aquarium prices going up? fish too?

[dax29]

With all the problems with gas prices being so high and all, have any of you heard anything about aquariums or fish prices really spiking due to increased shipping costs? I know they are going to increase some but I hope they don't get too cost-prohibitive. My lfs said he got a message last week from an aquarium supplier that prices were going up. I did not follow-up to find out how much. When I do I'll share that info.

 

[Bubble_B0y]

thanks for sharing - maybe I should buy all my stock now (while its cheap)

 

[Aquarium Freak]

I hope they don't all the Lfs's around me are already expensive. For example at PetLand you pay like $8.00 for a Cardinal Tetra, $20.00 for a 1inch Severum Even the feeders wich I dont buy are $2.99 all of these prices don't include tax. And also when your buying fish like Tetras you usaully buy like a school of like 6 thats like $50.00! It is absolutely ridiculous

 

[QTOFFER]

I imagine that increased fuel prices will affect every aspect of the economy - even the aquarium hobby.

Gasoline and home heating oil prices are only the most obvious things affected.
All forms of transportation will become more expensive. The price of anything (including fish) that must be shipped from its point of origin to your home will go up. This will be compounded for manufactured products (like tanks and filters), since the cost of shipping the raw materials to the manufacturer, the cost of manufacture itself, and the cost of shipping the finished product will all be passed on to the consumer.

If this goes on long enough, it may lead to inflation, which will cause the Federal Reserve Bank to raise interest rates. Then, the finance charges on that 180 gallon reef setup that you charged will go up.

Years ago, conservation and decreased demand following a spike in fuel prices would help push them back down relatively quickly. Today, demand from other parts of the world might keep prices elevated for a longer time. Our economy is really quite fragile and very sensitive to the price of oil. Despite this, the US still does not have a coherent energy policy.

 

[Toirtis]

I hope they don't all the Lfs's around me are already expensive. For example at PetLand you pay like $8.00 for a Cardinal Tetra, $20.00 for a 1inch Severum Even the feeders wich I dont buy are $2.99 all of these prices don't include tax. And also when your buying fish like Tetras you usaully buy like a school of like 6 thats like $50.00! It is absolutely ridiculous

Thats why all the people in Sask are moving to Alberta....cardinal tetras for $2-$3 each, and no PST, either.

 

[Acer]

8O WOW thats alot of money for Cardinal Tetra... at my LFS they are about 2.99 each.. other prices i've seen was like 1.99.. are you talking canadian or US currency?? whats the exchange rate to US currency?,,.

 

[rich311k]

As of right now all domestic ground and air carriers are charging an 11% fuel charge on top of the normal freight rate.

 

[chelli]

Well here Wal-mart has ended the life of another LFS's life. She went bankrupt and now all we can do is by the crappy-crap crap from Wal-mart or order online or drive 50 miles one way to Montgomery to get fish.. and there are no saltwater stores here at all now and wal-mart doesn't have the balls or audacity to care for salt-water creatures. They don't even care for their freshwater stuff very well.. Always tanks full of dead fish and maybe one living on top.. Who'd want that one living fish.. not me.. My fish usually live to be 4+ years old.. wal-mart can't keep them alive from the time they get off the truck.

 

[greenmaji]

about 84 cents US is 1 dollar Canadian

 

[Toirtis]

We are talking Canadian currency, so a $3 cardinal here would be $2.54 (todays rate is Canadian $ at 0.8453 US...and rising) and that $8CDN cardinal would be $6.76US. We also get double-dinged, as currently, in response to the illegal US tariffs on softwood lumber, our brilliant goverment has (amongst other things) imposed a 15% tariff on all tropical fish imports coming in from the US....it was designed to shift our buying dollars overseas, but has only really caused our retail prices to go up that much further.

 

[QTOFFER]

So THAT's why white pine is almost as expensive as poplar at my local Home Depot!
Say, why are there still tariffs between Canada and the US anyway ?!?!? Didn't NAFTA end all that?

 

[rich311k]

Some items are exempt from NAFTA. Citrus fruit being one of the items, I guess some kinds of lumber are too.

 

[Toirtis]

Some items are exempt from NAFTA. Citrus fruit being one of the items, I guess some kinds of lumber are too.

No...the tariffs on softwood lumber from Canada were judged illegal by an international board/court, yet the US continues to charge them (you guys owe us back something like $25 billion in illegal softwood tariffs) against NAFTA rules. As a result, the Canadian government has attempted to strike back in various little ways, but it seems that we are not very good at it yet.

Needless to say, I am unimpressed...a 15% increase on imported US fish often ends up in a 20%-30% increase by the time it hits retail sale, and not everything can be had from overseas.

 

[rich311k]

I am sorry. I would send you a check if I could. Nafta would not apply to fish if they were not raised in the US , Mexico or Canada. IE Coutry of Origin non NAFTA.

 

[Felf]

i dont wanna know how high prices will jump here...gas is already at least 3.50/gal

 

[RoK]

The price of gas around here has actually gone down a little.

 

[Toirtis]

The price of gas around here has actually gone down a little.

Dropped $0.25/L (about $0.90/G) here in the past week....cheaper fish shipping may be on its way.

 

[odobenus]

The prices may go down, but what about availability? I've been planning on adding a severum to my tank, and I'll be ready for it in a week or two. My LFS was going to order one or two in for me, so I decided to ask yesterday about shipping costs and such. I was informed that shipping was a mute point, because there were no severums to be had. I guess the destruction along the coast destroyed the shipping route.

 

[Toirtis]

Odd....I think that the wholesaler I work for occasionally gets his severums from the US, and we have oodles of greens and golds....just came in a week ago, too.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

As of this morning, local gas prices were $2.58. WOOHOOO.