Zebra Pleco

[Ferret_Friend]

Wow... this thing looks neat! I just saw one online, and I was thinking "That fish must be expensive." Well, it's $250... damn...

The neat thing though? It only gets up to about 3 inches long, which I kinda like. I'm glad the current pleco I have CAN get huge because he's in with an oscar, but if I have smaller fish, it'd be nice to have a smaller pleco.

Still... $250 for a zebra pleco... damn.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Yep, they are illegal to export out of Brazil....and hard to come by, so they carry a huge price tag. They are very cute though.

L129 Scribble plecos only get around 4 inches and they are only $22 each on Exoticfinds.net
Same with L134 Leopard Frog Plecos....but $25 each.

There are a few plecos that stay on the smaller side....just a little hard to find.

 

[hc8719]

the brazilian govt put sanctions on the rio xingu river, which i guess is the only place there found, i beleive they are illegal to catch or export now, i guess the govt saw how good the profits were, and is putting a monopoly on them

 

[Ferret_Friend]

Yep, they are illegal to export out of Brazil....and hard to come by, so they carry a huge price tag. They are very cute though.

L129 Scribble plecos only get around 4 inches and they are only $22 each on Exoticfinds.net
Same with L134 Leopard Frog Plecos....but $25 each.

There are a few plecos that stay on the smaller side....just a little hard to find.

Yeah, but this one is zebra striped!!!

 

[RogerMcAllen]

L-260 stays pretty small and has nice black and white stripes.

Actually the government doesn't really care about the fish at all. Soon they will put in a dam that will quite possibly make the species (and many others) extinct in the wild.

Also, Planetcatfish.com recently got a slick new feature where you can search plecs by size.

 

[hulkamaniac]

Zebra Plecos are very cool looking fish. There are few people in the states who breed them and as someone stated it's illegal to export them from Brazil. Hence the high price. I've seen some go for far more than $250.

 

[Guest]

Good info Roger. THey should have a chart of size at LFS for every fish.

What an idea!

 

[hc8719]

what does the govt care if there building a dam to wipe them out anyways...

and why do pleco's have names like L-436, because theres so many species?

 

[JustOneMore20]

Yeah, but this one is zebra striped!!!

I know...I thought you liked it because it was small. Yes the zebra stripes are very cool...but expensive!

 

[Ferret_Friend]

Well, the small thing was a plus, but the zebra striping is the cool part.

 

[EdgarMedina1010]

Wait they're illegal to export?....they sell zebra plecos in Mexico for like 50-60 bucks...

 

[Ferret_Friend]

Interesting.

 

[EdgarMedina1010]

Yeah some dont even care (or maybe dont know) they sell them for like $5-$10....

 

[hc8719]

i think what he meant is that their illegal to import from brazil... its safe to sell them in america (or mexico in this case).

...so were in mexico could i get one for $5 ?

 

[Guest]

why do pleco's have names like L-436, because theres so many species?

You got it

 

[EdgarMedina1010]

i think what he meant is that their illegal to import from brazil... its safe to sell them in america (or mexico in this case).

...so were in mexico could i get one for $5 ?

ohhh....yeah I mean basically every 'real' store carries them! (i mean 'real' cause theres people who just breeds them and sell them around)

 

[Toirtis]

I find the '$50 zebra pleco in Mexico' suspect. Even amongst captive breeders, the cheapest fry sell for is about $60 each (in Germany). Just this past week, a local aquarist sold her colony of 22 for $5300....I am not sure whom to, but I am hoping a local breeder that just produced a dozen fry himself.

 

[hulkamaniac]

If you can get your hands on a breeding pair and you're skilled enough to get them to breed you can make some decent money on the side.

 

[toddnbecka]

The downside is it takes them several years to mature, and they are as particular as discus concerning water quality. Demand is much higher than supply though. When they were first available, they sold for $50-60, but the price has gone way up since then.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Check out this auction on Aquabid:

Click
The bidding is up to $206 for one L-046 zebra pleco.

This one is for 3 older zebras....$1200. Thats $400 each....yikes! You csn certainly make a killing if you successfully breed them.