What do you do with your baby clownfish?

[Reddhaus]

I have been reading up on the subject of breeding clownfish. I am very interested and excited to do it once I have furthered my education a bit more. I thought of a few questions:

Assuming I have done everything correctly, what do I do with all of the baby clownfish that are raised?

Would my best option be to trade or sell them to my LFS?

If I do trade or sell to the LFS, what is the value of the baby clowns?

What age or size requirement needs to be met before they can be traded or sold to the LFS or private party?

I know some of these question may sound silly but I have to get them out of the way. Any insight would be a great help.

[not ecooper]

1. Get a lionfish. Feed the culls to him. They're really kinda sweet, actually.

2. On a small scale, why not?

3. Depends on your market.

4. Again, depends on your market.

[JHardman]

Originally posted by Reddhaus
I have been reading up on the subject of breeding clownfish. I am very interested and excited to do it once I have furthered my education a bit more. I thought of a few questions:

Assuming I have done everything correctly, what do I do with all of the baby clownfish that are raised?

Would my best option be to trade or sell them to my LFS?
Sell them to the LFS, do not trade them, you will get ripped off more times than not by trading. LFS are businesses, treat them as such.

Originally posted by Reddhaus
If I do trade or sell to the LFS, what is the value of the baby clowns?
The wholesale price of common clownfish is pretty much set by the big boys in the biz like ORA and TMC. As long as you are offering a equal or better "product" you should receive a equal or better price than the big boys get.

Originally posted by Reddhaus
What age or size requirement needs to be met before they can be traded or sold to the LFS or private party?
Depends on the species and even on a fish by fish basis...

The generally accepted standards...

1) No fish less than one inch long to be sold.

2) No obviously deformed fish to be sold.

Beyond this, it is really a species by species thing. For example your local market may demand gold in the bars of the GSM you might sell, which means keeping them for between 4-9 months for that coloration to delvelop, and they will be monsters at that age too, some as big as 3"...

[Baalz]

I agree..
Any store that will only give you store credit for all your hard work is ripping you off big time. I will walk away from any store that pulls that on me.
Cash only! and get what they are worth.

[Reddhaus]

Originally posted by JHardman
The wholesale price of common clownfish is pretty much set by the big boys in the biz like ORA and TMC. As long as you are offering a equal or better "product" you should receive a equal or better price than the big boys get.


What is the best source to find out current wholesale prices?

Do you have to be a wholesaler to have access to this information?

I don't know what TMC is but I didn't see any prices published on the ORA websight.

[Baalz]

Its a big secret! raise clowns first then you will be given the secret code.

[oama]

Originally posted by Baalz
Its a big secret! raise clowns first then you will be given the secret code.

:lol: Ok, Now, Stop That!

Reddhaus
Prices are a relative thing, and just like oil prices, they can vary. It can also vary for volume, quality, size, what type of operation is buying them, etc....

But, just like General Mills, the general public will not readily know how much their local grocery store paid for that box of cereal that they are selling for $X.XX.

Shop around, see what stores will offer you. Look at their prices for CB vs. WC.

[JHardman]

Originally posted by Reddhaus
What is the best source to find out current wholesale prices?

Honeestly make friends with a LFS that buys ORA and/or TMC fish, ask them to let you look at the prices. This will be a good guide for the going rate at the moment.

Like Doug mentions, it is very much market dependant. For example if your local market is dominated by WC clowns, you are going to have a hard time getting a decent price as the LFS will be used to paying something like <$3 for WC A. ocellaris and here you are asking them to spend ~$8 for a smaller fish, most will laugh at you. Too bad the jokes on them for not knowing about CB fish... :rolleyes:

Another example... If you market is dominated by CB clowns, you might actually be able to get more than the big boys because your customers will not need to pay for shipping.

[Dman]

Find out who the wholesaler is in your area and ask them what they would PAY for CB clowns. Then charge close to double that to the LFS. Citing the fact that they're healthier, they've had to endure less stress from being shipped all over the country and don't have any nasty bugs or diseases associated with WC's.
Dman

[Baalz]

But, just like General Mills, the general public will not readily know how much their local grocery store paid for that box of cereal that they are selling for $X.XX.

Well they know now :(

[Reddhaus]

Thanks for all the information everyone. I appreciate the input.

Looks like I have some more research to do.

[Reddhaus]

Originally posted by Baalz
Its a big secret! raise clowns first then you will be given the secret code.

I'm sure I will have more questions in the future but right now I have to hurry up and get a pair of clowns to start breeding so I can get the secret code.

:lol: :lmao:

:thumbsup:

[Dman]

Guys,
Don't think for a second that if you manage to raise baby clowns they just hand out the secret code willy-nilly.
Raising the baby clowns only gets you the secret hand shake. You must first spend over 10 grand on equipment and miscellaneous other stuff to get the secret decoder ring.
Then you must drive all over three states trying your secret decoder ring at various LFS's in different sequences before it unlocks the secret code.
But the secret code is encrypted and only the death of one of the mates of your most prolific pairs will break the encryption.
After that you're ready to go.

The proceeding post was satirical in nature and should be taken with a grain of salt, and probably a jalapeno for good measure.

Dman

[onefin]

$cot you can send them to me, LOL