Not sure how to title this haha

[Cinnebuns]

Explain something to me. This has never made sense to me...

 

Why are older fish/inverts considered more desirable and expensive than younger? I get if they are able to immediately breed but that's not always the case or difference. Imo, if 2 fish are of breeding age and 1 is older than the other, it should be cheaper not more expensive. It's closer to death age!

 

The way I look at it the more desirable should go in this order:

 

Proven pair/colony > of breeding age and shown breeding behavior but not proven > young/juvenile > fry > old boys/girls

 

For some reason tho often old ones are pushed to 2nd. I don't get it! Anyone seeing something I dont?

[Theplatymaster]

On 3/19/2023 at 6:18 PM, Cinnebuns said:

Why are older fish/inverts considered more desirable and expensive than younger?

size and color, they are bigger and more colorful.

also getting fish big takes time, which is part of the cost.

[Lennie]

I think it is because due to overbreeding and body deformations, a lot of fish in different species cannot healthily make it to the point they are showing all the "cute look aspects" and looks  that people expect to see as a result of their breeding attempt, and most fish basically cannot survive healthily to that point. Like fancy goldfish. The amount of culling is insane. And then the amount of fish that reach to that point that looks "desirable" to people is quite rare.

I personally can't compare selective breeding, and having to euthanize tons of fish by thinking they would be predated on nature anyway. Fish tanks are kept by humans and we make the decisions. It is not nature in a glass box we must understand. What you provide, goes in there. Ofcourse we can surely embrace nature and imitade positive sides of it into our tanks.

Opinions may differ of course. But they get kept being culled weeks by weeks. So yea. When you actually get a few ones reaching adulthood out of a ton, they are expensive.

Maybe that's why. Because the juveniles you have in the store is likely won't end up as the fancy goldfish they sell for huge amount of cash

Edited March 19 by Lennie

[JettsPapa]

I suspect it's mostly because the breeder needs to sell them for more to offset the additional time and expense to get them to that point.

[Bev C]

I am not having much luck in the breeding department either on fish or snails babies or the weak do not do well in my main tank  they get bullied or eaten

only luck i have is with shrimp and accident 6 pigmy cories  in my shrimp tank  i do keep having baby shrimp ,,, but i am trying to hatch mystery snails at the moment in a temporary nursery and having no luck at all but with 3 snails that survived after my 1st hatch the rest died 

Edited March 20 by Bev C