Price of reds
- Thread starter isjah
- Start date
carcrazy
New Member
Last year a 5" red aro would have cost me around $2000. They now go for around $1400 (from a different farm, though - PT Dynamica). I just brought home my red aro last week, and he's doing fine. He cost about the same as my RTG a year ago. They were purchased in Winnipeg, Manitoba. At least the prices are going down.
Not with the current US-CDN exchange. I think we have a very competitive price/quality stock.
CHILLI RED
New Member
If you want to be sure of the quality buy one that is 10-12" that is showing some good colour and has the body shape you like. Buying a small one is cheaper but more of a gamble.
Panda arowanas. We have a privileged relationship with Mr. Kan from Panda and all our arowanas are hand picked by him for us.
The prices are very competitive and you get a good bang for your buck.
Cirrus
Arowana blogger
There are two, maybe three ways to get what you are after.
1. Buy an established fish already in Canada. Check out the retailers, or buy an adult/sub-adult fish already showing colour. Someone emailed me a video recently of a fish for sale in Calgary at a local shop. He asked for my opinion on the fish and the price. In the end he got a good deal (I think) on a four year old DFI with nice colouration. Similarly, M_class of this forum, purchased a Panda Red from DragonfishExotics of this forum; the fish showed confirmed colouration when M_class bought it. In my opinion Mike paid a fair price at the time and was lucky(?) that his gut instinct paid off and the fish went on to develop like he thought it would. M_class's experience served him well there since he was able to recognize potential quality when he saw it. The important thing to remember, however, is that the fish showed some confirmed colouration markers when M_class purchased it. So, keep your eyes and ears open and buy a fish that shows potential from another hobbyist or store; the key here is having patience and the experience to recognize a fish with potential. In my experience, nothing other than red and red cracking on the gill plates, and red on scale rims serve as markers of a quality fish; be careful of paying a premium for the "metalic sheen" on scales, especially red finnage, or red lipstick; these can all be markers of a baby Super Red, but they can also be the markers of a Banjar! Or worse!
One other nice thing about buying a slightly larger fish is that you have a way better chance of ruling out DE and PLJ down the road.Now, just to confuse you, I add the following; when I visted Extreme Arowana, perhaps the highest end arowana-pro shop in Singapore, they had two tanks of Super reds for sale, both for $2000-$2500 Sing$ each. One tank had Indonesian fish of about 25 cm with amazing colouration markers. Another tank had Sianlon "blood reds" that were also about 25 cm and yet showed no real colouration at all. The price was the same, and I was confused. I asked the owner of the shop about this and he was adamant that both sets of fish would turn out amazing. I would tend to believe him...but I still would have gone for the "showy" fish if I had the chance!
2. Buy a Panda Fish on a group order. As Marius has mentioned, Kan picks the fish that Dragonfish Canada imports. You are guranteed export quality fish that are 100% the product of Super Red genes on the part of the parents. Kan has been overseeing his breeding ponds for a very long time and stands behind what he sells. However, you are NOT guaranteed a fish that will turn out to be amazing. Were we to import fish from Panda that display confirmed colour characteristics, we would be looking on average at fish of about 25 cm. For a fish of that size with colouration, you can expect to pay a premium (It can be done if you want). But this is the same regardless of whose fish you buy. There is a reason why not all adult super reds sell for the same amount. Some super reds turn out amazing, some don't. This goes for fish from all farms I think. Thus, when you buy a juvenile fish, you are taking a gamble. But then that is part of the fun I think!
I have chosen to go this route myself, along with dozens of other people across Canada. If I/we are lucky, we end up with a fish that looks like M_class's... 3. Buy an Indored. There are many good farms to choose from. But there is risk too. Having visited Indonesian aro farms last year, and spent months travelling in Indonesia over the years, I can tell you there are risks when buying from there. Some of these risks can be minimized by purchasing from reputable farms. Some of the risks have to do with purchasing from a country that is less economically developed than S'pore. There is a fair chance I will try importing from an Indonesian farm in the future, and when the day comes I'll let everyone know about it!
