which fish aren't worth their cost

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I've owned a female BP for quite a while, she's a little under 9" now and I keep her with a Jack Dempsey. She's known by visitors as "the creepy fish" as she sits at the front of the tank and stares out at visitors, she's staring at me right now. By far the most curious fish I've ever owned.

She doesn't have the significant bump that the ones I see now have, and can actually shut her mouth. She is quite healthy and has no problems swimming, eating, etc. The BP's I see in the LFS now just keep looking more and more deformed than what they used to...and the price isn't going down, leading me to say that I do agree with the fact that they aren't worth the $30 I see them for.

A fish I definitely vote for are Purple Tangs...They're pretty but really? My LFS sells them for $110 a pop, there's much nicer salties out there than these.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT5r3489Py4 <One fish I've kept that is worth the slightly elevated pricetag. Not mine in the video btw. The size and elegance of them always made me a fan, wish I still had mine :(
 
^ the little girl in that video is awesome. I don't know enough about salt but I think a lot of them are wild caught. That being the case I can understand the price.
 
Danger_Chicken;3264925; said:
^ the little girl in that video is awesome. I don't know enough about salt but I think a lot of them are wild caught. That being the case I can understand the price.

Well that depends on the fish, where it comes from, how densely they are populated, etc...

If two guys can jump in a boat and catch 300 of them a mile or two off the coast in a days time, take them home and treat them for parasites before shipping them to distributors...

They should only cost a couple of dollars each...


But if each specimen needs to be located, hunted, stalked and aprehended from a remote area on the far side of the world... they should justify a very healthy price tag...
 
The best deal I think is at my LFS are blue channel cats. I paid $3.50 for my 6 inch one and he is very active. I think if you have the room to store them then they are an excellent deal. The worste buy in my opinion is an octopus. They only live for about a year and come with a hefty price tag.
 
Danger_Chicken;3264925; said:
^ the little girl in that video is awesome. I don't know enough about salt but I think a lot of them are wild caught. That being the case I can understand the price.

Thats is a freshwater tank. Those are fire eels, silver aros, freshwater stingrays (Look like motoro), and a datnoid. ;)
 
i dont think there is a general answer that can be given for everybody. if you truly like a fish it will always be worth buying, even if it cost as much as a car. you will cut living cost and save up tell you can afford it.

a fish is only overpriced if you dont like it. i dislike fancy goldfish with there deformed bodies, to me the 3 dollar price is too much. But i have also spent 70 dollars on a saltwater tang before.
 
Midas Madness;3265011; said:
Thats is a freshwater tank. Those are fire eels, silver aros, freshwater stingrays (Look like motoro), and a datnoid. ;)
I know, those where two unrelated comments. 1st about the video. 2nd about overpriced fish :D
 
Definitely disagree with the Pacu post. When I first got mine, I was thinking, okay, so it's a big fish. Now that we've gotten used to each other, he tries to take the fish fillet out of my hand that I'm feeding to my red tail! Definitely a sneaky fellow. And I love to throw the floating pellets for him, because he makes a big splash, just like my silver dollars, except he's huge! I guess every experience is different, but my Pacu was definitely worth the money (and it wasn't much, either).

As for fish not worth the money, I agree with the Pleco folks. I've not had one yet that was smart enough to compete for food. I end up having to find food the other fish refuse to eat, just so the pleco doesn't starve.

Also, I'm not crazy about livebearers, because you have to put up with the fry. Who wants fifty guppies when you only bought two? I guess if you're trying to breed them, then it's worth it, but otherwise, it's a big pain in the neck, because the males tear each other up, and harass the females, and then there's all these little sad-looking fry, and they're like "Don't let them eat us! We're babies!" And so you run around, trying to make up tanks and cycle them for these little baby guppies you didn't even want. LOL. In other words, not worth it, IMO.
 
sostoudt;3265031; said:
a fish is only overpriced if you dont like it. i dislike fancy goldfish with there deformed bodies, to me the 3 dollar price is too much. But i have also spent 70 dollars on a saltwater tang before.

i have to agree with sostoudt

i would pay $300 for a zebra pleco or two because i like the looks of them (also, a lfs had one in a planted tank and every time i went there, when they had it, it came out from hiding)

flowerhorns and blood parrots IMO are overpriced because i do now find a liking to them... I paid $45 for a pair of not even an inch apistogrammas because i liked them.

IMO overpriced fish depends on the person liking or not liking them (yes i think some fish that i like are overpriced, but you like it you will buy it or at least try)
 
Eläköön;3264794; said:
Pbass. some of them go for ALOT.
theyre large unnatractive uncolourful personalityless fish. theyve never appealed to me and i ahve seen some really nice ones, so id say theyre over price!

sorry i just NEED to comment on this...not colorful??? mm okay, see the pic below. what more color do you need? your prob thinking of largemouth bass :ROFL:

and no personality? LMAO, have you ever owned one?? these are some of the most dog-like fish i have ever owned :)

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