Need to pick pleco lovers brain...

[saganco]

Great comments folks and very helpful. How about we throw out the L numbers that I listed in the beginning and just go with "reasonably affordable" breeders, who are not horribly difficult to breed, and who's fry will fetch a $8 and above selling price on forums, aquabid, ebay, or a few of the places like planetcatfish? Will this help narrow the field?

Malefic asked: " What kind of plecos have you kept before, and have you found a ready source to purchase your fish?"
I have actually never kept plecos before - but have successfully bred two species of Central American cichlids so far. Just diving into the breeding scene for various other species (plecos included when we sort out which ones to go with). Outlet for sales - forums, aquabid, ebay, or a few of the places like planetcatfish, along with local fish club and word of mouth. Fish stores in my area are a REMOTE possiblity because they don't want to pay anything for anything! Which is probably the case for all fish stores everywhere.

 

[clayt101]

Great comments folks and very helpful. How about we throw out the L numbers that I listed in the beginning and just go with "reasonably affordable" breeders, who are not horribly difficult to breed, and who's fry will fetch a $8 and above selling price on forums, aquabid, ebay, or a few of the places like planetcatfish? Will this help narrow the field?

Pretty much any breedable L-number will sell at over $8 each, except bristnoses (excluding long finned albino black eyed). I see the long finned albino black eyed bristlenoses on aquabid every once and awhile, but they go about $20 each.

Is this for profit or hobby? It's nearly immpossible to make money at this.

 

[Malefic23]

Is this for profit or hobby? It's nearly immpossible to make money at this.

Remember, most of these fish breed once a season. You can, with experience and practice and some fairly esoteric methods simulate more than one or two seasons in a year, but it's really very difficult to show a profit at this sort of thing. The closest I've ever come is trading in surplus feeder guppies to a LFS that gave me store credit (.25 a fish because I'm well known for providing super clean fish). This pretty much paid for my fish food for guppies, endlers, and my arrow till he hit one foot, but that's it. And I was free breeding guppies in a 125.

 

[saganco]

Remember, most of these fish breed once a season. You can, with experience and practice and some fairly esoteric methods simulate more than one or two seasons in a year

Well that's rather discouraging! I keep reading about all these folks breeding various plecos saying stuff like "my plecos are breeding like rabbits"! So do the more exotic ones breed less often than the more common ones?

 

[saganco]

ONCE or twice a season!!?? Wow, that does make me have to think this out more. I figured they were like cichlids - roughly every 4-6 weeks!

No plecos are more prolific than you mentioned? I would like to at least have them breed 3 or 4 times a year (BN's are pretty prolific aren't they? Surely they aren't the only ones!).

 

[Mgamer20o0]

Remember, most of these fish breed once a season. You can, with experience and practice and some fairly esoteric methods simulate more than one or two seasons in a year, but it's really very difficult to show a profit at this sort of thing.

i dont know how true this statement is. from the mouth of someone who breeds zebras they spawn about once a month. some times its sooner some times its every other month. i know one breeder who they quit spawning for 9 months.

 

[saganco]

I just happen to have a group of 8 that I am getting ready to sell. I bought them to breed, but I just dont have the space to set up their own aquarium. Right now they are in my 125 gallon discus tank. I really would prefer to sell them to someone that wants to breed them (I am not looking to make money off of them). I plan on listing it on planet catfish hoping to only sell to someone that wants to breed them. I would like to get $200 for all of them plus shipping.
Clay

Clay, after doing some research, I think we'll pass up this good offer. They aren't quite what we're looking for.
I would still like to find some of the LDA25 pitbulls if anyone knows where to find them or what I should expect to pay for them.

 

[Malefic23]

Heh, most of the exotics I was thinking of do breed once a season. Yeah, there are more prolific breeding plecos, and bristlenose are one of them. Zebras, I have READ, not DONE (other guy has real life experience with this species so he's got better advise on zebras), can be more prolific if you get their conditions right. But I've also read it's difficult to get maintain the conditions, and getting a breeding pair is out of their price range for a first attempt.

I'm taking a crack at breeding vampires, and I'm going to consider myself lucky to get one breeding season a year out of them, built around their natural season. I'm also giving clowns a chance to breed, but so far, no luck with either species. I'll sell the spare fry if I get a clutch ($45 per vampire), but I'm doing it because I want more vampires and clowns.

Bulldog or rubberlip might not be a bad fish to gain experience on, that's another more prolific species, but you will not get as much per fish. $8 per fish might be possible with those guys.

I did'nt mean to discourage you, just wanted to make you aware that the high end fish are mostly seasonal, or very difficult to keep and breed. That's part of what makes them so expensive.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Most breeders do not rely on single pairs but tend to have breeding colonies.

My bn breed like convicts- going about once a month or so- dad will not spawn again til fry leave the cave and he builds his strength back up. My zebras started breeding the end of last April and I have gotten a total about 17 spawns from 3 dif males with the alpha male spawning about once a month and the $3 male only once. Normally, once you can get them started they tend to continue for some time.

 

[saganco]

I have gotten a total about 17 spawns from 3 dif males with the alpha male spawning about once a month and the $3 male only once. Normally, once you can get them started they tend to continue for some time.

LOL, I didn't know there was such a thing as a $3 zebra!! I think the idea of colonies is the way to go for sure. I wouldn't mind doing zebras, if I could find the breeding pair for less than the cost of a new car

Malefic, is a "bulldog" the same as the "pitbull" (LDA25)? If so, can you please tell me where to find them online, I have searched and can't find them. I like that they stay real small - but so far, I've not found much info on them and don't know if they would be good in cichlid tanks (which of course most fishkeepers have one variety or another). Any suggestions there?