price of cichlids

[mjcole12]

i went down to my local cichlid shop today and all the fish where priced at around £75 a pair i dont know the names of them because they where all in latin and none that i have ever seen b4 is this the norm for cichlids or is this shop just expensive

 

[cichlidmaster]

It all depends on several factors!!!

Are the fish "wild caught"?

Are they adults?

Are they rare or hard to get species?

When a shop orders in fish there are also several "expenses" (such as shipping, box charges ect.) they will add into their cost of the fish before deciding on a final sale price. This is a normal practice.

If the fish are wild caught, and the shop ordered them in from the lake or a holding facility, then the shipping charges will be high.

Just an example....for me to order in wild fish would cost between $120.00 to $150.00 per 20# box just for shipping!!!

Hope this helped answer your question.

CM

 

[mjcole12]

thanks cichlidmaster

 

[LesGerber]

just to reiterate what CM said, think of it this way.....the further they go to bring the fish to your LFS the more its gonna cost, and the bigger the fish means that unless it is wild then someone has been feeding it for a long time

Les

 

[Pufferpack]

One other thing that caught my eye, if they are being sold per pair does this mean that the pair are Male/Female and they are trying to sell breeding pairs?

 

[LesGerber]

Not always are they sold as breeding pairs and trios but from what I understand that types do better with a mix of females and males


Les

 

[cichlidmaster]

usually when I bring in adult wild fish they come in pairs. What I do is take several males and sell them singlely and then trio (1M/2F) the remaining ones out.

I have a shop that prefers males only and a shop that like pair/trios so It's a win/win situation for all of us!!

CM

 

[LesGerber]

I was trying to not sound totally stupid on that one.....please correct me though, arent there fish that do better in pairs and trios


Les