How much do you pay for fish?

[Back in the fold]

Fish are getting expensive. I used to limit myself to five bucks. If a fish cost more than five bucks I passed. Getting to the point that five bucks don't buy diddly.

 

[GaryE]

I haven't bought neons for decades - just noticed the price. Yikes. The last time I bought a bunch of cardinals, it was a 300 lot direct, still in the bag from South America, since I was doing work with an importer. I sold 200 of them in the local club and had a lot of free fish to enjoy, as well as fish buying cash in my pocket.

It is kind of a mess. Cardinals were always the delicate species and neons were for beginner tanks when I started in this hobby. But wild caught cardinals (from a sustainable local fishery) are many times hardier and easier to keep than often diseased, farmed neons now. It's a complete flip.

 

[Avel1896]

Hi
I always give priority to quality over price.
€5 per juvenile Cardinal Tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi).
I kept them almost 6 years.

 

[gilpi]

No more than $10 when I started my African cichlid tank, all juveniles of course.

 

[Slaphppy7]

I never price neons, because I don't want them....overbred, prone to disease...give me cardinals, or false (green) neon tetras, instead...usually around $2.99 USD here...

 

[emeraldking]

Let's do something simple like the Neon Tetra

Overhere between € 1,00 - € 1,95 (depending on the size).

 

[GaryE]

I went to a local store to see, and was truly shocked. $9.99 for anemic, common hybrid swordtails. $4.99 for neons, glowlights and tiny black neons. $18.99 for Congo Tetras. $5.99 for zebra danios!
I asked if they would consider buying from a local breeder (there's nothing easier than zebras...) and they said they would take homebred fish for free but wouldn't pay for them.
Off to the next local store.

 

[davros]

I went to a local store to see, and was truly shocked. $9.99 for anemic, common hybrid swordtails. $4.99 for neons, ....

Shocked is about right, when I previously kept fish they were mostly under a dollar each, they were mostly juveniles but affordable. I don't think the neon survival rate much better tho

 

[Watersplasher909]

I thought it would be interesting to see how much everybody pays for fish around the world.
Let's do something simple like the Neon Tetra. Those are pretty popular so everybody should have an idea how much they cost.

Here in NJ I pay 3.99 per fish for good quality fish. (not petco)

Your turn!

I pay £10 for 6 neon tetras, or £2.99 per 1 in UK

 

[emeraldking]

It depends on the fish and the store or breeder how much I'm gonna pay. And how much I want to have that specific fish or breed. There are stores where I get a discount. And amongst private breeders, prices are negotiable.
But sometimes, I also get fish when I've given a service. That keeps the wallet closed.

 

[outofwater]

Oh, forgot to mention that when I got home I found a fry, big enough already that it can eat regular food, it obviously has survived living in the LPS community tank (which had angels and these ottos), so I'm excited to see what it grows up to be. I've obviously named it Hitchhiker.

One otto died after 2 days. I have no idea why. The water params are the same across my 3 tanks (won't get into that on this thread). Just an update because when I went back I got a replacement AND another fry I think they're fancy guppies, if I saw correctly. So, hitchhiker 1 and 2 are in the Q tank, and will move to the main tank once they're big enough.

 

[Stan510]

About $3 at mass market pet shops to $5 at lfs. At least in LFS they are kept in good health.
But still,Snakeskin barbs when very small were $7 each.
One good thing about keeping one aquarium is you try to make each buy something already on your list..so it fits in and known to be hardy. I know I'm on a Clown Loach kick..but the price of even the very smallest at $15 is way high. The next larger size is $35 . The size I would need now to prevent being swallowed by 6" Rainbows. You would be shocked at how large a mouth they have. Bass like.

 

[FishAddict74]

I thought it would be interesting to see how much everybody pays for fish around the world.
Let's do something simple like the Neon Tetra. Those are pretty popular so everybody should have an idea how much they cost.

Here in NJ I pay 3.99 per fish for good quality fish. (not petco)

Your turn!

The average cost of my fish is around $25-$30, but some are more and some are less

 

[EliK]

Here in Jerusalem, neon tetras are 8-10 NIS, about $2.40-3.00.
Before Covid, Zebras were sometimes as little as 4 NIS ($1.25) each for a 1" fish, but two weeks ago I saw a slightly larger one for 25 NIS ($7.50).
I've never bought an otto, but I think I've seen them for 14 NIS ($4.20).

 

[biofish]

I haven’t had to buy a fish in a very hot second but these were vaguely the prices I remember out here in California:

$4-$12 per guppy (Moscow’s have been the most expensive so far)
$10-$20 per Cory catfish
$40 for Chinese algae eater
$25-$60 for a betta
$6 per nirate snail
$10 for an assassin snail

Guppies reproductive habits have really saved my wallet