[Mustang Boy]

the shrimp hobby just received national attention

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091106/lf_nm_life/us_taiwan_shrimp

 

[invert1]

Neat-o. Too bad the article makes us look like a bunch of crazy weirdos for spending $800 on shrimp despite their being "difficult to breed" and having "short life spans."

Of course... I am a bit weird I suppose! Aren't we all?

 

[Lnd]

Well... 800$ for a shrimp is borderline insanity =D

 

[vca2004]

Agreed!! But it is cool to have an article on yahoo about our dear dwarf freshwater shrimp - King Kong or not.

 

[ldk59]

Well... 800$ for a shrimp is borderline insanity =D

you wouldn't say that if it were you selling it :bounce:

:icon_mrgr

but I do agree with you...

 

[nismo tetra]

Well... 800$ for a shrimp is borderline insanity =D

True to a certain extent. To some people 800 dollars is mere pocket change. It all has to do with if its reasonable spending for your set income. If you make 30 grand a year, yes it is quite stupid and irresponsible of you. If you make 5 million a year then buy 100 of them. I mean hell, people buy million dollar cars. 10 million dollar houses? The list goes on.

But yes to me its insanity, but then again I'm not a multimillionaire either :icon_frow

 

[tnsser]

I feed them to my Red Devil.

 

[vca2004]

True, but I can get a purebred dog for that price, not a little bitty shrimp that might die without previous notice due to water conditions not being right, molting problems or the like... I definitely would take the pooch over a dwarf shrimp, but that is a personal choice I guess.
Those shrimp would be especially hard to sell for $800 a piece in the US, no matter how many millionaires live in this country. We are very cheap with high grade CRS prices compared to other countries (especially Japan) as well!

 

[vca2004]

I feed them to my Red Devil.

Now we know one multimillionaire in the US who keeps them...:hihi:

 

[nismo tetra]

Lol yea the red devil is cool. Our dovii and red devil fight ocassionally. More of a territorial bout. Dovii beats him down and claims his corner of tank though. No one goes over there lol.

To me 800 could go to a better cause. But I'm no hardcore shrimp enthusiast either. But I'm sure a lot of people think were crazy spending money on "special" rocks and "special" soil for our "special" plants lol.

 

[Burks]

People also spend $1000+ on a Lincoln cent that is barely readable. If you really want it, price has no object.

I am one of those that would pay for that Lincoln cent, and plan on doing so when I graduate as a nurse as a gift to myself. It's the last one I need soooooooo.


They are very cool shrimp, but I wouldn't pay that kind of price. $50, maybe. But hey.....that's THEIR money!

 

[vca2004]

I wouldn't think that a collectible/antique would lose value though and they won't suddently vanish either...

 

[nismo tetra]

get this....i just found some gold crystal shrimp going for a grand lol. I was looking up blue shrimp as a local guy said he will give me some for free. Not knowing what they really do or look like I came across the gold crystal shrimp in my searches. I was like WTH!!

 

[vca2004]

If you came accross this:
http://www.tetra-fish.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7348

Those are already "old" again, they are golden bee shrimp and cost about as much as S+ grade CRS anymore. Such a decline in price in just a couple of years...

 

[nismo tetra]

hmm interesting. And yes that was what I came across. I'm a total shrimp noob. Can you explain the "grade" scale? That is one thing I was wondering about. Those blue tigers look pretty sweet to. I didn't know there were so many cool shrimps out there. I can see why they have a nice following.

 

[vca2004]

Here is a good CRS grading guide:
http://www.shrimpnow.com/viewarticle.php?articleid=20

And this describes the features a little better:
http://www.shrimpnow.com/viewarticle.php?articleid=68

Basically, the more white, the higher grade the shrimp, although I do like the ones that are about 50/50 as they are the most colorful.

By now there are not only King Kongs, Pandas, Red Wine and various Tiger shrimp (black, blue, red, super), but also Blue Bolt, Super Crystal Red (all red) as well as the usual yellows, cherry Amanos, etc This list goes on and on as there are always new wild species being discovered and brought into the hobby and new spontaneous mutations of captive bred shrimp take place.
Usually they will have them in Japan or the place of origin first, then comes Europe (especially Germany) and we are later on the list to get the "new" species.

 

[nismo tetra]

Cool interesting reads. Thanks for the links.

 

[Burks]

I wouldn't think that a collectible/antique would lose value though and they won't suddently vanish either...

Oh they can certainly lose value. It's not hard to turn a $10,000 coin into a $1,000 coin (or less!). I've seen it happen. Some big shot decided to take a very expensive Morgan proof dollar out of a flip and put his greasy hands all over it. Then he DROPPED it.....amazing stupidity.

You also can't take two Lincoln cents and breed them to create more of them = $$$$

 

[Lnd]

I know a lady in Vietnam that have some type of goldfish.. they cost 5000$ U.S a piece... she have 10 of em. I didnt get to see them because she had them upstair in a room so.. And her CRS range from 300$ (being lowest) to around 1500$ being the most expensive.

Its crazy =(

 

[dxiong5]

By now there are not only King Kongs, Pandas, Red Wine and various Tiger shrimp (black, blue, red, super), but also Blue Bolt, Super Crystal Red (all red) as well as the usual yellows, cherry Amanos, etc .

Hm, what are these "Super Crystal Red" you speak of?