In conclusion, I recommend you monitor Kijji advertisements, pm people with amazing fish and make them unsolicited offers (just like real estate!
), patrol the local aro stores in your area, or go in on a group buy and/or pay a bit extra for a fish showing "confirmed" colour characteristics.Good luck with the search!
Last edited:
isjah
New Member
cirrus thanks for taking the time to write such a big response, i appreciate it, and i want to buy a young aro cause i want to have that emotional attachment with it, i want to know he's mine from the beginning, i guess i want a nice aro cause i know i will put a lot of emotion into it so i want to make sure i get the right one.
Cypher
New Member
Wait for the spring when local LFS start receiving spring batches. Should be starting at the end of March. The best way to pick a good fish is to have enough knowledge to do so. I know your still relatively new to arowanas, so take the next few months before the arrival of the next shipments to do some more research into choosing small arowanas, comparing pictures of high quality Reds online.
There are two, maybe three ways to get what you are after.
1. Buy an established fish already in Canada. Check out the retailers, or buy an adult/sub-adult fish already showing colour. Someone emailed me a video recently of a fish for sale in Calgary at a local shop. He asked for my opinion on the fish and the price. In the end he got a good deal (I think) on a four year old DFI with nice colouration. Similarly, M_class of this forum, purchased a Panda Red from DragonfishExotics of this forum; the fish showed confirmed colouration when M_class bought it. In my opinion Mike paid a fair price at the time and was lucky(?) that his gut instinct paid off and the fish went on to develop like he thought it would. M_class's experience served him well there since he was able to recognize potential quality when he saw it. The important thing to remember, however, is that the fish showed some confirmed colouration markers when M_class purchased it. So, keep your eyes and ears open and buy a fish that shows potential from another hobbyist or store; the key here is having patience and the experience to recognize a fish with potential. In my experience, nothing other than red and red cracking on the gill plates, and red on scale rims serve as markers of a quality fish; be careful of paying a premium for the "metalic sheen" on scales, especially red finnage, or red lipstick; these can all be markers of a baby Super Red, but they can also be the markers of a Banjar! Or worse!
Now, just to confuse you, I add the following; when I visted Extreme Arowana, perhaps the highest end arowana-pro shop in Singapore, they had two tanks of Super reds for sale, both for $2000-$2500 Sing$ each. One tank had Indonesian fish of about 25 cm with amazing colouration markers. Another tank had Sianlon "blood reds" that were also about 25 cm and yet showed no real colouration at all. The price was the same, and I was confused. I asked the owner of the shop about this and he was adamant that both sets of fish would turn out amazing. I would tend to believe him...but I still would have gone for the "showy" fish if I had the chance!
2. Buy a Panda Fish on a group order. As Marius has mentioned, Kan picks the fish that Dragonfish Canada imports. You are guranteed export quality fish that are 100% the product of Super Red genes on the part of the parents. Kan has been overseeing his breeding ponds for a very long time and stands behind what he sells. However, you are NOT guaranteed a fish that will turn out to be amazing. Were we to import fish from Panda that display confirmed colour characteristics, we would be looking on average at fish of about 25 cm. For a fish of that size with colouration, you can expect to pay a premium (It can be done if you want). But this is the same regardless of whose fish you buy. There is a reason why not all adult super reds sell for the same amount. Some super reds turn out amazing, some don't. This goes for fish from all farms I think. Thus, when you buy a juvenile fish, you are taking a gamble. But then that is part of the fun I think!
3. Buy an Indored. There are many good farms to choose from. But there is risk too. Having visited Indonesian aro farms last year, and spent months travelling in Indonesia over the years, I can tell you there are risks when buying from there. Some of these risks can be minimized by purchasing from reputable farms. Some of the risks have to do with purchasing from a country that is less economically developed than S'pore. There is a fair chance I will try importing from an Indonesian farm in the future, and when the day comes I'll let everyone know about it!
In conclusion, I recommend you monitor Kijji advertisements, pm people with amazing fish and make them unsolicited offers (just like real estate!
Good luck with the search!
He forgot: Don't listen to salesmen...