Price of a pleco

[frshwaterfinatc]

One of the LFS around here is selling 2 1/2 inch gold nugget plecos for $79.99. My friend has one she paid $1.89 for at our store. Her bf thinks the jump in price must mean they're endangered. I highly doubt that. What are the gold nugget pleco prices in your areas?

 

[docrak]

That’s a lot of money for a fish that should be selling for around $40.00 +/-$5.00. I don’t think that the gold nugget is endangered, and I don’t think your friend has a gold nugget either, probably a common pleco.

 

[grimlock3000]

$80 is high for a Golden Nugget but I suppose it really depends on where you are. Fish are worth whatever someone will pay and if someone wants a Golden Nugget enough, they might spend $80 on it.

I would spend $50 each on a couple of Zebra Plecos if I could find them locally, then build a tank around them. Unfortunately no local pet stores carries them or wants to order them for me

 

[lmw80]

I agree, that price is high. Find a price somewhere else and see if the'll match it.

 

[BrianNY]

Yeppers........They go for around $40 in NY

 

[liquidelusion]

i find the gold nuggets around here gor for $50-80. my friend just bought one for about $70 i think

 

[madasafish]

Highway robbery!

You can get them online at aquabid.com for much cheaper than that. If you get 3-4 in an auction, you can usually get them for $25-35 each (shipping cost included). I got 2 in the NYC area for $15 each at 3" (local pick-up, so no shipping) through aquabid.com.

Sorry that your LFS has somehow determined that they should sell GNPs for that much!

And I don't think that there's a particular shortage of GNPs at the moment. I still see them online a lot. Zebra plecs are another matter: these guys are impossible to find for under $125 nowadays!! I have a mind to get some and breed them as much as possible! Could be very profitable!

 

[Bioworldmaker]

Can someone tell those fish store people that the fish isn't actually made of gold? Gosh.
Maybe I should bring a few of those next time I go to Brazil

Anyway, online at Fish2U you can get 3 for $30 each, so $80 is a really good profit for the LFS. However, as those are very sensitive fish, maybe out of every 3 they order only one survives the shipping.

 

[frshwaterfinatc]

Hey, docrak, no offense intended... but ... I know what a common pleco looks like She does have a gold nugget pleco. It would run about $4 I found out, but she got a store credit plus her employee discount. That's how she got it for $1.89. There's a photo of her gold nugget pleco in my gallery.

Thanks for all the ideas- sound like $80's pretty steep!

 

[wright4lfe]

at my lfs i can get the at 3in for about 15-20 bucks.

but i live in socal, i don't know if that makes a difference...

 

[Madame_X]

Hey, docrak, no offense intended... but ... I know what a common pleco looks like She does have a gold nugget pleco. It would run about $4 I found out, but she got a store credit plus her employee discount. That's how she got it for $1.89. There's a photo of her gold nugget pleco in my gallery.

Even without the employee discount, I'd say that pleco was mispriced at $4.00!

I've never seen a gold nugget for less than $40 here in AZ... my husband wants one really bad but we forked over $40 for a peppermint pleco who hides all the time so it just doesn't seem worth it for a fish we may never see.

 

[mhaynes01]

i think i saw some zebra plecos for 30 $$ at a local petsmart, i stopped and looked and was think where i could put him or her. but decided against it because of my saltwater

 

[JenNewbie]

Hey, I don't know if this helps anyone, since this guy is located in Davis CA, but he's been running ads all summer, selling off his fish stock and it claims he has zebra plecos for sale. No price mentioned, though. Still, it certainly won't hurt to e-mail the guy.

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/for/37312917.html

 

[docrak]

Hey, docrak, no offense intended... but ... I know what a common pleco looks like She does have a gold nugget pleco. It would run about $4 I found out, but she got a store credit plus her employee discount. That's how she got it for $1.89. There's a photo of her gold nugget pleco in my gallery.

Thanks for all the ideas- sound like $80's pretty steep!

Sorry, but that photo is not of a gold nugget. Kind of looks like my gold dot pleco. $4.00 is a good price either way, and probably a steal since that pleco should go for about $20.00. Gold nugget plecos have a gold trim on their dorsal and tail fins.

Heres a link with some photos, go to Cat-eLog and look up L018:

http://www.planetcatfish.com/core/index.htm

 

[papastew]

http://www.liveaquaria.com has gold nugget plecos for 28.95. $80 is definitely to steep. But as they say.... a sucker is born everyday.

 

[madasafish]

Yeah. That's no gold nugget. They have smaller spots and their fins are outlined in gold.

A pleco like that is still a deal, at $4, though. It's a nice-looking fish, and not one that I see often.

 

[Guest]

I went to a "daisy chain" pet store a couple of months ago for some supplies. Normally I wear my horse blinders. Go straight to the food, filter section, not even bothering to look at thier tanks. Knowing I would just pop a head gasket. For some reason, I decided to take a look at thier tanks.

Strangly they had zebra and gold nugget plecos for 24 bucks. Not being very knowledgable of plecos. I go home and research them. As it turns out, a zebra would work perfect in one of my tanks.

Next afternoon, I go back to the store. Observe the two tanks for about 30 minutes (please tell me I'm not the only one that does this). Finally I ask to see a water sample. What do ya know, it tested out good. Plus, the plecos had been there for a couple of weeks. Things are looking good. So, I have them net up the cutiest little zebra you'd ever see.

A day and a half later I lost it in QT. Needless to say, my horse blinders will remain on, from now on. I hate to loss an animal. Does'nt matter if it's a .30$ ghost shrimp or an 80$ Discus. I'll pay a little more for a healthy fish at a good LFS.