Fish Price Comparisons

[redwhiptailplec]

Okay I bought some Neons the other day from Pet Supermarket for $0.99, at my local Petsmart they now cost $2.09..This set me to wondering just how much I ought to be paying for my fish....Maybe if we can post where the cheapest varieties of each fish are sold it would save us all some cash?

Oh and I know that price and quality are not the same thing, but I guess we all jsut have to use our own judgement there.

Neons Petsmart $2.09 Pet Supermarket $0.99
Otocinclus Cats Petsmart $1.49 Ocean Reef (Jax, Fl) $2.99
Upsidedown Cats Petsmart $6.00
Bloodred Parrots Petsmart $25 Pet Supermarket $25

 

[mumrah]

i usually buy from a lfs here, but i have gotten fish at Pet Supermarket and have had alot of luck there. It's a relatively new store, adn the tanks are always clean and the fish are always healthy.

The only place in town with a good selection of plants is Petsmart, adn both times i've added plants, i've brought ich in too (and snails).

True, the LFS is more expensive, but i can special order things there, like my German Blue Rams . And the clown loaches i got from there are spectacular


-David

 

[redwhiptailplec]

Yes Clown Loaches are one fish that always seem to look much better in a decent LFS. Petsmart and such always seem to have faded colorless fish.

Pet Supermarket does seem to have very good prices on most fish and all my experiences with them so far have been positive.

 

[Guest]

I bought an albino cory cat from petco. I'll have had him for 4 years this coming august and he's still kicking. I've bought other fish from the same place and they've died within 1-2 months after i got them. Its so funny, I live in the middle of nowhere and within a 50 mile radius of my place there is probably 30+ pet stores/chains. I'm about 50 miles from pittsburgh, 40 miles from youngstown ohio, 60 miles from erie. with those 3 bigger cities there are plenty of lfs's around. Some are even closer to my house in smaller towns. Funny thing is, they all have the same stuff usually. There's this really nice lfs in youngstown OH, that has a wonderful display tank with a 12 inch + arrowana, HUGE common plecs, cichlids, etc, many sw tanks, and the thing I like about this lfs is each tank is run by its own heater/filter. That way if you get an outbreak of ich it doesn't affect all the fish, the prices there are really good as well. As far as getting rarer fish, good luck lol. I can't seem to find any out of the ordinary plecos. Just the usual clown plecs, common plecs, and i've seen a peppermint and snowball pleco at 2 differnt lfs once. Another lfs had 3 albino bn plecs, and i managed to grab them all while i still could. None have been in stock since then.
For me, I just go to where they have healthy fish and decent prices. For example, this one lfs ~20 miles from my house sells rummy nose tetras for $4.99. I wouldn't pay that price unless they were TOP quality. Their noses were barely red (sign of stress or bad water quality). On the other had i've been to a few lfs's where they've been selling them for $1.49. At the one place they were really taken care of and very healthy. The other lfs that was selling them for 1.49 -- they looked horrible once again. Probably run on a central filtration unit where I saw one tank with ich, and it looked like it was gradually spreading through the tanks.
So to make a long story short, My vote goes to something thats not in the menu - Get them at a lfs but not necessarily prepared to pay a bit more. I don't mind driving all over the place to get a better deal w/ higher quality fish, as my car gets excellent gas milage

-Stewie

 

[redwhiptailplec]

Hmm true the poll is a little lacking in some respects...

I definetly agree that central filtration systems are undesirable.

 

[Toirtis]

Here, the top LFSes are also significantly less expensive than the chain shops, even on drystock....so why shop anywhere else?

 

[SerLunchbox]

i agree ... it is really funny and yet i am curious how the chain stores stay open here Toirtis ....

 

[jgc8fan]

I actually bought a plant from Pet Supermarket tonight... The one here had a really good selection of plants they were just spread out through the livestock tanks rather than bundled into one tank like PetSmart. I just haven't had much luck with their fish so far.

This might make some people here faint... The store I "USED" to buy all my fish from and had the best luck with was............ The Wal-Mart near my home. I know take a deep breath, and try to lower your heart rate. They actually had a really good fish dept., and some people that seemed to care. Since they stopped carrying live fish at that one I haven't bought from any other Wal-Marts after watching a clerk at another one kill a fish he was trying to get out of the tank for a customer by dropping it on the floor and leaving it there. He just went back into the tank for another. 8O He asked if he could help me, and I just turned and got out of there quick.

 

[FishLover14]

Only buy from a trusted lfs.

JMHO

 

[1tankneverenuff]

Trusted LFS all the way...

 

[Gypsyqueen]

I don't have an lfs. All I have is walmart, pet's unlimited, and Happy Pet Supply

 

[caribou]

A good LFS can show up at unexpected places. A local garden store near me has a great fish dept. Clean tanks, healthy fish and is staffed by a lot college age fish fanatics that know their stuff. The local pet store, which is mostly fish oriented, kind of sucks. The big deal there is the 2 for 1 sale on Fridays. They get their shipments in on Thurs. The fish on sale are pretty stessed out. By Tues. there are not many fish in the shop. I guess they like to get them out the door before they croak. I'v also been in the same shop when fish come in, the owner marks up the prices according to whim, in other words, whatever the market will bear. Its pretty sad.