Ok so most people think the flowerhorns are kind of ugly. But check out the competition from Singapore... http://www.kirin.com.sg/species.html

Yuck!

Double yuck! I don't know why the asians have to keep playing around with existing species. Some of the goldfish were bad enough. Why they stiill have these notions...

Red eyes that scares away evil

Bump head (like the head of Qilin) that brings prosperity

Green spots that looks like jewel;symbolising wealth

is beyond me. What does a lump on a fish have to do with prosperity!!??

mebbe one of the Gods has a head like that, and they bring prosperity? :-?

Well they haven't brought it to the asians as their countries are slipping further and further into debt (like the rest of us )

I don't have anything really against hybrids if they're an improvement on the original...But I DO have a lot against making ugly ass hybrids. What the hell is the point of uglifying a fish? They don't really even have something interesting about them other than being an ugly ass hybrid. I mean...Breed a goldfish to look like Blinky(3 eyed fish on the simpsons) and that's something, even if it is ugly.

BLINKY!!!!!!!!!

I want a Blinky!! (not the koala-type blinky either! :lol:)

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Caryl said...

> ... beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Or 'beer holder'...

Anyway, so it's OK to muck about with the genetics of fish as long as it makes them 'prettier' and we get to be the ones who define 'pretty'?

Sorry, doesn't work for me, I'll maintain my mission to try and

only keep and breed fish that are as close to the 'wild type' *as

possible*. Sadly this doesn't always work, I've got 3 species of

killifish that have been 'mucked about with' (although if we had

more species to work with, these'd be the first to get the boot from

my fishroom) and my 'silver' angels have some dodgy genetics as

I'm finding out now that I'm raising some of their fry and getting

some gold ones...

BTW:

> I don't know why the asians have to keep playing around with

> existing species.

Not sure I like the implications of this. If people need to keep an eye on their language then I reckon negative racial stereotypes should be

watched too...

Andrew.

What about those Red & Gold dragon fish that sell for like $2955 and $4995 at Jansen's 'cause they are supposed to bring good luck?

that's a cultural thing, and if Rolf Jansen wants to provide these fish to that market then good on him. I know very few people who have that sort of money to part with for a fish.

The asian view is that red brings wealth (hence why they cost more) and the dragon brings luck.

Rolf has to take into account his costs and whether the market is willing to buy. If he continues to do things like that we should see a larger number of exotic fish available, and hopefully the price will be more reasonable for our pockets.

mm yeh. I see Jansen's Botany sold the cheapest one, and for the price it included the tank and stand and hood! too bad it was sold :evil: and I see Glenfield has just kept their's as a shop pet with a large white fish and lungfish (gee those lungfishies are so cool :lol:).

Chris-

Just last week a fellow fish keeper and I were told by a LFS owner that if we bought a certain fish we would have nothing but good luck, met a rich man, and all sorts of rubbish. I was going to look around and buy some fish however walked out quite cross.

I agree with ajbroome re negative racial sterotypes and positive ones too LOL against all racial sterotypes.

mm now blinky would be cool :lol:

Chris-

well i dont know what the comotin is a bout the prices on fancy fish Ihave seen FLOWER HORNS FOR US $16000,00 YUST GET IT RIGHT there not there or made for you, there are for the corperation and the hotels and the folks who yust have that kind of money. ok importer. the luhan fish will be the number one fish in the world by 2004.

When you say number one do you mean most popular, or most common? I don't see how Hua Luo Han can become common by 2004 if only large corporations and hotels can afford them. And as for popularity, the shark, or even the humble goldfish are always gonna be the most popular of fishes. Then there's the fact that most people dont have space for a 5ft tank to accomodate a foot long Luo Han.

The only thing flowerhorns are going to be by 2004 is the number one overpriced and overrated pet ever engineered.

Spent said...

> The only thing flowerhorns are going to be by 2004 is

> the number one overpriced and overrated pet ever

> engineered.

Oh, there's *weeks* until 2004 yet. Plenty of time for

someone to come up with a new even more overpriced

fad fish.

It'll probably be ugly too.

Andrew.

I'm still waiting for the long finned redspot cardinal guppy hybrid.

:lol:

We have been thru that here, this is a touchy topic in a lotta parts!! :evil:

:lol:

the thing to watch here that some people are crossing trimac's, red devil's , festaes ....& trying to flog them off as flowerhorns.

I must say it has been a good marketing ploy & thousands of asians have been stripped of serious dollars, good feng shu for who????

Frenchy 8)

I'm very glad to say that the flowerhorn phenomenon has largely petered out in Singapore (and it seems in Malaysia too, and hopefully Indonesia and Thailand etc... as well)...... when you have a species that breeds like rabbits but "commands" arowana/show discus prices, you are going to get a spectacular crash (dozens of wannabe LFS specialising in flowerhorns in Singapore have gone kaput, and good riddance!)..... for myself, the aesthetics and ethics aside, I had been campaigning locally (on Singapore forums, newspaper letters and intercepting public talks) on the hideous environmental impact of released flowerhorns in local waters and am only too glad to see the end of this monstrosity (the fad as well as the fish).

I saw a news report the other day about how released flowerhorns are devastating the local fish and plant populations. Being a lucky fish, when the novelty wears off people are too scared to kill them in case it attracts bad luck, so they release the fish into the local waterways. I am pleased to hear they are losing their popularity.

Seems like metaphorically, poetically or however you want to call it, that letting it go would be pretty bad too. Wouldn't the best choice(Also ethically and environmentally) be to give the fish to someone else?