure my primary school teacher would be furious with me if I wrote like you did.
    Thank you Lord!

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    I'm going step in right here and put a stop to any furthur comments about the standard of English in here. We flogged that horse till it went to heaven a long time ago.

    Having said that, I agree that Daz's post is really hard to understand even after reading it several times.

    Now, let's stick to the topic at hand.
    Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
    Why use punctuation? See what a difference it makes:
    A woman, without her man, is nothing.
    A woman: without her, man is nothing.

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    putting the phrasing of english aside. In fact the biggest market for exotic tropical fishes are in Japan and central Europe e.g. Germany and Denmark. These are markets where there are savvy hobbyist who are willing to pay for rarely available fishes. Of course their general higher standard or cost of living and cost of labour does contribute to the higher prices.
    why I don't do garden hybrids and aquarium strains: natural species is a history of Nature, while hybrids are just the whims of Man.
    hexazona · crumenatum · Galleria Botanica

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    I kind of agree with Choy. At $10 a piece, its a good deal!
    Wait till you find out how much the N. Espei costs!

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    Re:

    [quote:3e8e0fd7f8="Simon "]you are comparing rarity rather than size and the price. Hope I don't offend anyone by saying that, I have seen some members of the public with the mentality that the size of a fish determines the price of it. [/quote:3e8e0fd7f8]

    philatelly is my other pursuit (or rather, as my wife insists, the other way to spend my $$) and the same mentality is quite common amongst non-collectors, “what!? $ xxx for a small piece of paper, and it isn't even colourful!”
    why I don't do garden hybrids and aquarium strains: natural species is a history of Nature, while hybrids are just the whims of Man.
    hexazona · crumenatum · Galleria Botanica

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