zebra plecos

[caribou]

I've been scouring the internet for zebra plecos, but the Big Guys have outrageous prices. Where can I get high quality zebra plecos at a blue collar price?

 

[Menagerie]

You have to get lucky!! Fancy plecos go for oodles of money. I'm sure someone can elaborate on the subject.

 

[rubysoho]

someone posted a link recently and they had them for $56... wish I could remember where, because I've always wanted one...

 

[Fruitbat]

caribou....

There are rumors floating around that the Brazilian government has (or will be) restricting the exportation of the 'Zebra Pleco' and this has made the prices of an already expensive fish go even higher. If you can find some at a 'blue collar' price...consider yourself extremely lucky. The cheapest I've seen them for sale in my local fish stores is $114 U.S.

-Joe

 

[Guppyman]

L046

Hi. From what I hear this is not a rumor. The govt. has in fact placed a ban on the exporting of this species and exporters caught violating this ban face loss of exporting license, major fines and threatened jail time. The going rate for this fish right now is around $125-150 per fish. Many breeders are working hard to increase the number of these fish that may become available over the next year but they spamn in very small numbers and I would not expect to see prices drop any time soon. - Frank/Guppyman®

 

[Billsgate]

I personally would not give that much money for any fish......it's way too expensive! And they are pretty sensitive. I would rather get me a puppy for that kind of money

 

[FishLover14]

My lfs sells them for $99.00

I'm lucky i guess.

I would never buy one though way to expensive spend that money and then the fish dies if i ever buy one i will take out an insurance policy on it, serouisly

JMHO

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I went to Wal-Mart a couple months ago in St. Louis and found a Rio De Para Pleco for $3.99. The next week I went to Petsmart in St. Louis and found a Zebra for $4.99. They obviously didn't realize what they had. I asked the woman if that was the correct price and she said all Pleco's were $4.99. When I got home I looked it up online and realized that they normally sell for at least $150. If I would have known that when I was there, I would ahve a Zebra in my tank right now. Sometimes you just get lucky.

 

[SerLunchbox]

i love zebra plecos ... and from what i read on them, they are super easy to breed. I am looking for a few myself to breed them. But i need a new tank first.

 

[Guest]

Found a Zebra at a local Petsmart about 6 months ago for 24$. I don't normally buy fish from daisy chain pet stores, but I could'nt pass it up.

Sadly, I lost him 36hrs into QT Have'nt look at fish in a daisy chain pet store since.

 

[the21kid]

liveaquaria.com.......249.99 for a zebra pleco....my LFS has four of them that they are breeding

 

[Medusa Head]

The export ban is 100% true, not a rumor. Went into effect this month.

Here's an exceprt from an article in the January 2005 issue of Tropical Fish Hobbyist

Success With Zebras

Despite the popularity and high prices of the black-and-white striped zebra pleco Hypancistrus zebra, aquarists are challenged to produce captive-raised specimens. Rich Smaciarz, an aquarist in suburban Minneapolis, claims to have produced hundreds of spawns. He developed his successful program through five years of research and experimentation.

Originally, Smaciarz kept his specimens with other catfishes and cichlids, but he found that he needed to dedicate a 40-gallon breeder tank just to this species. Armed with the knowledge that their habitat in the Xingu River has high temperatures and high oxygen levels, he experimented with various methods for increasing the water current. Word got out that this species is a cave spawner, so Smaciarz experimented with caves in regard to number, size, structure, and position within the current. After experimenting with different foods, this aquarist now feeds his zebras with nothing but frozen bloodworms. Because a high current is needed in the spawning tank, Smaciarz had to develop a tank configuration that allows the plecos to feed and him to remove what does not get eaten.

Eventually Smaciarz's efforts led to his first discovered spawn, but subsequent discoveries were sparse. In a quest for success that was frequent and regular, he invested another year experimenting and making incremental improvements. Today his zebra pleco breeding program produces regular and frequent spawns.

Personally, while I do think zebra plecos are pretty, they are overrated. They are cave dwellers, so you will not see them that much in your tank anyways. I would suggest one of the many different peckolitas that are available. They are just as pretty.

I see that liveaquaria has successfully sold out of their zebra pleco stock at $250 each. As long as people are willing to pay this much, vendors will continue to charge extrememly high prices.

 

[Dragonchild85]

I contacted our LFS supplier, and he has a healthy stock of them...he's selling them for $75 u.s. dollars per fish. But $4.99 per??? Man...I'd have 2 in my tank, that's for sure!!!

 

[Toirtis]

Another trick to breeding them is to have 3-4 pairs in that dedicated breeding tank. A local aquarist here produced a few thousand fry before he moved to South America. Right now, anyone willing to invest $1200 into a breeding programme would see good return on that investment (and would be everybody's best friend) within a few months.