Are Zebra Plecs L046 Becoming Cheaper?

[jarmado]

i have read/misread on zebrapleco that zebra plecs price might be coming down soon.
anybody has any insider info on this?
what i have noticed is that some breeders are now offering their frys at a very young age.
and most of the private keepers are getting rid of their zebras while the price is still hot.

 

[OohFeeshy]

It could be, I think some breeders have probably realised that most people want groups, and if they shoot the price up they won't sell any.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I think they are coming down in price a bit now days as more good information on breeding and keeping them successfully has become more readily available, and more people are breeding them instead of just keeping them now days too- zebra plecs make great breeding projects and it is also good to breed them too as they are very rare in the wild .

 

[Fillet 'O' Fish]

What price are they now selling at then IJay?

 

[Paul_MTS]

I think it depends whos selling, but here's some up for £80, listed yesterday.

http/www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk/php/detail63_49786.php

 

[Cheffi]

I would guess it's the same with anything that is either rare or hard to get. Suddenly the demand will outweigh the supply so a lot of people with more money than sense will get stung for high prices. These people will only be interested in the kudos of owning something with a high rarity value and no consideration for the fact that these do better in groups, when they can only afford one of them.

Once the demand comes down the unscrupulous breeders will realise and then have to bring their prices down to be able to sell them. Of course there are conscientious people out there as well but people who just jump on the bandwaggon who are out to make as much money as possible by breeding these fish are to my mind sad individuals.

I've no axe to grind with either breeders or buyers as I don't actually like them.

 

[jarmado]

What price are they now selling at then IJay?

I think it depends whos selling, but here's some up for £80, listed yesterday.

http/www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk/php/detail63_49786.php

those are just an inch.
here is the thread i started yesterday:
Zebra Plec On AC

 

[smithrc]

The cheap ones are just fry really....

It'll be 3-4 years before they are in a position to spawn.

Adults are still expensive - but thatnkfully buyers are begining to relaise that they dont need to pay the high prices if they hold on and look about.

With more people breeding the prices will fall...

 

[dylema]

Reading on another forum it appears the price here in Australia is around the AU$1000 (400 pound) mark if you can get one. I think you would get one bigger that 1" but you have to know the breeder I think. I would love to get a group for breeding but I don't have a spair million dollars

Dylan

 

[jarmado]

Reading on another forum it appears the price here in Australia is around the AU$1000 (400 pound) mark if you can get one. I think you would get one bigger that 1" but you have to know the breeder I think. I would love to get a group for breeding but I don't have a spair million dollars

Dylan

£400 for one fish???
it can already feed several families in some 3rd world country.

 

[dylema]

£400 for one fish???
it can already feed several families in some 3rd world country.

That is more then a years salary in some third world countries.

I have found a shop online here that have 4-5cm L046 AU$850 (340 pounds)

I would love to get them but that price makes it out of the question for now. Perhaps in a few years when I can afford a dozen to start a propper breeding plan and all the tanks, pumps, filters, heaters etc to create an imitation 'Rio Xingu' river system... I can day dream can't I?

Dylan

 

[jarmado]

£400 for one fish???
it can already feed several families in some 3rd world country.

That is more then a years salary in some third world countries.

I have found a shop online here that have 4-5cm L046 AU$850 (340 pounds)

I would love to get them but that price makes it out of the question for now. Perhaps in a few years when I can afford a dozen to start a propper breeding plan and all the tanks, pumps, filters, heaters etc to create an imitation 'Rio Xingu' river system... I can day dream can't I?

Dylan

i read on one of the discussion forums that L plecs import to Oz is quite strict.
how true is this?

 

[dylema]

Any animal or plant matter imported into Australia is inspected. Live fish have to be on the list and as far as I have seen reading thropugh the list there are only a couple left that are legal to import. You can only import to Aus from certain countries and not south american country is on the list. The fish have to be quarantined for at least 2 weeks in an official premisis in the country of departure before export and then a further 1-4 weeks in australia before release to the public.

We have adds on TV with the slogan "Quarintine matters" and Steve erwin (crockodile hunter) telling us all about whay everything has to be declared at the airport etc.

Basically we don't have a lot of the diseases etc that are present in europe, asia, americas, africa etc and our agriculture industry can be ruined by the spead of new diseases. I am sure you know what I am talking about. So it comes down to us not being allowed any more plecs from overseas.

Dylan

 

[jarmado]

Any animal or plant matter imported into Australia is inspected. Live fish have to be on the list and as far as I have seen reading thropugh the list there are only a couple left that are legal to import. You can only import to Aus from certain countries and not south american country is on the list. The fish have to be quarantined for at least 2 weeks in an official premisis in the country of departure before export and then a further 1-4 weeks in australia before release to the public.

We have adds on TV with the slogan "Quarintine matters" and Steve erwin (crockodile hunter) telling us all about whay everything has to be declared at the airport etc.

Basically we don't have a lot of the diseases etc that are present in europe, asia, americas, africa etc and our agriculture industry can be ruined by the spead of new diseases. I am sure you know what I am talking about. So it comes down to us not being allowed any more plecs from overseas.

Dylan

so you are left with plecs/fishes that interbreed?

 

[dylema]

so you are left with plecs/fishes that interbreed?

Pretty much... We can get quite a few different small fish like tetras, danios, etc, and gold fish but gold fish have even stricter quarantine regulations. I think that there are still quite a few different plecs in Australia that mush have got in before they got strict on imports. The main problem I see appart from not being able to get many species is with relatively low numbers of some species (like zebras for example) the inbreeding may cause a problem in the future.

Dylan