starlight plecos
- Thread starter beabroca
- Start date
Common names don't help much. Do you mean Ancistrus punctatus aka L-182 or are you looking for Ancistrus dolichopterus aka L-183. Both are called starlight.
Here's a link for some L183's, price is a bit high though IMO: http://www.plecofanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=79518
I don't think you can get 183s for $10 - $15 a piece. $50 is a little over priced, but people are still buying them! I used to sell mine for $30 - $35 each.
First off we need to clarify what size L183 we're talking about here.
I've offered 3/4"-1" F1 L183 for $30-$35 but the fish offered in the
link at PF are 2"+ so there is a big difference between a small 3/4" fry
and a well developed 2"+ juvenile. A 2" fish also has a much better
chance of survival during transport then a 1" fry especially when
it's L183. I also offered 2" F1 L183 for $50-$60 and it's pretty obvious
that the demand was much higher then the supply, in other words, they
sold no problem at that price. I just saw a link on PF about somebody
claiming to have found wild L183 for $11. Well I have not seen a wild
L183 imported and available for sale anywhere in the USA in over 2
years so I highly doubt that these are the "real deal" Ancistrus L183.
In the past 2 years I have ordered wild L183 many times off price lists
and so have several of my friends, and not one single time have any of
us received the correct species. This is why I have been purchasing
tank-raised L183 since they are basically the only ones available now,
oh and last time around we had to order 50 fish to even get them at all
so to the people whining about the price, how would you like to pay for 50
expensive plecos plus next day FedEx shipping?
http://www.plecofanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=81330
Now let's speak about newly caught and exported/imported wild Ancistrus
versus tank-raised. F1s are much less susceptible to bacterial infections
which are a frequent killer of blackwater Ancistrus species. Wild Ancistrus
need to be carefully acclimated and carefully monitored for fungus, bacteria,
and parasites plus they can be very difficult to spawn, let alone keep alive.
F1s on the other hand are typically 100% disease free, spawn much easier
(at a smaller size), and are just in general healthier/hardier fish compared
to wild plecos. Wild L183 can have mysterious deaths and may encounter
heavy losses during shipping and acclimation so a box of "cheap" wild plecos
can sometimes be a very costly mistake. And the average fishkeeper may
not be able to duplicate blackwater conditions in their aquarium that are
suitable for wild L183 but F1 L183 can thrive in a much wider range of water
parameters which makes them technically worth more then wild fish.
Last one must consider the rarity of Ancistrus L183. In my opinion they are
rarer then even L046 zebra plecos. And if the people complaining about
the price think that L183 are so easy to find, keep alive, and spawn then
stop badmouthing sellers who are actually making them available to the hobby,
and go find some wild L183, spawn them, and sell them as cheap as you wish.
To my knowledge, there are only a handful of people who have successfully
spawned L183, and of those handful, very few have been able to consistantly
keep them spawning. And if you really think the price of a particular species
is way too high, then just don't buy them. Why the need to slam reputable sellers
who offer some of the highest quality plecos available? Has jealousy reared
it's ugly head? While it may be true that years ago I could purchase wild L183
for $15 each, just as I could buy L046 zebra plecos for $25 each in 1994,
sorry but those days are long gone. And one must accept the fact that if they
want a rare species of fish that the laws of supply and demand will be in
control of the market prices not "greedy" sellers.
I've offered 3/4"-1" F1 L183 for $30-$35 but the fish offered in the
link at PF are 2"+ so there is a big difference between a small 3/4" fry
and a well developed 2"+ juvenile. A 2" fish also has a much better
chance of survival during transport then a 1" fry especially when
it's L183. I also offered 2" F1 L183 for $50-$60 and it's pretty obvious
that the demand was much higher then the supply, in other words, they
sold no problem at that price. I just saw a link on PF about somebody
claiming to have found wild L183 for $11. Well I have not seen a wild
L183 imported and available for sale anywhere in the USA in over 2
years so I highly doubt that these are the "real deal" Ancistrus L183.
In the past 2 years I have ordered wild L183 many times off price lists
and so have several of my friends, and not one single time have any of
us received the correct species. This is why I have been purchasing
tank-raised L183 since they are basically the only ones available now,
oh and last time around we had to order 50 fish to even get them at all
so to the people whining about the price, how would you like to pay for 50
expensive plecos plus next day FedEx shipping?
http://www.plecofanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=81330
Now let's speak about newly caught and exported/imported wild Ancistrus
versus tank-raised. F1s are much less susceptible to bacterial infections
which are a frequent killer of blackwater Ancistrus species. Wild Ancistrus
need to be carefully acclimated and carefully monitored for fungus, bacteria,
and parasites plus they can be very difficult to spawn, let alone keep alive.
F1s on the other hand are typically 100% disease free, spawn much easier
(at a smaller size), and are just in general healthier/hardier fish compared
to wild plecos. Wild L183 can have mysterious deaths and may encounter
heavy losses during shipping and acclimation so a box of "cheap" wild plecos
can sometimes be a very costly mistake. And the average fishkeeper may
not be able to duplicate blackwater conditions in their aquarium that are
suitable for wild L183 but F1 L183 can thrive in a much wider range of water
parameters which makes them technically worth more then wild fish.
Last one must consider the rarity of Ancistrus L183. In my opinion they are
rarer then even L046 zebra plecos. And if the people complaining about
the price think that L183 are so easy to find, keep alive, and spawn then
stop badmouthing sellers who are actually making them available to the hobby,
and go find some wild L183, spawn them, and sell them as cheap as you wish.
To my knowledge, there are only a handful of people who have successfully
spawned L183, and of those handful, very few have been able to consistantly
keep them spawning. And if you really think the price of a particular species
is way too high, then just don't buy them. Why the need to slam reputable sellers
who offer some of the highest quality plecos available? Has jealousy reared
it's ugly head? While it may be true that years ago I could purchase wild L183
for $15 each, just as I could buy L046 zebra plecos for $25 each in 1994,
sorry but those days are long gone. And one must accept the fact that if they
want a rare species of fish that the laws of supply and demand will be in
control of the market prices not "greedy" sellers.
