The value of Flowerhorns

[OrandaMan]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the orient has been releasing hybrids into their waters for ages. It's a change in the ecosystem, but I'm not sure I can judge them. So far, it seems the ecosystem has survived, however much it changed. I'm sure it has something to do with Asian traditions involving the care of fish. Whatever we might think of the differences in care level between here and there, it would seem to me that no one else has the level of mastery they do.

I'm not sure how I feel about unnatural hybrids, but I do love my orandas (hence my name) and perhaps forced evolution isn't too much different than what happens naturally. I definitely do not care for hybrids whose deformities are so profound that they might be said to affect their quality of life (for instance, those poor parrot cichlids), but I'm not sure we in the West can judge. Consider the poor doberman. A beautiful dog with a great personality that loves children, as they get old, they often suffer from dementia because their brains continue to grow while their skulls remain small, which was a specific point of their breeding.

Just a thought.

[marauder_77868]

I agree that there is time and money put into the production. But that having been said, I would imagine that just as much time and money is put into, for example, new strains of discus. And discus reflect the high price. And that is as it should be. But it's nothing like the prices of Flowerhorns on what, from what I've seen, are an easy fish to breed. (Hence their reproduction rate in the natural bodies of water.) So how much of the price is reflected by the cost of development/breeding, and how much of it is the marketing propaganda?

[tnguyen]

yup, so the answer is pretty simple.

[Nickintex]

Because people are willing to pay for it.

That could be said of a lot of things besides Flowerhorns.

[tnguyen]

Just out of curiousity...if you set aside the arguments of what other people sell them for, whether stores or individuals, what makes these so valuable? With natural species it's a function of the ease of breeding, scarcity in the wild, shipping, etc. What is it that makes the value of these fish so high? Again...please don't use the argument of that's what others sell them for. Just wondering what makes these as valuable as a whole box (at cost) of wild caught tanganyikans.

Because people are willing to pay for it.

[Nickintex]

BTW, if the culls of Flowerhorns are making it into the waterways, will there now be a demand for overpriced WC Flowerhorns????

[Nickintex]

when thinking about it...I have never seen F2 troph fry for sale. I sell my fry as tank raised only because I have WC and F1 mixed together. I didnt know F2 were sold as tankraised...but it makes since.

Ok, but I still don't see people posting about how proud they are of their tank rasied trophs. Just an observation. My perspective is still valid, I think?

[dhavalsp]

@ marauder

well i just read the first page of the thread and replied ...n i was talkin about those initial stories posted there...m new to the thread n still goof up at times....

[newb]

How is that a good point? You, as a troph/petro keeper, should know F2's and so on are classified as tank-raised and sold for nearly the same amount as F1's. The seller normally doesn't say F2 or tankraised. Just "Troph fry for sale". There ain't no flushin' trophs.

when thinking about it...I have never seen F2 troph fry for sale. I sell my fry as tank raised only because I have WC and F1 mixed together. I didnt know F2 were sold as tankraised...but it makes since.

[SOULJAA]

Charles, in an attempt to give you an answer in a nutshell, I think the high price stems from the FH "customization" options (be it an average person's opinion of what's attractive - i.e. "marketable" or what the "renowned" breeder had to do to create essentially a "collectible"). The whole "creation" process is time-consuming, and we know that time is money. So this is also factored into the price I believe. All in all, it's the entire "engineering" process which determines the price. Think about this to get an idea of what I'm saying...a lab-created diamond will cost you more in a store than a natural, God-created diamond b/c to replicate the conditions by which God creates diamonds naturally, in a lab, isn't as difficult as it is costly.

So as it goes w/ FH's...certain breeding techniques have been developed, so the various strains can be produced pretty much on demand (driven by a market somewhere). However, the engineering/development of this techniques took somebody, somewhere some time/money, and these valuables (i.e. time and/or money) have to be recouped someway or another. So it's has to be reflected in the price.

[marauder_77868]

after all the hilarious stories up there...

What was the hilarious part...other than the eating Tokyo story? I'm glad to see someone finally mentioned the BS stories that were propogated in the orginal marketing...luck, magic, feng shui, whatever you want to call it. The reason so many culls wound up in various ecosystems is the "marketing"...people thought it unlucky to kill the culls, so they went and dumped them in the nearest body of water. That's the price of someone's marketing idea.

[dhavalsp]

Yeah its really interesting to know why and how Flowerhorn, which seems to be ugly and disproportionate(when you see it for first time) is so popular and people end up spending huge amount in buying it...
According to me its popularity can be attributed to many things:
1.It is very interactive, not a boring fish.
2. there are know specific natural guidelines which state a flowerhorn should have 'n' characteristics to be called as Flowerhorn. So you can have your own, different and unique Flowerhorn.
3. All his characters, colour, kok etc, depend on how well you keep your fish, u screw up one thing either temperature or water condition n you will know the difference. this always keeps Flowerhorn keeper more involved, as they can see the visual difference.
All this makes Flowerhorn more famous and it just adds to the cost.offcourse intense marketing and fengshui has also played a big role.

I ll end my boring essay now but i m sure this dose was not all tht bad after all the hilarious stories up there...

[oneoffcustom]

what is the meaninf of f1 or f2? and why does it matter? i mean i know why wc are special, but why the rest?

[Nickintex]

How is that a good point? You, as a troph/petro keeper, should know F2's and so on are classified as tank-raised and sold for nearly the same amount as F1's. The seller normally doesn't say F2 or tankraised. Just "Troph fry for sale". There ain't no flushin' trophs.

Maybe not, but I have seen very little pride with anything beyond F1. I was wondering if they were the shame of the troph world or something like that.

[peterp63]

good point Nick

How is that a good point? You, as a troph/petro keeper, should know F2's and so on are classified as tank-raised and sold for nearly the same amount as F1's. The seller normally doesn't say F2 or tankraised. Just "Troph fry for sale". There ain't no flushin' trophs.