Hypancistrus zebra (zebra pleco)

[zebrapleco]

just checking

In canada i found a breeder. He was asking 800 Canadian for a pair (male/female). I ofcourse decided to walk away.

A year ago you could get them for around 100-150 Canadian each, but now they are extremely difficult to get and go for atleast 200-300 Canadian each in most stores when availible.

ZebraPleco-The reason that I asked the question was that I can not find them for sale anywhere. I have breed may fish in may day. This fish is my greatest yet. To date I have 4-adults,3-6month olds, 1-4month old, and 5-1month olds. I am looking for good homes for my babies for a price of course.

 

[JinxXx0085]

ZebraPleco-The reason that I asked the question was that I can not find them for sale anywhere. I have breed may fish in may day. This fish is my greatest yet. To date I have 4-adults,3-6month olds, 1-4month old, and 5-1month olds. I am looking for good homes for my babies for a price of course.

How much would you sell yours for? I'm a poor college student but I would love to have one or a pair of those! A pair (male&female) is preferred if you can manage sex them (I'm not too sure if they can be sexed or have to wait until they pair off?) :bowing:

 

[Barbie]

The going price for zebra pleco fry ranges between $100 and $150 at an inch SL. They were banned from export from Brazil a year or so ago and the price has gone nowhere but up. YoFishBoy might have seen a fish they said was some "form" of zebra, like a Colombian zebra or what not, but the last zebras on availability lists just before the ban went in place were $75-$95 wholesale.

On a side note, zebras have to be well over 2 inches to sex them reliably and you're going to pay quite a bit more for any that have been grown out that long, IME.

Barbie

 

[fish_breeder_05]

Im all for exotics but for that price I could get 2 lung fish!!! :idea2: It is just a pleco, a dwarf even! why the high priced demand???

 

[TONO]

In canada i found a breeder. He was asking 800 Canadian for a pair (male/female). I ofcourse decided to walk away.

A year ago you could get them for around 100-150 Canadian each, but now they are extremely difficult to get and go for atleast 200-300 Canadian each in most stores when availible.

Wow thats way over priced I saw three go on aquabid for $230 us. considering breeders are popping up every where and the relative ease of actually breeding these fish(one of the easiest hyp to breed way easier than 66 or 260). The price bubble is going to burst very soon. The only reason the price sky rockected is because of the ban on exporting these fish out of brasil. But the captive bred population is exploding. I'm working on a breeding program for various hyp. right now. (a couple of 25 gallons and a few 33 gallon tanks) I will sell these fish privatley for $125 each (at 1.5 inches) canadian. I think people are being taken advantage of right now.

 

[zebrapleco]

Wow thats way over priced I saw three go on aquabid for $230 us. considering breeders are popping up every where and the relative ease of actually breeding these fish(one of the easiest hyp to breed way easier than 66 or 260). The price bubble is going to burst very soon. The only reason the price sky rockected is because of the ban on exporting these fish out of brasil. But the captive bred population is exploding. I'm working on a breeding program for various hyp. right now. (a couple of 25 gallons and a few 33 gallon tanks) I will sell these fish privatley for $125 each (at 1.5 inches) canadian. I think people are being taken advantage of right now.

Your not going to make any money at 125 it takes to long for them to get to 1.5 inches and unlike other fish they only have 4-10 eggs at a time. PLus you will have to sell 4 or 5 before you cover your breed stock and equipment. I have 3 ready for sale at 1.5 inches and they are not going any where for less than $200.00 US. I paid $95.00 US when they were being openly shipped out.

 

[centralharbor]

Im all for exotics but for that price I could get 2 lung fish!!! :idea2: It is just a pleco, a dwarf even! why the high priced demand???

if youve seen one, you should know

 

[Barbie]

If they were so easy to breed, and bred in any numbers, the supply and demand would have lowered the price .

Barbie

 

[TONO]

The price has been set lower on the global market check aquabid. With one male three females I'm doing ok yes they take a long time even to get to 1.5 inches. They are a relativley easy fish to breed compared to some apistos. (panda) I don't breed fish to make huge profits if you do your stupid because it will never work out. I do it because I enjoy it period, it's just a part time hobby thats it. I'm not set on that price I don't have any sellable fry right now, but I wil probably sell them at an amount just enough to cover my operating costs.


zebrapleco how long have you had those fry for sale for 200 US each?

 

[Barbie]

He won't have them for sale long, IMO. I have a waiting list with more than 20 people on it that want my fry. (I don't have any available right now, won't for ages, please don't email me with requests about them!) I sold all I had available for $125 a piece at just over an inch SL 3 months ago. The price IS going up on them. I now have heard that $150 is what the two people I know with sellable fry are getting. Around Chicago, where there are a couple breeders, you can find them cheaper, but not by much, IME. If you know of people selling them cheaper, I'm sure the members here would greatly appreciate you sharing that information so they too can find some .

I personally invested a good chunk of money into my spawning group, and I've had some of them as long as 6 years with all my moving around, they went too. They aren't as demanding as per water parameters to get viable fry, but they definitely take longer to get anywhere near the numbers of fry as compared to the cost of the parents, IME. Not to mention, add in that 6 month grow out time to get them to a safely sellable size, and you've invested a whole bunch more in fewer zebra fry than you ever would in large groups of apistos.

All of which is a moot point, IMO. If you want to check out the values of people globally that aren't running scams, check out http://www.zebrapleco.com . There aren't enough people spawning them for the numbers of people that want them. Until that changes drastically, the prices will stay high. Each personally can choose to sell theirs cheaper than market value, but how is it fair of anyone to judge what that value is? You don't have to like it if they aren't yours to sell, do you? I personally use what I charge to weed out the people that are serious about having them. If you spend that much money on fish, you want them BAD. I throw in L260 and try to cover some of the freight to offset the costs.

I sold my very first batch of zebras cheap to a wonderful hobbist that wanted them badly. They were all dead within 2 months. It was a learning experience for me. Maybe they're just easy fish for you to spawn, so it makes sense to sell them cheap, but I put quite a bit of work into mine, personally .

Barbie