Good Price For A Green Pleco?

[discus dreamer]

Can any one help
I have fallen in love with a pleco at my local fish store. It is labelled there as a green phantom pleco which i couldn't find on planet catfish but I think it is a green pleco, it has the little yellow dots around the back of its head and the LFS said it was a small one.
Problem is it is £40 and I don't know if that is a reasonable price or not. They are willing to take my gibby in part exchange (he is 5" at the moment and I was getting worried about how big he would get). I would be sorry to see my gibby go but it does solve the problem of not having enough room for him eventually. The useful list of small plecos pinned here has the green down as 7.2" which would be fine for my tank, it is about 2.5" at the moment.
I don't want to get carried away and then discover I have paid over the odds for it though. I am in the North West of UK but don't get to visit many stores as i don't drive and lots are out of town ones and hard to get to.
any help would be appreciated
DD

 

[morgan]

They have one for sale on Aquarist Classified (I googled it) it is 1.5" and is going for £15. HTH. Probably best to buy from a lfs as if it died soon after purchase you might get a refund.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

in my experience, US to UK prices are about the same if you ignore the exchange rate. i got a great deal on my 3 L200s for $100; generally you find them on aquabid at $35-40 for a 3"-4", plus shipping.

40 pounds sounds reasonable to me. but be warned--most people find the L200 to be a rather reclusive plec that only rarely comes out of hiding when the lights are on.

also, i would not recommend keeping more than one. while mine do not actively pick fights with each other, they are rather territorial and the largest will not tolerate the sight of the other two. at the same time, they aren't aggressive enough to really stand up any "fiesty" plecs (such as bristlenoses)

 

[planter]

£40.00 is about the going price for an L200 or Green phantom plec! loveley fish buy buy buy!

 

[discus dreamer]

Thanks all for this
I will have to wait for pay day but will go for the part exchange next week.
I hope he isn't too shy, you can't really tell in the shop, but even if he is sometimes it can be more exciting to get just the occasional glimpse of something special.
DD

 

[smithrc]

Thanks all for this
I will have to wait for pay day but will go for the part exchange next week.
I hope he isn't too shy, you can't really tell in the shop, but even if he is sometimes it can be more exciting to get just the occasional glimpse of something special.
DD

2.5" L200 for £40 sound expensive to me...

If your local or can travel, I know where there is an adult one (about 6") for £50

Drop me a line if your interested

 

[jarmado]

£30 for a 3inch one at my lfs.
buy one if you have space, lovely fish and colouring.

 

[Bloo]

My lfs here in London charge £35 for absolutely stunning (brilliant green with bright white spots) fish approx 3" SL.
I think many people quite TL (length) when giving size of a fish, but I find that very misleading. Just thought I'd point that out

Measurement.

 

[LisaLQ]

Trimar sold them at £20 each, so I think £40 is a little on the steep side.

Lovely plecs, I wish I'd got one while they had them in!

 

[discus dreamer]

thanks all for the advice
guess I should haggle to get the price down a bit.
I hoped to do this tomorrow but then my (grown up) kids turned up yesterday with a present - two black widow tetras - so they are in the quaranteen tank. Sad thing is my single Cory (bought the last one and waiting for the shop to get more in) has decided that hanging out with them is better than being lonely at the bottom even if it means swimming around the middle of the tank all day long.
When i get the green pleco will try to work out how to post a pic
DD

 

[00mitomk]

yer in maidnehead aquatics in polhill thy r 59.99 so like u have a gd price

 

[KathyM]

yer in maidnehead aquatics in polhill thy r 59.99 so like u have a gd price

£59.99?!?!?! Blinking heck! I assume that must be for a much, MUCH larger specimen than 2.5", because otherwise that's madness.

Yep Trimar had them for £20, so £40 is a bit steep. aying that, a fish shop I use got ripped off by a supplier and ended up having to price them more than they were worth (and they weren't that cracking either) so maybe that's what's happened here?

 

[Bloo]

Prices seem to vary greatly. What Wholesale Tropicals sell for £35, The Aquatic Design Centre sells for £50 - and the latter's specimens are less vibrant green and smaller.

 

[00mitomk]

yer it is about 5"

 

[Miss Wiggle]

seems a little steep but not vastly so. If you can't travel to shop aorund then I'd say go for it, it's not a terrible price by any stretch of the imagination.