Fish Price

🐟 How fish are priced in India

The band above runs from a few rupees to a few thousand because "fish" is really two markets under one name — ornamental aquarium fish bought by hobbyists, and pond / aquaculture stock bought to grow on. A netful of common community fish, a fancy strain and a premium show fish are worlds apart, so read the band knowing which one you are shopping for.

What moves the price

• Species and grade. Common community fish — guppy, molly, platy, goldfish — are cheap and sold in numbers. Fancy strains and show fish — fancy guppies, koi, flowerhorn, discus, arowana — run far higher, priced on strain, colour and form.
• Ornamental vs aquaculture. Aquarium fish are priced per fish on looks; pond fingerlings (rohu, catla, mrigal, common carp, tilapia) are cheap and sold by the count or the lot, bought to grow to table size.
• Size, colour and markings. For ornamentals the price is in the detail — a flowerhorn's kok (head hump) and pearling, a koi's pattern and skin, a guppy's tail and colour, a betta's finnage. Size especially lifts the price of koi and arowana.
• Rarity and health. Rarer strains and larger specimens cost more — but a fish from a clean tank, feeding and swimming well, is worth more than a bargain out of a tank with sick or dead fish in it.

The kinds you will actually see

For beginners and community tanks it is guppy, molly, platy, swordtail, goldfish (common and fancy), betta (fighter), angelfish, tetras, gourami and barbs. Mid to premium ornamentals are koi, discus, oscar, flowerhorn, cichlids and arowana — arowana being a high-value show fish, and one where some species are CITES-regulated, so ask about legal source on the pricey ones. The pond and aquaculture side is rohu, catla, mrigal, common carp and tilapia fingerlings, sold to stock ponds.

Before you pay

• Know which market you are in — a hobby fish judged on colour and form, or fingerlings bought cheap by the lot to grow on — because the fair price is completely different.
• Watch the fish in the seller's own water: active and swimming evenly (not gasping at the surface or sitting on the bottom), fins open and undamaged (not clamped or frayed), no white spots (ich), no cottony fungus, red streaks, ulcers or a swollen belly, and clear eyes. Never buy from a tank that has dead or clearly sick fish in it.
• Ask what water it is kept in — temperature, and whether it needs the harder or warmer setup some species do — so you can match it, and plan to acclimatise slowly and quarantine new fish before adding them to an established tank.
• For a pricey specimen (koi, arowana, flowerhorn, discus) buy in person and ask about legal source on the highest-value species, and never send the full amount in advance for a fish you have not seen swimming.

A fish's price turns on species and grade — rupees-apiece community fish and pond fingerlings at one end, koi, discus, flowerhorn and arowana at the other. Use the band at the top of this page as your starting point, then judge the fish on how it swims and looks in the seller's own water.