really expensive fish

[Vegas911]

If you only purchase fish through a MAC (Marine Aquarium Council) certified retailer or wholesaler, you won't have to worry about supporting bad collection habits or supporting the collection of endangered fish.

I agree with this.

I think the the term "Rare" is misinterpreted often in the salt water hobby. An expensive fish that is described as rare does not mean that it is rare in overall numbers. Fish are considered rare because of the difficulty in collecting them. A candy basselet is rare and expensive but the wild population is not necessarily in danger. They are sinply rare in the hobby becuse the difficulty collecting them in their deep water habitat makes them less readily available to the consumer. Wild populations of percula clowns are threatened to a much higher degree in the wake of "Finding Nemo" but they are still relatively cheap and available ie. not considered rare.

[Trillianne]

This post reminded me to put the annual pet store sale on the calendar... its coming up next month.

[metal-otaku]

i'm willing to spend a pretty penny on my fish when it's what i want. i want a pygmy octopus when i set up my sw, i was quoted $350 by the localish (hour drive) fish store that could get it for me. and i'd happily pay it. fw the stingray i want is $200 agian happily pay it. once i've saved up.

[kaybee]

I think the most I've spent for a single SW or FW fish was in the $35-45 range (paddlefin wrasse and synodontis angelicus catfish, respectively).

Corals (which Smaug alluded to earlier) is quite a different matter, with the above figures being considerably surpassed.