Hypancistrus zebra L-046

[Evolution]

They're baaaaak!

Expect $250-$400 price tags around Alberta.

(21 CB from Indo landed in Calgary this morning)

Edited September 21, 2010 by Evolution

[vince0]

They're baaaaak!

Expect $250-$400 price tags around Alberta.

(21 CB from Indo landed in Calgary this morning)

that is sooo much money! for a fish that may or may not become extinct, i think the folks running the zebra racket should get their heads out of their a, drop the price and give the species a chance of becoming mainstream in the hobby, rather than letting their greed take over. Within a year or two we could have a large aquarium population that could in the long run repopulate the wild stock.

[Evolution]

I understand your concern. They first started arriving in Canada around 1988 and selling for about $750 in Big Als, Toronto. 10 Years ago they were selling for about $100 at Big Als, BC. In the past two months I know of 30 CB that have sold in Calgary. These 30 are the first that I know of that have been available in the trade for ten years. In the 10 to 15 years that the wild caught were available, you'd think breeding colonies would be set up every where as these guys will always have a demand and sell out! But, they are rare and CBs are very few and far between as very few people have been able to consistantly produce offspring. Also, going from egg to 1.5 inches, which these 21 are, takes a very long time; they are very slow growing fish. Add to that, they do not ship well, because they fight like cats and dogs and they have very high heat requirements- shipping from Indo gets very expensive. Not to mention the wholesaler, who provides 75% of all the fish in Alberta has to pay his staff for watching and feeding and caring for them (they are well paid) and he has taxes (huge amounts) to pay and rent ($25 a square foot in a 20,000 square foot building) and heat and gas (beyond imagination) and all the other huge costs of running a business that supplies this province with the majority of it's fish. Then there are the stores that sell them to the public and they have an even more enormous cost of running business. So price is relative and dependant and doesn't have anything to do with greed, but is how business is conducted in this country and pretty much the free world. These fish a rarer, harder to breed and raise than Appendix 1 CITES microchipped aros!

[Vallisneria]

One of the first things I remember when I got into the hobby 10+years ago, was when I went to Dad's Fishroom(now Nature's cornerstore) for the first time and I saw a tank full of Zebra plecos. At the time they were 40$ and I thought that was so much money for just a fish, lol. But that was before the restrictions and I believe someone used to breed them here in Edmonton so the price was cheaper.

If people start breeding them the price will come down. But with anything availability and demand will regulate the prices. Even with the hundreds of dollar price tags people are still buying them.

[Evolution]

Here is another perspective... Lets say I work at a LFS and I'm paid $20 an hour and I spend 1-2 hours a day talking to people about the zebra pleco for sale and 4 days go by before it sells, because I'm not going to sell it to just anybody... it would cost the LFS a $100 - $160 to pay me to sell it. It takes me less than 5 minutes to sell 6 red wag platies and 6 neon tetras and I'd sell them to almost anybody (requirements pending).

Here is another perspective... The zebra pleco lands in the store that day and before a price can be put up a reg walks in and wants to buy it... "how much?" "$300 but I'll take $25 off for you" "$50 and it's a deal?" "deal!"

[fishlover]

Just came across this. I would like to share what I know about Zebra Pleco in Edmonton.

About 13 years ago, from the help of Rudy Kern, a senior Discus/Catfish breeder in St. Albert brought in a box of adult wild Zebra from Germany. After a couple of years, the group started to breed. Over the next few years, he was sucessfully rasied over 1000 frys. That was how Henry from Nature Corner (Dad's Fish Room) got the stock. Another LFS called Wing Fat Tropical Fish (In Jasper Ave and 99 Street. Shut down more than 10 years ago) got a lot of his fry and sold. This breeder was finally out of the hobby. He told me he gave his breeding group of a fellow hobbyst who is a mumber of the Aquarium Club of Edmonton. He still have the group (I believe) but unfortunately they had never spawn since he got them.

In 1999, I was lucky enough to obtain a group of fry from him as well as from other sources to develop my own breeding group. During the next 6 years, I made several silly mistakes to kill a lot of them. In a single occasion, I made a water change with cold water and wiped out a whole tank of 40 sub adults. My group first spawn for me in 2005. Since than, I raised a 2-3 hundred fry. Some members in this board had seen my set up. Last year, I felt bore about breeding them and sold the group to a breeder in Vancouver. Now, I am keeping 7 young one just for fun.

Zebra is not hard to breed. They will do it when time is right. All I have to say is Patience. Not very many hobbyst is willing to take 6 years to raise them from baby to adult. When they reach maturity, they will breed. One other problem is female is hard to get. Out of a spawn of 10, there may be only 1 female...or even none.

If there are more serious breeders out there, Zebra Pleco will not be extinct.

Just my 2 cents.

Attached are the pictures I took in the past.

[syno321]

Actually that breeder brought in a few shipments, as he did incur losses until he finally established his breeding colony. It was not a cheap proposition! I did obtain 10 young, raised them to adults only to discover that they were all males. When enough good breeders start being successful raising them, then the price may go down. As it is the Belo Monte dam will ensure that the species remains rare, expensive for the foreseeable future, and possibly extinct in the wild. This could mean that the only Zebras we see in the future will be CB. There is a petition to stop the dam on planetcatfish.org for those who wish to sign it. There is a legitimate breeding operation in Brazil who have an inventory of over 1000 young ready to move, but cannot move them due to the regulations on exporting them in place in Brazil at the moment. :grr:

Edited October 27, 2010 by syno321

[Blue Ram]

There is a breeder in Ajax Ontario that I visited in July. He has a large successful breeding operation. He sells 1 1/2" juveniles for $75.00. I was going to bring one back in July but was afraid I would not get enough food to it in the tank I was going to use.

[Vallisneria]

How come the M/F ratios are mostly males? Do tank conditions affect the gender of the eggs?

[syno321]

I have no idea