They starve all fish before shipping and plus stress make a fish skinny real quick. I never had a cactus type pleco that didn’t recover, they’re pretty hardy fish.Here is my biggest one of my group. He's about 5 inches. This was some time ago and he has gained alot of condition since this pic. I think it must have had a rough import as it wasn't in great shape.
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In The Netherlands you almost can not find these fish at all.
And if you find them the prices are really high ( > € 600,00)
What are the prices in America for wild breed?
I have also seen that you can buy them at Thaibreeders so i assume those are much cheaper and (maybe) from lower quality and strength.