[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: OT. bettas

"That's the best I can explain it. High prices are
perfectly justifiable 
if
you have found that "Greater Fool." Most killy keepers
are far too 
canny to
go there, tho"


Wright there are allot off fools out there then have
you seen the popularity of bettas boom the last few
years! There is a Betta Club in Orlando bigger and
more active then the Aquarium society. And I see there
are bettas clubs poppping up all over the place. If
you look at the auctions they are getting the most
interest and more people are bidding. I feel as though
the Tropical fish Hobby goes through trends. At one
time there was a Discus craze, African Cichlids,
APistos. Now it seems Bettas are getting there shot in
the spotlight. I think it's great. Many Women and kids
are getting involved. My wife spawns some Bettas in
her classroom with her class and the kids love it.
They each have their own Betta and they get to take it
home at the end of the year. It is part of a
Microsoceity project and it is the most popular with
teh kids. They have raised them from fry and it's a
great thing to promote the hobby. I don't see these
people as fools. Look at Dogs, cats, even Nice quality
Angelfish. people pay top dollar for the best. I breed
a great line of Albino pearlscales. people will seek
after such fish. In the end it's a good thing for the
hobby. I don't think we should call these people
fools. Someday they may graduate to Killies as I did
after years of keeping mostly Cichlids. With the
advent of computers the hobby was on a down slide
bettas may just help get us our popularity back.  My 2
cents

Dave sanchez

--- Wright Huntley <jwwiii at pacbell_net> wrote:
> 
> 
> John Pendergrass wrote:
> > 
> > Hey I know this is a off topic question but.....
> > 
> > Can anyone tell me what is up with Bettas I was
> just on www.aquabid.com and
> > saw a male (not a pair mind you but a single fish
> selling for 305.00 it was
> > only 3 months old.
> snip...
> > 
> > So what am I missing are these 'Show bettas' that
> impressive and if so why?
> 
> 
> Unlike most of us, who are breeding essentially
> wild-type killifish that we
> would like to keep that way, Bettas have been
> cultivated for over 400 years,
> by some estimates. They are breeding domestic
> animals that are more like a
> Holstein cow is to a Bison.
> 
> Just as a top winner at the Westminster Dog Show can
> demand huge stud and/or
> puppy fees, winners in the International Betta
> Congress convention often
> bring their owners some serious bucks, for a few
> fish. They aren't getting
> rich, for the cost of getting there is high, and the
> total number sold
> usually is fairly small. One German friend described
> the process as
> "breeding better pigs."
> 
> That market operates on the "Greater Fool"
> principle. "No matter what I pay,
> there is a greater fool to buy my..." 
> 
> A while back a few sickly wild *Betta macrostoma*
> went for $600 to $800 a
> pair. Most had one or more of the pair die in a week
> or two. It is a fish
> somewhat uglier than the average RIV (but with some
> great press when Axelrod
> dubbed it the "Brunei Beauty," and publish some
> non-typical pictures).
> 
> The Sultan of Brunei got taken with the idea and
> knew they were rare. He put
> out an edict that anyone caught collecting them
> would be beheaded. That
> (probably inaccurate) story was used to jack the
> price out of sight. The
> total number of fools was, fortunately, small, so
> that fad died fairly
> early.
> 
> I was breeding Bettas the year that Bonnie McKinley
> was declared co-Grand
> Champion, much for her development of the beautiful
> blue, black and steel
> half-moons. I was giving away to friends and folks I
> was mentoring, pairs of
> fish with identical genetics to hers that she was
> able to charge $100/pr
> for. I rarely asked more than $10 a fish, and felt
> guilty then. I knew they
> were both very easy and common.
> 
> Why the difference? Folks would pay to get them from
> the source, even though
> mine were from excellent (not cull) fish she had
> given me. I had not gone
> through the horrible expenses of entering every
> damned Betta show from
> Hawaii to Maine, tho, so I had little cost to cover.
> It was my hobby and I
> got my rewards from the fish, who I could help, and
> what I could learn.
> Bonnie was a working gal, and *had* to recoup some
> of those costs just to
> stay in the hobby.
> 
> That's the best I can explain it. High prices are
> perfectly justifiable if
> you have found that "Greater Fool." Most killy
> keepers are far too canny to
> go there, tho. <G>
> 
> Wright
> 
> -- 
> Wright Huntley -- 650 843-1240 -- 866 Clara Dr. Palo
> Alto CA 94303 
>                     http://www.sfbaka.net.
> 
> Nobody every recommended a dictatorship aiming at
> ends other than
> those he himself approved. He who advocates
> dictatorship always 
> advocates the unrestricted rule of his own will. 
> Ludwig von Mises
> 
> ---------------
> See http://www.aka.org/AKA/subkillietalk.html to
> unsubscribe
> Join the AKA at http://www.aka.org/AKA/Applic.htm


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Great stuff seeking new owners in Yahoo! Auctions! 
http://auctions.yahoo.com
---------------
See http://www.aka.org/AKA/subkillietalk.html to unsubscribe
Join the AKA at http://www.aka.org/AKA/Applic.htm
Follow-Ups: References: