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Price of fish

The Black Corydoras I saw at my LFS looked a bit skinny but were young fish so I took a chance and bought 4. One passed after a couple of weeks. The others seem fine. They are always the first to come to the front when the food goes in and aren’t shy like the fully grown Sterbai I have.
 
Some species are cheaper to buy now than they were in the past. As an example my synodontis ocellifer cost me £11 in 1996, it's still alive and well but I saw one for sale at £9 last weekend. The price of some fancy plecs are also less or similar in price to that kind of era.

Locally it seems bread and butter species are the ones that have risen in price most, whereas the rarer, more hard to shift species, are more reasonable.
 
Nearly 30 year old catfish.... 😵

Discus have gone the other way, used to be able to pick up some rotters for under £10ea and decent quality ones for £15-20. The latter are nearly all north of 50ea now, there are some folk doing a good job brining them over from the far east, but its not moving the price point. The frustrating thing is that they are really prolific to breed, but its more about if you know how to bring up the young.
 
One thing that surprises me after decades out of tropicals whilst being into marines is the size of tropicals.
As a kid l remember buying beautiful big multi colored thick lipped gouramis, these days the juveniles on offer are so small and bland that they’re hardly recognizable as the same species.
One fish that will always grow rapidly is the Tiger Barb, those l’ve always bought small and they turn into big stunners rapidly.
Pakistani Botia l bought small as a kid, they rapidly turned into big, fat, healthy adults. Same fish these days have hardly grown since tiny purchase size, and that’s from two reputable dealers.
I suppose what someone said earlier has a bearing, captive breeding with no wild stock thrown in to strengthen the genes…..
 
Going on from the above, I go back to the mid to late 70's when most tetras, barbs, rasboras etc were 45p each but there wasn't the choice that you get today.
My LFS had around 15 small tanks and the only time I saw a fish like a bleeding heart tetra was in a book.
I remember being really excited when I saw my first red eyed tetra and then a beautiful pair of moonlight gouramies.
Now, most fish are readily available.
It's amazing what I managed to cram in a 24 x 12 x 12" angle iron tank!!!! and thank god for a paper round when I was old enough
 
I've been thinking about this lately as I'm about to think about to pick livestock for my scape, I'm torn on the issue. Although prices have gone up even in the last 2/3 years alone, I think it's a good thing for the overall hobby (if stock is healthy).

Yes, it's horrible for us and presumably great for LFS, but surely the increase to even the most "basic" fish will encourage new people entering the hobby to make fish welfare more of a priority rather than just them being some "basic" disposable fish? After all we are their guardians and we have a responsibility and duty to care for them above everything else that may be happening in the tank.

But on the other hand there needs to be some effort by LFS to actually bring in healthy fish, and treat them properly before being sold. I have a perfect aquatics 10mins away, and i've bought fish from there and sometimes they are healthy, but the whole place is quite horrible to be in, it's like a cold leaky warehouse which is just a negative experience. But then the maindenhead aquatics in St albans is decent, massive range of fish, mostly really active and healthy, maybe a bit small sometimes for the price, but that's Maidenhead aqautics for you.
 
Personally I am for higher prices, especially if it limits destructive practices and some profit reaches people who need it. I think higher prices tend to make people more careful and think more about what they buy. It will also help increase pressure that stock are healthy. When one thinks of the costs I think fish are still relatively cheap. I suppose it would be good if we all bred and shared even more ourselves?
 
Nobody has mentioned the cost of shipping . Air cargo costs for a box have gone way up , coupled with customs and (in the USA) cost of F&W inspection . All this adds to the price per fish of everything in the box .
 
Energy prices were certainly the factor of one independent store closing in Watton - Norfolk, but with the rise in employers NI contributions (many stores previously had/have part time staff etc) I'm not surprised to see recent price rises in stores
 
I usually base my price comparisons on a few species (probably where i'm going wrong)
This week, Harliquins and Cardinal tetras were both £4 each (or 6 for £20) in one shop. In another shop just up the road they were £2.90 and £3.00 (or 6 for £15)
If you're adding a shoal of each...you could be talking £80 for 24 fish
 
Superpuma1 said:
One thing that surprises me after decades out of tropicals whilst being into marines is the size of tropicals.
As a kid l remember buying beautiful big multi colored thick lipped gouramis, these days the juveniles on offer are so small and bland that they’re hardly recognizable as the same species.
One fish that will always grow rapidly is the Tiger Barb, those l’ve always bought small and they turn into big stunners rapidly.
Pakistani Botia l bought small as a kid, they rapidly turned into big, fat, healthy adults. Same fish these days have hardly grown since tiny purchase size, and that’s from two reputable dealers.
I suppose what someone said earlier has a bearing, captive breeding with no wild stock thrown in to strengthen the genes…..
Click to expand...
I take it back……
Dropped by Maidenhead Aquatics in Ashton Under Lyne yesterday and picked up 3 x very good sized Thick Lipped Gouramis at £12 each, very happy👍. Price may be a little high, but for good sized fish l’m prepared to pay.
 
Unless you are unlucky the average fish will live for a few years, so if they cost the same as a coffee (a guess because I've never bought one) I don't think that's bad. You could also include the calming affect simply watching them has on us, far cheaper than self medication, however you wish to do it.
 
Jwilliams0487 said:
Quarantining new arrivals is appealing.
Click to expand...
That is great, and every aquarium store needs to put more emphasis on this.

Suppliers to wholesale can have good quarantine methods (they need to make money with healthy fish!), but the transportation to stores creates stressors and opens them up to diseases. I support LFSs that make a big deal of this.
 
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