WOW!!!! A $500.00 Cory, you would have to really want one of those pretty badly… way beyond me…

[Magnum Man]

https://dansfish.com/product.detail/6812/CW111-Vulcan-Cory-(Hoplisoma-sp.)

 

[MattW]

is there a hidden message in that thread title?

I only thought Marine could get that expensive. Guess I was wrong

 

[Fishmanic]

so you can either buy a purebred dog or one Cory fish

 

[Rocky998]

Whaaaaat theeee-
That's crazyy

 

[Fishmanic]

https://dansfish.com/product.detail/6812/CW111-Vulcan-Cory-(Hoplisoma-sp.)

such a deal
I'm going to order 3 at that price before the sale goes away

 

[Magnum Man]

They are Cory’s, you’re going to need a group of 5-7

Yep, $2,500.00 covers my catfish budget on my new tank???

 

[CassCats]

Considered a "holy grail" corydoras, that's why the price. People will pay it.

I can't judge too much, I've paid a small fortune for my eques cories. Maybe not that amount, but definitely more than most folks will buy cories for.

 

[Ceez]

I'll be picking up 10 of these guys next couple of months to breed them. $500 is Dan's price and if he can get it that's awesome but if you know where to look you can find them for half that. They're cool Cory's and will stick to my black and white freshwater breeding theme

 

[Ceez]

so you can either buy a purebred dog or one Cory fish

What purebred dog can you get for $500 nowadays? Most everything i see is in the thousands for any reputable breed with papers

 

[Fishmanic]

What purebred dog can you get for $500 nowadays? Most everything i see is in the thousands for any reputable breed with papers

well, then---you could buy a third of a dog or 500 hot dogs

 

[Colin_T]

It's only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it. In my opinion it's a rip off even if it is a holy grail fish. It's not wild caught from the deepest darkest places in the Amazon with no air or road access and where it takes 6 months to get it back to civilisation. It's bred in Germany so they are producing large numbers on a regular basis, which means it shouldn't cost that much. It's no different to other Cories and I think there are plenty that look better than that and don't cost anywhere near that much.

 

[CassCats]

Personally it's not one I'd buy.

This particular species, there's some muttering about it that it's been basically smuggled out of a really small isolated population from a protected reserve, and the only ones in the hobby are descended from those smuggled few.

Whether it's true or not, I wouldn't want to spend my money on a poached fish knowingly.

But, the scarcity and origin of this fish is part of why it's so highly sought after, and with current bans on imports from Brazil, do not expect the price of this fish to change a whole lot any time soon.

There's reasons for prices, it is ignorant to claim otherwise. Many that are involved in the species communities are usually very interested in that particular group of fish, and to them, obtaining the rarer fish is a worthwhile achievement. I question the ethics of this fish's origins, but I think it's wrong to discredit the monetary value placed on it that the serious fanatics will definitely pay for it.

 

[Fishmanic]

Personally it's not one I'd buy.

This particular species, there's some muttering about it that it's been basically smuggled out of a really small isolated population from a protected reserve, and the only ones in the hobby are descended from those smuggled few.

Whether it's true or not, I wouldn't want to spend my money on a poached fish knowingly.

But, the scarcity and origin of this fish is part of why it's so highly sought after, and with current bans on imports from Brazil, do not expect the price of this fish to change a whole lot any time soon.

There's reasons for prices, it is ignorant to claim otherwise. Many that are involved in the species communities are usually very interested in that particular group of fish, and to them, obtaining the rarer fish is a worthwhile achievement. I question the ethics of this fish's origins, but I think it's wrong to discredit the monetary value placed on it that the serious fanatics will definitely pay for it.

I’m in the wrong business. I should breed that cory and zebra plecos and sell them.

 

[Colin_T]

This particular species, there's some muttering about it that it's been basically smuggled out of a really small isolated population from a protected reserve, and the only ones in the hobby are descended from those smuggled few.

But, the scarcity and origin of this fish is part of why it's so highly sought after, and with current bans on imports from Brazil, do not expect the price of this fish to change a whole lot any time soon.

There's reasons for prices, it is ignorant to claim otherwise. Many that are involved in the species communities are usually very interested in that particular group of fish, and to them, obtaining the rarer fish is a worthwhile achievement. I question the ethics of this fish's origins, but I think it's wrong to discredit the monetary value placed on it that the serious fanatics will definitely pay for it.

Melanotaenia praecox were smuggled into Australia back in the early 90s and all the fish in the country originated from 6 individuals. They only cost $50 each back then and weren't being mass produced by companies like Aquarium Glaser in Germany. They were being bred by a few backyard enthusiasts. Once a big fish farm has a particular species and is breeding it, there is no reason for the price to be that high.

I used to collect fish and plants too and know there are people who are willing to pay top dollar for rare items. I would spend $100 per fish (wholesale prices) and buy 10-20 of them. But in my opinion, $500 for a single Corydoras is too much especially when the fish needs to be in groups of at least 6 and they are being mass produced in Germany.

 

[CassCats]

But they are *not* being mass produced by farms. Most of these are through smaller breeders still. It has literally only been in the hobby breeding within the last recent years.

My understanding is that it breeds somewhat easily, as far as corydoras go, but it's also not prolific like aenea or paleatum are. It is still only in small numbers.

CW111, hephaestus, CW127, and pantanalensis are among the most expensive corydoras at the moment, due to the fact that, no, they are not easily obtained and are not being mass produced like you are claiming here. Many are still barely leaving the hands of private collectors or are very very seasonally collected wild.

Only Canadian listing here for hephaestus. Which is still proving to be a prolific breeder at least, so I got hope of a cheaper bunch eventually lol

The catfish community will pay these prices for these fish. Both corydoras and plecos. Many take a long time to reach breeding age, are slow growing, and don't produce as many fry as praecox rainbowfish do, so of course their prices are going to be much higher than $50 a fish at first for the top rarities. And many corydoras can be difficult to breed. Most of the common ones are relatively easy, but some of the rarer ones take dry season/wet season conditioning, messing with parameters, and perhaps sacrificing a limb or your firstborn to convince them to maybe decide to spawn, and still not spawn for the entire time someone has them.

They're more work to spawn in good numbers than egg scatterer fish are. They require a little more work with water changes and a little more convincing than just throwing a pair in a tank full of spawning mops like most rainbows are quite content with. They require more hands on work to get them to spawn.

Eques have been in the hobby for several years, but they still have a relatively high price. Why? They're only caught from one area in any decent number seasonally, and they're extremely difficult to breed among the corydoras species.



Now, you get me some gastrodermus gracilis available, I'd happily drop an obscene amount per fish for them my husband, not so much. He already wanted to cry over the eques price paid, and they were a gift from him lol