Peacock M. for 79.99?

[Retzius]

I just stopped by my LFS and saw a beautiful Peacock Mantis. This guy is about 1.5" wide and about 5" long. Hes got red and white markings on the outside with red and blue appendages. I cannot describe its beauty but since I saw it, I want one now. Only thing is 80 bucks seem a bit on the up scale. Just wanted to know what you guys think as far as price. Since I never thought I would be interested in owning one.

[Jonny]

i know a couple people that have bought them for that price

[crafty_50mitchell]

Yeah, its not too uncommon for a peacock for that price. Here in chicago the most high end aquariums tore downtown actually had one marked at $150.00.
Brian

[Gonodactylus]

Given what wholesalers charge, I would say $30 - $50 would be a fair price - perhaps a bit more for a small operation that has to pay shipping over a long distance. In San Diego, I would say this mark-up is excessive. I would keep looking.

Roy

[dropped82]

i got my peacock at the LFS for 25 bucks...guess i gotta a deal...i asked them to order it and it took about 5 weeks for them to finally get one

[T-T-Trigger]

hmm... mine was $19, and saw one two days ago for $19.99.


Keep looking if it is only the first one you've seen, if you have been looking awhile however, maybe you should just bite the bullet and get it.

[Gonodactylus]

The big variable here is shipping (aside from how much the LFS wants to mark up the product). If the importer is in the same city as the retailer or if the retailer takes large shipments where the charge per animal is small, the LFS should be able to sell O.s. for $20. They are probably being charged $8-!5. If the LSF has to tack on the price of shipping from L.A. or wherever, it may cost another $10.

[Drunk Monkey]

http://www.sdreefs.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1922&perpage=15&pagenumber=2

The 2 bigger one are bought. I got the second one down. Don't know if size is important, but you should check and see if he still has one available.

[Retzius]

Thank you all for the input.

Ok, I did ask some questions while I was at the LFS. One thing they told me was that they got him for FREE from an order they recieved from some company. They kept it in a small display nano-reef tank and are now selling it.

Drunk Monkey,
I did check out that thread already and I have to say that the one I saw at the LFS is bigger and alot more colorful. My g/f and I kept staring at him b/c he was so colorful.

I am going to attempt to get the LFS to lower the price on that bad boy but I dont know if they'll be willing. Another factor is its age. I read they only have a 5 yr life expectancy. What if its 2 yrs old or something? I certainly dont want to pay $80 for it to live another 3 or 4 years.

-Saúl

[Drunk Monkey]

What store was he at? Would like to check him out.

[Retzius]

Fountains Aquarium

[Ken2001]

My peacock was priced at $24.95 at an LFS in Boston - I traded some coral from my big tank that I was breaking down, so I didn't pay out any money for this animal. (However, I did just spend $25 for 10 hermits to feed to the mantis - one of the downsides of no longer living near the sea).

[Herbert T. Kornfeld]

Here in milwaukee, we regularly get peacocks, and bumble-bee spearers for $30.

[cephalopoder]

The price list for this exporter from Indonesia lists peacock mantis for ...$1.00
http://www.aquatic.co.id/

[crafty_50mitchell]

Herbert T.Kornfeld, Im in chicago and have been searching for a spearer. Could you give me a couple names of the places that you reguraly see "bumble bee" spearers please?
Thanks,
Brian

[Xavante]

I was lucky ,i got mine with some LR and even luckyer that got it out of my main tank . So i had to start up a new tank for it.
Its for sure an amazing creature.
Thomas.

[Hobart007]

You can order peacocks online at many places. Look for one with an extended live arrival guarantee and you should be able to get an ok price. Here's a place for example:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=23&pCatId=1702

They are out of stock now but they get them in pretty often. I would also call every LFS in a 50 mile radius and ask if they could get it and how much it would be. (I say I'm new to the area and am looking for a new store. I also let them know somehow that I've seen Peacocks - or whatever I need - go for pretty cheap as they are so common. (35-40 for a Peacock I would say) You can work a lot of small vendors down on price before they even quote it. If they don't budge or give a good quote then just call another LFS. Of course I do this kind of thing for a living but anyone can do it and you'll get a better deal most of the time. -Why pay $80 when everyone else is paying $45 tops? Oh well, I think I've given double the original 2 cents I planned on leaving.. Good luck in your hunt!

James

[cephalopoder]

Even if you order one from liveaquaria.com you will still wind up paying 80.00 or more by the time you factor in fedex and box charge...

[Hobart007]

You're absolutely right.. maybe you could combine it with some other things from the same site and lower the overall cost per item for the shipping? That's what I try to do - save up orders and get it all at once (e.g. 2 fish with a ton of supplies). At least that way someone could take advantage of a somewhat better price without so much shipping..

James

[Retzius]

I went back to the LFS and asked if they could lower the price but they were unwilling. This time I took a second look and it was not as impressive as the first time I had seen it. I think I just got overwhelmed when I first saw it b/c I had never seen one that big and colorful. Nevertheless, it is a peacock mantis and I'm sure I can find one some place else. There is absolutely no way I am going to pay 80 bucks for a mantis shrimp. I have already looked at online stores near my area that are willing to sell it for about 30-40 bucks like Dr. Roy had suggested and they have me on hold for the next available one. Any how, just want to thank everyone for there input and experience on price.

-Saúl

[Herbert T. Kornfeld]

Aqua Exhibits on 3rd St.

[Gonodactylus]

What on earth is a bumble bee spearer? Some people are really creative trying to market animals. To my knowledge, there is no stomatopod called a bumble bee (although there are small striped shrimp called this). From my experience, when people start putting common names on stomatopods, run for the nearest exit. They are trying to jack up the price.

