The irony is that a few years ago, there were no rainbows in our area. I had to get some from a buddy in Tennessee! It would revert back to that situation if the few people in our club who breed and raise them stopped. Rinse. lather. repeat.
The "hot" fish one minute is the one that no one is willing to take for free the next. Why would anyone bother to keep an attractive, mild-mannered, plant-friendly, easy to breed fish with interesting behavior and a max size of ~4" when no one else wants them?!?!
I'd guess that the vast majority of folks who keep and breed <insert fish> do so because they enjoy the fish and not because they have plans to make their first million from the fry. Or even a buck a fish!
The breeding groups of wild, rare Tropheus that folks are begging people to buy at ~$10 / fish should put things into perspective. Or the bags of 2" rare mbuna and Haps at less than $1/fish at our auctions. I'm frankly surprised that more folks haven't stopped bringing fish to them.
I quit keep fish that other people might want..and keep the ones that I like. And I truly enjoy the hobby that much more for it. To paraphrase a man much wiser than me: Instead of trying to keep and breed everything, how about you get really good at keeping and breeding a couple of fish!
Matt
For the definition of saturated market please see my name next to rainbow cichlid!!
