IBAMA used the Zeb's as a benchmark for future banning of pleco's and other fish, like Wyldfya said it will be a very long time before they ever get exported again. My lfs has a guy supply'ng him with 10 tank bred zeb's every couple of months or so. They sell for £125 each.
Why are L46 (zebra Plecos) so expensive?
- Thread starter 53special
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I had 22 adults that where breeding. I left town and the wife let a socalled freind feed them. Short story: She dumped a whole can of food in and I came home to dead fish last October
Ultimately, the people driving the cost aren't the breeders, but rather the consumers that buy just one or two. Breeding groups are needed to keep this species in existence.
if you look you can find fry for $150. they just take so long to reach the age to breed. someone even said something about the river they are found int being damed up..... so they might not be able to find them in the wild anymore. they also have low count eggs and some people have to go though a lot to get them to breed.
gomezladdams;1575149; said:because people will pay
You hit the million dollar question.
Although they are no longer exported from Brazil and supposedely they have/are becoming extinct in the wild, there are PLENTY of people that breed and sell them. There are a few listed registered breeders at zebrapleco.com, but I know over 2 times that many breeders just in Illinois and surrounding neighboring states. So rare is not the answer, it's just people want will spend the money for them in hoping to get them to breed and make money.
Unfortunately, they are hard to breed. They reach sexual maturity when they get to be close to 4" or so. Unfortunately, they take over 3-4 years for them to reach that size. Also, a male and female in a tank will not guarantee a spawn. They must be a mated pair. Therefore, it's best to buy a colony of adults/sub-adults and hope that 1 or 2 will pair and spawn.
I have 2 sub-adults and 3 juveniles. I hope that some day I will breed, but I'm just happy to have them. I do plan to buy more. I have plans of breeding them not for a big profit, but to allow others to be able to keep them. Therefore, I hope to sell them at around $50 or so. Once I recover my losses, then I may lower the cost of them to $25.
I remember back in the late 80's and early 90's when one of these graced the cover of Aquarium Fish Magazine. I was at Beldt's Aquarium which is a local pet store in St. Louis but at the time was well known nationally for all it's breeding. Behind the store were 3 warehouses with more than 2000 breeding tanks and vats. They had an open house once a year back there. It was incredible.
Anyway, I'm talking to the owner and he asks if I want one of them. Sure, I would love one of them. He offers it to me cheap for $750. These were some of the first imported into the United States. Well, at 15 I couldn't quite come up with the $$$.
Anyway, I'm talking to the owner and he asks if I want one of them. Sure, I would love one of them. He offers it to me cheap for $750. These were some of the first imported into the United States. Well, at 15 I couldn't quite come up with the $$$.
experience
4 fire mouth cichlids
10 glow light tetras
24 neon tetra
4 cory
2 angel fish
34 guppies
2 chinese algae eaters
1 half banded spiney eel
4 glass catfish
in 68 liter tank
4 fire mouth cichlids
10 glow light tetras
24 neon tetra
4 cory
2 angel fish
34 guppies
2 chinese algae eaters
1 half banded spiney eel
4 glass catfish
in 68 liter tank
And this has something to do with an old thread about Zebra plecos?
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