Large Pleco

[shivam]

So I was at Petco in my town picking up some panda Cory cats that I ordered from them and I saw in their koi tank 3 (14inch) plecos. I asked the guy how much and he didn't wanna sell them because it'll keep the koi tank clean. I ended up convincing him the plecos will get too territorial and 2 might die. So he gave in and said $30. So I thought it was a good deal so I bought one for my 75gallon.


Anyways the question is.... Did I get a good deal?? 14inch plecos for $30. Or did I get ripped off??

 

[shivam]

Here are some pics...

 

[raubiy]

it's Pterygoplichthys sp. Very common.Price depend on country .
In my country 14'' pleco cost around 25€.

 

[shivam]

I'm from the U.S. And I have been looking online and I can't even find a pleco this large let alone find one at this price.

 

[raubiy]

I heard that alot of people give them away for free at big size in US.
I heard that numerius times because people can't sell them.
But i duno if this is true

You bought a great friend.

 

[Wailua Boy]

I think you got a fair deal. Quite a few of these fish are farm raised. They are available from the farm in all sizes S, M, L or XL. They generally aren't brought in, in the larger sizes due to shipping/housing constraints.....

 

[shivam]

Yeah I mean I live in Lousiana and right next to a bayou so I'm sure there's a bunch of monster plecos inside from people just letting them go (which is horrible), but it's probably near impossible to catch them so I jumped for this deal.

 

[Warborg]

I hate to say it but I think you got ripped off. As said, stores won't give costumers any money or credit for them...and often sell them for $10 just to get rid of them.

But some areas may sell them higher.

 

[Drstrangelove]

So he gave in and said $30. So I thought it was a good deal so I bought one for my 75gallon.

Anyways the question is.... Did I get a good deal?? 14inch plecos for $30. Or did I get ripped off??

This seems like buyer's remorse. You were happy with deal when you made it, but afterwards are concerned that it wasn't a good deal.

If you felt like the $30 in your pocket was worth the fish, it was. A "good deal" isn't determined by what other people think, but by what you think. No one else can tell you how to make that choice or whether or not it was correct for you.

For your $30, you got the fish:
1) that you could see and examine
2) that you could have immediately
3) that you didn't have to search for and order online or drive to at another store

What do you think the value is of having something immediately that you can examine before you buy and not have to search for? Who can answer that for you, except for you?

 

[jclyde13]

Common plecos are a dime a dozen at any size. IME, it only takes about 8-10 months to grow one out from 2" to 14". For some reason, stores tend to severely overestimate their value... I've actually seen large specimens priced at $60+ before, which is insane, but $20-30 seems about right to me.