Fair asking price for baby Banggai's?

[gas4544]

In six weeks or so, I should have a batch of banggers weaned off of live baby brine shrimp and eating frozen food. I approached a LFS to see if they are interested in buying them from me. Yes, they are interested.
I sold the first batch of babies to a breeder in Hawaii last September for $5 each. He also paid overnight shipping. The babies were not eating frozen food at the time.
So, what is a fair price for 8-week old Banggai's?

[FMarini]

Mr gas
This is a very sore topic for me. One that you should also get sore at , but i see where your comming from.
So to answer your question directly, i guess this $5 animal is what to expect. (remember that most LFS won't pay you in cash just credit)Just think of it this way, your LFS is paying about that for wildcaught banggais, and therefore they are probably not much more willing to pay more foryour fish.
So my point is that this fish(your captive raised/captive bred) banggai is worth a heck of a lot more, but unfortunately in this day, people will not pay more for a captive bred fish. I've had many discussions w/ people who claim "sure I'LL PAY MORE FOR A CAPTIVE BRED FISH", BUT THEY WON'T.
I wish you the best in selling your fish, but my recommendation is to use these fry as trading items w/ your friends. Try to get something you need/
frank

[Clyde]

or ask what your LFS is willing to pay

my LFS will pay a bit more to quote their web page they want my baby bangaiis

I didn thave luck with my previous brood. I wasnt home too much - no time to feed - this makes me really bad - but I m looking forward to the summer, which I will have plenty of time for em and more deication.

I've now built a live brine feeder ready for next brood

(dripped slowly during the day)

[/quote]
As seen in our mission statement on the home page, we are primarily committed to saltwater fish. All of our clownfish are tank raised in Puerto Rico. Tank raised clowns are very hardy and there are 14 species to pick from with spawning pairs being easy to get. The mortality rate on wild caught clowns is 97%-99%, therefore the conscientious choice was easy for us to make; buy tank raised and help protect our delicate ocean environment.
Other tank raised species that we sell are: Cleaner Gobies, Sleeper Gobies, Dragon Gobies, Blue Tangs, and several species of pseudochromis including the Orchid Dottyback, Damsel's & Chromis. We will always purchase (at a greater cost to us) tank raised stock if the fish is available tank raised. We will not purchase fish caught in the wild even if we have to be out of stock on the item for a while.

[/quote]


added info - http://www.somethingfishy.com lfs in the minneapolis area.

[ricochet]

Mr Gas,

I too have baby banggai's but have found that if I can get them to about 20-25mm (1 inch) the LFS will pay more as they are saleable.

The cost of the adult banggai's when I bought my pair was $AUD45.00. Six months later I was told the lfs would buy them wild for about $AUD18.00.

Now, six months later again, I visit the same lfs and they have 1" bangais at $AUD62.00 each!

I would attend the closest LFS to you and have them come and pick them up, saves on shipping and the fry are healthy when they leave the tank, not when postman delivers them. Then you can justify a higher price say 50% of sale price for tank bred, offer them exclusivity for all you broods and they'll have a constant supply they can count on. There's no collector going out in a boat and then adding their profit margin, no losses during transit (long haul) and no need for quarantining because the fish are local. They cn be onsold relatively soon.

How much are banggai's sold for in the US?

Paul :-)>

[FMarini]

Paul:
I'm glad someone is getting some worth from the CB/CR banggais. In the Us (at least here in Houston, TX) banggais go for a minimum of $10US to a max of approx$24. I have seen them IN EVERY LFS, so there plentiful. The problem here is that the LFS probably pay about $2-4/animals, and therefore this is what they are willing to pay you, regardless of its shipping/handling etc. They see it as its cheaper for them, and thats there motivation. So this is why its chaps my.....well you know.
frank

[ricochet]

Hey Frank,

I can't work out what's the CB/CR in your reply.

Also, are the LFS's getting tank bred @ $US 2.00-4.00 or are they getting them from Indonesia, that's amazing even in Australian Dollars.

Paul

[FMarini]

Paul:
CB/CR=captive bred/captive raised
A home grown animal, bred in the home raised in the home w/ NO outside helpful from (in this case) the ocean or catching fish from the ocean.
Most LFSs here dont sell CB/CR banggais. I've very rarely seen home grown banggais in any of the LFS regardless of the fact that thousands of people are breeding these fish.
The banggais at the LFSs are all wildcaught, but becuz they are $2-4US the LFS are not much more willing to pay you more than this.
If you ever had a chance to read my aug98 article at reefs.org on breeding these fish, you'll see that one of the reason I stopped mass producing these fish is becuz I was NOT even getting enuf money to pay for the fry raising, and I was loosing at a 4:1 rate. If you look at any of the commercial firm who sell CB/CR banggais they are all askiong over$25/animal. This is about right, C-quest even decided againist banggais becuz they produce such small clutches (25fry Vs 400 fry(as in clowns) and each male requires one tank, that this was NOT an ecomonically viable fish.
frank

[gas4544]

Good news, I talked with my LFS about selling them my brood of thirty six-week old Banggai's. They are between .75" and 1" long and are eating frozen brine shrimp and shreds of shrimp meat.
My LFS is ready to take the whole brood at $5 cash each. I will likely be dropping them off on Monday.

[billsreef]

I find that west coast price interesting as wild caught Banggai's wholesale for $11-$12 here on the east coast.

[gas4544]

Earlier tonight I sold my Banggai's to my LFS. Now that I have a vacant nursery tank, I am prepared for the next time the female starts doing her shimmy dance again.
Considering all the money I put into my tanks, its nice to get a dividend. Of course, its going to be re-invested!