This topic sure grew while I wasn't watching.
The reason that you don't find too many rare fish at your basic LFS is they don't stock them. It doesn't make much business sense to stock a 40 dollar fish rather than 20 2 dollar fish when the 2 dollar fish sell out in a week and the 40 dollar fish sits there for 3 weeks. My LFS will order just about anything if they know they have a buyer.
Supply and Demand is the problem. For the longest time I couldn't get Checkered Barbs. They are a cheap little fish, and kind of rare only in that they are not normally stocked. I have still only seen them twice, and yet they were under 2 dollars each time. Does that make them rare?
I work at a Petco, and the number of people who come in wanting the cheapest fish they can get is unbelieveable. Many people who keep fishtanks don't care about how rare their fish are. They want it to be pretty, hard to kill, and cheap. Its kind of pathetic, but it is also true. I had one who thought it 3was wonderful that their fish were 4 months old, adn another who is waiting for her fish to die so she can move the tank, too much hassle to move the fish i guess. Most true hobbyists do not come to Petco, because they don't sell fish that most of us would be interested in. Those brightly colored, cheap fish are stocked because they sell.
I had someone complain about having to spend 3 dollars each on 2 fish. I have regularly bought fish for 6 dollars each that want to be in a group. My hillstream Loaches were not cheap, and are semi-rare in that the species I have few others in North America do. Below Water has them, but until I can order 50-100 its a no go. My most expensive or rare fish is probably my L200 for 25, I love that fish, but not too much more than my 2 dollar neon rainbows.
My favorite LFS often stocks F0 fish from the African Rift lakes, many dwarf cichlids, and many Expensive Catfish when in Season. Yet they also don't order things they don't think they can sell. I can get them to order fish for me, almost anything available. A rare fish they had once was a 13 inch Clown Loach, which sold for several hundred dollars. They're rare only beacuse anyone who really loves the ones they have doesn't give them up when they get that size, and hundreds die in non hobbyist tanks every year.
Nowhere near me do they stock Albino Tinfoils, at least I don't look for them. Petco has a school of probably 10 Standard Tinfoils though, and none have sold in at least the last three weeks. Albinos would only be rarer because they aren't stocked normally. Less people are interested in them, so less monetary reason to sell them.
Rare fish I have, or at least rare in my area.
Gastromyzon ctenocephalus
Gastromyzon ridens
Gastromyzon punculatus
Homaloptera stephensoni
Homaloptera sp. in general are not common
Pseudogastromyzon cheni
L200
Botia histronica
Copeina guttata
Chaetostoma sp (L188)
Liniparhomaloptera disparis (trade from a hobbyist in Indiana)
Schistura sp.
Nemachelius sp.
Botia nigrolineata (rare in that they are often sold as a much rarer species, sidthimunki, which is nearly extinct)
Corydoras napoensis (Came in as an oto)
--Mia
The reason that you don't find too many rare fish at your basic LFS is they don't stock them. It doesn't make much business sense to stock a 40 dollar fish rather than 20 2 dollar fish when the 2 dollar fish sell out in a week and the 40 dollar fish sits there for 3 weeks. My LFS will order just about anything if they know they have a buyer.
Supply and Demand is the problem. For the longest time I couldn't get Checkered Barbs. They are a cheap little fish, and kind of rare only in that they are not normally stocked. I have still only seen them twice, and yet they were under 2 dollars each time. Does that make them rare?
I work at a Petco, and the number of people who come in wanting the cheapest fish they can get is unbelieveable. Many people who keep fishtanks don't care about how rare their fish are. They want it to be pretty, hard to kill, and cheap. Its kind of pathetic, but it is also true. I had one who thought it 3was wonderful that their fish were 4 months old, adn another who is waiting for her fish to die so she can move the tank, too much hassle to move the fish i guess. Most true hobbyists do not come to Petco, because they don't sell fish that most of us would be interested in. Those brightly colored, cheap fish are stocked because they sell.
I had someone complain about having to spend 3 dollars each on 2 fish. I have regularly bought fish for 6 dollars each that want to be in a group. My hillstream Loaches were not cheap, and are semi-rare in that the species I have few others in North America do. Below Water has them, but until I can order 50-100 its a no go. My most expensive or rare fish is probably my L200 for 25, I love that fish, but not too much more than my 2 dollar neon rainbows.
My favorite LFS often stocks F0 fish from the African Rift lakes, many dwarf cichlids, and many Expensive Catfish when in Season. Yet they also don't order things they don't think they can sell. I can get them to order fish for me, almost anything available. A rare fish they had once was a 13 inch Clown Loach, which sold for several hundred dollars. They're rare only beacuse anyone who really loves the ones they have doesn't give them up when they get that size, and hundreds die in non hobbyist tanks every year.
Nowhere near me do they stock Albino Tinfoils, at least I don't look for them. Petco has a school of probably 10 Standard Tinfoils though, and none have sold in at least the last three weeks. Albinos would only be rarer because they aren't stocked normally. Less people are interested in them, so less monetary reason to sell them.
Rare fish I have, or at least rare in my area.
Gastromyzon ctenocephalus
Gastromyzon ridens
Gastromyzon punculatus
Homaloptera stephensoni
Homaloptera sp. in general are not common
Pseudogastromyzon cheni
L200
Botia histronica
Copeina guttata
Chaetostoma sp (L188)
Liniparhomaloptera disparis (trade from a hobbyist in Indiana)
Schistura sp.
Nemachelius sp.
Botia nigrolineata (rare in that they are often sold as a much rarer species, sidthimunki, which is nearly extinct)
Corydoras napoensis (Came in as an oto)
--Mia
