price limit?

[DepotFish]

Do you have price limits on certain fish?
I certainly do. I went to 5 pet stores today and only got some baby white clouds. I won't pay over $1 for tetras (unless exceptionally hard to find), barbs, livebearers, danios or other minnows, hatchets and a few more typical tropicals. I don't mind paying $100 for a show quality goldfish. I guess I'm just used to tropicals being 3 for $1 to 4or $5. Only one store near us prices fish resonably. Other stores charge a few dollars for a neon tetra or a danio. Would you pay that?

 

[black hills tj]

There aren't any stores that price any tetras or danios for less than a buck. The exceptions are neon's and zebra danios which you can get a dozen for a few bucks. Clown loaches are priced anywhere from 5 to 10 dollars for the same size loach depending on the size. At one LFS you can get angels(about the size of a dime) for a buck and a half a piece though. I wouldn't pay 100 for a goldfish IMO. There is a LFS(which is extremely overpriced as it is and the owners are pains in the butt to deal with) that has 6" arowanas for 100 dollars I personally prefer the 2 smaller LFS's compared to 1 larger one and another small one. The 2 I purchase supplies and fish at are just more knowledgable and nicer to deal with, as well as decent prices(relative to other shops). There is a petsmart being built...estimated time of completion: june

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I won't pay more than $15 for a Community fish or $50 for an African.

 

[Burks]

Most I've spent on a single fish/invert was $10 on a GBR.

Even that hurt to do.

 

[gamma_draconis]

I'm still at the cycling stage with my tank but I've been checking out LFS prices for fish and I was a little taken aback by what they're asking for plecos.

Common plecos are about $10 which seems reasonable but I don't have room for a common. The less well-known species all run from $30-$70 which seems high for me. But at the same time I love plecos and really want one eventually. I'll probably shell out the cash for a clown or possibly a zebra (though the zebra was the most expensive at something like $75). Yikes!

 

[aquariumnoob]

I understand. I'm a college student, buying a 10 gal and all the accessories is quite expensive (especially since I don't have a job). I saw bamboo shrimp at Petsmart the one day and I loved them, but $12? It wasn't did I want to pay that much, I didn't have that much to spare, but my room mate bought it under the conditions she could name it. It's name is cobbles. (long story).

 

[DepotFish]

Zebra plecos for $75!! Where?!? That's dirt cheap!

 

[kaz]

75? order one for me. ive seen them will over 100 top 100s

 

[kickeralpine]

zebra plecos in florida are pretty cheap seen them in 2 pet shops so far 35.00 almost bought one but i wont pay that much for any kind of fish thats just me . i have over 32 tetras now and 5 danios 2 cheery barbs and iv only payed maybe 40 to 50 for all of them fish so i cant see paying 35 for one fish

 

[shayfish]

I have never seen any fish other than feeders for 1$ or less. For 1 buck I could maybe get a handful of ghost shrimp but that's about it...

Neons are the cheapest at 1.29-1.99 depending on size, but I can't really get many other fish for less than about 5 bucks each.

Most expensive in the tank are the upside-down cats which were I think 14 bucks each (too bad I never see them....). GBRs were 12 or 13 and the BN pleco somewhere around the same.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

$300 here for a True Zebra Pleco.

 

[Burks]

If you see Zebra Plecos for $35, they aren't true Zebra's.

Either that or the store owner is just oblivious to the fact that they are very expensive.

 

[black hills tj]

spending 300 dollars on a single fish...wow...

 

[Big Ben]

In winnipeg manitoba canada, I haven't seen an actual fish other then feeders for less then 1$ for a neon tetra at pettraders. It depends what you're talking about. For cichlids, I get em young and won't pay more then 10-15$ depending on the species. For community fish, I don't go over 5$ but that's cause I hardly get any. 10$ for a clown loach is all Ill pay.

 

[Zagz]

Discus I will pay up to $50 for juvies, larger discus would be higher if I was to get them as adults. I paid $60 for my gold nugget pleco. Some fish are rather rare around here so I have made friends with lots of breeders. For example, GBR's in the lfs are $15 each, I got 6 for $20. No fish other than feeders here are less than $1.

 

[gamma_draconis]

Wow, 75 is cheap for a zebra? Cool. I'm still very new to all this and didn't know I had it so good.

Thanks guys for clueing me in on a deal. I'm still not sure I'm going to go with a fish that expensive but it's nice to know my LFS (Skipton Pets in Boston for those of you who are curious) is reasonably priced. Though now I'm wondering if I am remembering correctly/read the price right. I'll have to go back and check it out.

 

[DepotFish]

Zebra plecs in the wild are threatened (or endangered or both). If they were true zebras, I myself would save up and get a few. I'd set up a species only tank and try to produce as many as possible. It'd be nice to have a good amount of tank raised supply in the world so the species might survive a bit longer in the wild.

 

[theotheragentm]

Harlequin Rasboras are 99 cents at my LFS and they were buy three get one free.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Brazil banned the export of Zebra Plecos a few years ago. The ones you find in the states were either here before the ban, were smuggled illegally, or tank bred. That's why they are so expensive. I'd take a picture of the pleco and make sure it is a real zebra pleco. A lfs once tried to sell me a fake one claiming that it was a Zebra. The stripes were not uniform and straight.

 

[Idealconcepts]

The 3-4 years I have been into aquariums, I had a limit of $50 or less for one fish. In the past I have only spent $50 three times, luckily only one of those fish died. I had this rule for myself to keep my buying in check. About a week and a half ago I broke this rule and spent a whole $59 on one fish, I think this might be the begining of the end, but I'm trying to keep my new limit to $60 or less per fish. I know if I don't set this limit, I'd be buying too many fish that I couldn't house properly and eventually end up buy an Asian Arowana, they cost anywhere from $500 to $2K-$5K for a single 5-7inch little guy. Luckily the legality of owning one along with the cost keeps me in check. $60 it is, lets see how long I can keep this as my limit, hopefully for another 3 or 4 years.