Aside from local names such as split thumb and split toe or Alacran del Mar (sorry for the poor Spanish), to my knowledge, the only stompatopod with an accepted common name is Odontodactylus scyllarus. It is usually called the peacock, clown or Harlequin manits. In one tropical invertebrate guide a few years ago, the format called for common names for all the animals, so the authors created some for the stomatopds. Pseudosquilla ciliata became the rainbow manitis, Gonodactylellus viridis the green mantis, etc.

This is one reason that you will notice that in my posts I try to use the scientific names. They are just as easy to remember and there is only one per species.

Roy

[Herbert T. Kornfeld]

I posted a pic a while back of what was IDed as a Lysiosquillina maculata I believe. For sure Lysiosquillina. But they have black and yellow bands all along their body and are spearers. The ones thet I usually see come in at over 6".

[Gonodactylus]

Most Lysiosquillids that are offered for sale are Lysiosquillina maculata. This species is common from Hawaii and the Galapagos to East Africa and is intertidal so it is relatively easy to collect. Also, males will occasionally come to night lights and are occasionally taken in this way. There is quite a bit of color variation, but they always have transverse stripes ranging from cream and tan to yellow and very dark brown. They start breeding at around 6 inches, so this is when males start looking for mates and are caught. They pair for life and can reach 15 inches total length. One of the easiest ways to tell this species is by the white spots or speckles on the peanut shaped eyes. A few other species of lysiosquillid have this, but they are smaller and rarely show up for sale. The only common names I have seen attached to L. maculata are zebra and striped mantis shrimp.

While I'm rambling on about lysiosquillids, if anyone ever sees a large orange or red one come in from Indonesia, please give me a shout. This could be L. lisa or L. mapia which to my knowledge have not been kept in aquaria even though they are often photographed by divers. In fact, only a couple of L. mapia have ever been collected and preserved.

Roy

[Herbert T. Kornfeld]

Would you be looking for anything from Lizard Island? I will be going there soon and although I know getting things out of there is difficult, if I were to collect "in the name of science" it might be a bit easier....unless of course you know someone there already...being that it is your forte and all...Otherwise I am trying to get a dive trip together for Tahiti and Marshall Islands...but that will be after Lizard.

[Gonodactylus]

Thanks, but I have Lizard Island covered. I have been working there off and on since 1986 and just spent 3 months on the island. I will be at UC Berkeley's marine lab on Moorea this fall teaching a class, so that is covered as well. The Marshall Islands are interesting. I did some of my early work on stomatopods on Enewetok. There are tons of G. platysoma, Haptosquilla glyptocercus, G. smithii, etc.

Roy

[majestic sea life]

maybe its a zebra mantis they kinda look like one lol

[word]

Aqua Exhibits in brew town always has their mantis marked at $50 in my experience. i think the maculata i bought was labeled a "zebra mantis." they also keep them in sad living conditions - a bare cube where you can see them curled up in a corner. the least they could do is stick a bit of PVC in there for 'em :rolleyes: i mentioned to one of the people working there that their peacock was riddled with shell rot and she gave me a deer in the headlights look....

for what it's worth, H. maculata don't make nearly as good a pet as an O. S. they are basically "pet holes."

[Herbert T. Kornfeld]

LOL. Aqua Exhibits has been pricing all the mantis I see at $30-40. I have never seen higher. Yeah, it is kind of a sad ship these days. It used to be a great place to get critters at least, but these days my buddies and I refer to it as the 'bait shop'. The owner is getting ready to give it up, living down in florida for the past year...andf since it's been under new ownership it's been getting worse and worse. But, once and a while, they come through...like large octos and mantis shrimp. I agree that the OSs make better pets...much 'smarter' looking.

[word]

i've only been there 3 or 4 times because i live up near green bay but i try to stop by when i'm in the area. i saw an octo there last time i was there which was cool cuz i've never seen one in a shop before. i can't imagine that it'd last long there, tho, so hopefully someone who knows how to keep them picked it up... i'd really like to get an O.S. again one of these days but i don't really have the time or the room for another setup.

on a somewhat related note, i like stopping at hoffer's, too, but their prices are coockoo for cocoa puffs!

[Herbert T. Kornfeld]

Hoffers actually isnt that bad. Yes, in general, they charge $300 for an eheim pump as their freshwater and equipment is well, just outaline! But their reef critters are pretty reasonable. Sure, I could get the same for a few bucks less at PET WORLD, but everything I get from there either gets ick or dies (getting ick is a good sign for fish when it comes from that place...most fish just see the cleaner shrimp and are fine in a week) The cost of a 6-line wrasse was $24...not too bad IMO. Their cost on neon gobies was $20...ok, thats getting high, as I often have seen them for half...but hey...Ive seen worse. Now, if there was only a LFS that could keep corals alive for more than a month! Man, I just got back from Atlanta...visited Cappucino Bay Aquarium....WOW. That place is very nice. I actually bought a couple frags from there and brought them home in a water thermos...they were that rare and at a good price! Oh, well, just rambling. Yeah, that OCTO was neat. I had the opportunity to get an octo a few months ago from a friend who got one in on his LR. I actually read up on keeping the bugger...and now he has grown to 3x his beginning size...I hope the big one that was at the 'bait shop' got as good. Chances are that it got out of it's cube and died on the floor...or wandered into the shark tank! But, they are a good place for getting mantis...you can even request certain types and they will get them. They usually have at least two large ones in season...sometimes a smaller bright green or warnerii (<<<yeah, I forget the spelling), sometimes a spearer, and always a peacock.

[majestic sea life]

my lfs are crazy 120.00 for a 1'' bubble coral 250.00 for one head from a hammer coral and 35.00 for a neon goby

[Hobart007]

Darned AZ LFS... they forget that they aren't that far from the ocean... I used to live in Mesa.. the stores there all seemed overpriced..