Think of getting a pair of Picasso's

So I've been trying to decide what else I want to take on besides the Banggai and the Nassarius. I've tossed around a few things and I keep coming back to doing some sort of clown. Seems like everyone who's anyone in breeding has raised at least one species of clown at some point. Sure I could just do the standard Perc's or Occy's that everyone else does but I don't want to do the same clowns that everyone else is doing. I had considered doing some of the lesser seen clowns like maybe skunk clowns, that would be cool. I mentioned it to Kirby though when I was up at Preuss picking up my Banggai and his reaction was "Why would you want to do that, You'll never get rid of them". Apparently they sell maybe one every two weeks or so. Since I don't have a wholesaler to unload my livestock on, that sunk that idea.
 
So what to do...I do like those Picasso's And there certainly is a market for them out there. But the upfront price..$150 or more a piece! Very hard to swallow. Yet I still keep coming back to them as an option. Well after much digging, begging, and even a little bit of groveling I happened upon a pretty decent offer on a pair of Grade "A" Picasso's, $90 a piece. So for not much more than the price you often see 1 sold for I can get a pair.
 
What do you guys think? Should I jump on it?
 
 

Chad Penney - MBI Council
Agis quod Adis

Is this for investment purposes, or do you like the picasso's and the idea of a bit more challenge to have them both breed and be economically challenging and not the normal clown?  Depends on what you value in the equation.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of them.  Then again I'm trying to get a perc and maroon to spawn, just because, even though I know I would never attempt to sell the fry

Rook

I understand what you're saying about breeding something marketable... no one want's a tank full of juveniles that they can't get rid of!  That being said, it comes back to educating the consumer on buying CB instead of WC and the LFS on doing the same.

As far as Picasso's go... if memory serves me right, a Picasso pair will produce about 25% "Picasso" offspring, the rest will be regular A. percula.  Unfortunately, I haven't had much luck with mine so far.  They produce very few eggs and even less make it to hatch point.  Not sure if it's my pair, or Picasso's in general.

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

I'm not sure about that Tal...I'll have to do digging, but maybe you can find one of the Picasso Breeders on another site - unless she's grading babies at a very early age, it looks like she has really high rates of Picasso-mutation.

That said, I'm a big fan of NOT wasting our precious time with "guppies".  Why not pick a species that's rare, hasn't been bred as far as I know, and could get you some return?  IDK...maybe the Tono's Dottyback (aka. Orange Peal Dottyback)?  Or Green Wolf Eels?  If you must do a clown, and only one species of clown, you're better off asking around town to see what the stores want.  But know that it might take you a year or tow before they spawn anyway.  Black O's are always a PITA, and better to start with those now (seems like no shortage of demand for them ever).

On my own personal list, I have a few clown species that I'll grab whenever I can.  One of those being A. akallopsisos.  I mention that one, because it's fallen out of favor big time, but that means it's more in danger of simply being "gone" one day.  I also really like A. allardi and A. bicinctus, both have VERY marketable juveniles that grab people's attention in shops.  Cinnamons, moreso than Tomatos, seem to be a better bet in that group, although I myself keep Fires right now because for some reason, I simply love the species.  What about Black Saddles or True Sebaes (another one you don't see often, and is very different when seen in person yet still affordable for a "rare" clown).

With some of the other species of clown it doesn't have anything to do really with teaching anyone to buy CB vs WC. People just don't buy them period! So even if they only sold CB fish they still only sell 1 fish every 2 weeks. If you have 20-30 fish to get rid of per spawn...Your buried in fish fast

I read that the quality of the offspring can vary quite a bit from the Snowcasso's to plain looking Perc's. I'm not so concerned with that because no matter what I'll be able to market them Either as A grade of Picasso or as a plain ol' Perc, the market is there.

Chad Penney - MBI Council
Agis quod Adis

Matt,

That was just the general percentage I found when I was looking into Picasso's.  If it's higher, I'm cool with that.  

Personally, I like the A. nigripes that we saw at A&M last winter, cool fish, IMHO.  I'm open to working with any species within my budget and space restrictions, but again, educating the average consumer is important.

Don't forget that we have A&M in out back yard as a wholesale resource... when we get to that point. 

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

Chad,

I'd say go for it. 

I got into a conversation with the owner of one of the fish stores near me and I mentioned that I was attempting some captive breeding.  He mentioned to me that I would be cool if I did some designer clown, like a picasso.  There is definately a demand out there for them.