Ocellaris clown price

[JacobPF14]

My local fish shop is selling standard baby ocellaris clowns for $50 each. I've seen them on websites like live aquaria for like $15-20. Do you think there is any big difference between them?

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[ThRoewer]

Wild or captive bred makes a difference. I just paid $38 each for a wild pair.
Tank bred, if free of deformities should go for even more.

IMO most anemonefish are sold way below their value. If you consider that they can live for 20 to 30 years $50 is still cheap if compared to gobies that go anywhere from $20 to several hundreds but only live around 2 to 5 years. And there are many other rather short lived fish that go for hundreds to thousands.

[JacobPF14]

Originally Posted by ThRoewer

Wild or captive bred makes a difference. I just paid $38 each for a wild pair.
Tank bred, if free of deformities should go for even more.

IMO most anemonefish are sold way below their value. If you consider that they can live for 20 to 30 years $50 is still cheap if compared to gobies that go anywhere from $20 to several hundreds but only live around 2 to 5 years. And there are many other rather short lived fish that go for hundreds to thousands.

Good points! I was just wondering because I have a very tight budget. Thanks for the reply! The owner did say they weren't wild caught so I may pick up a pair!

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[ThRoewer]

$15 to $30 is the usual range for commercially bred standard wild-form ocellaris. Of those I would only buy the ones from Sea and Reef as they are usually the ones with the least deformities. ORA captive bred clownfish (that's what LiveAquaria usually sells) are among the worst when it comes to deformities.
Hobby breeders may produce better or worse than any of the commercial US fish farms. Where privately bred clownfish fall usually depends on the knowledge and invested effort of the breeder.
I would ask your LFS where those ocellaris came from to see if the price is justified.
For ORA standard ocellaris I would not pay more than what LiveAquaria charges.
For A-Grade Sea and Reef ocellaris you generally pay in the $25 to $40 range.
If they are from a hobby breeder and free of deformities, $50 would be a fair price (assuming that a fair share actually goes to the breeder).


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[aadams22]

I paid $25 a piece for mine in 2014....graduated college, got a job, bought a house... The pair is still going strong lol. As others have said its a very reasonable price for a fish that will live so long

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[ThRoewer]

Originally Posted by aadams22

I paid $25 a piece for mine in 2014....graduated college, got a job, bought a house... The pair is still going strong lol. As others have said its a very reasonable price for a fish that will live so long

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Yours are still babies if they are only 6 years old. I had an ocellaris pair for 20 years and they didn't die due to old age but because a stupid heater got stuck. Ocellaris and percula can easily reach 30.
So, unless they die due to negligence or accidents, your ocellaris may still be around when your kids go to college...

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[j.falk]

You can buy captive bred Ocellaris from Sustainable Aquatics for $10.00 each. They often run them on sale for $7.00 each if you are patient. I would not pay $50 for standard clowns.

https://www.coralreeftn.com/shop.php

They are having a Labor Day sale today with an additional 10% off using the promo code: LaborDayDeal

[Alex114]

I paid 18$ each for two captive bred at my LFS. I would agree that 50$ each is a bit much

[aadams22]

Originally Posted by ThRoewer

Yours are still babies if they are only 6 years old. I had an ocellaris pair for 20 years and they didn't die due to old age but because a stupid heater got stuck. Ocellaris and percula can easily reach 30.
So, unless they die due to negligence or accidents, your ocellaris may still be around when your kids go to college...

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Wow, yeah I got them when they were babies and paired them. I keep them in a 30 gallon fish only tank, the only other one is a pajama cardinal. Lots of live rock, I have debated putting my 50w heater in the instead of the 150 (I got the tank from my dad) they are both eheim Jaeger heaters

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[ThRoewer]

Originally Posted by aadams22

... they are both eheim Jaeger heaters

The heater that killed my 20 years old ocellaris was a Jäger as well. Any heater with a bimetal contact switch or mechanical relay will fail eventually, it's just a matter of time. And those heaters will always fail in the "on" state because the failure mode is that the contacts get arc-welded together. Newer heaters with internal electronic controllers that use solid state relays are better because if they fail it's mostly in the "off" state.
But generally it's best to use an external temperature controller and use the internal controller just as backup.


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[Uncle99]

I would call the controller, mandatory for any heating.
Even if you could catch it early, may be too late for some SPS.

[aadams22]

Originally Posted by ThRoewer

The heater that killed my 20 years old ocellaris was a Jäger as well. Any heater with a bimetal contact switch or mechanical relay will fail eventually, it's just a matter of time. And those heaters will always fail in the "on" state because the failure mode is that the contacts get arc-welded together. Newer heaters with internal electronic controllers that use solid state relays are better because if they fail it's mostly in the "off" state.
But generally it's best to use an external temperature controller and use the internal controller just as backup.


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Oh man. Well do you suppose my 50 watt will be enough? I keep my house about 70 in the winter and there's really only a little over 20 gallons of water in the tank

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