L173 Plecos
L173 Plecos
So I was watching a video on Youtube and heard the person say L173. when i looked it up they look very similar to L046. The weird thing is I can't seem to find anyone/anything for sale when i do a Google search. Where can you buy these fish and how much do they normally cost?
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TwoTankAmin
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Re: L173 Plecos
The 173 is not the same as a zebra. they differ significantly in a number of ways.
1. 173 get larger than zebras.
2, Zebras pretty much look like zebras from the time they go fee swimming to the time they die. 173 tends to go through different appearances over time. As it approaches sexual maturity its stripes take on the typical zig-zag pattern that makes them easier to ID. Rgis development is not consistant. At birth they look different from each other with a few showing 173 characteristics but most are all over the map.
4. 173 grows more slowly than zebra and thus take more time before it begins to spawn.
5. 173 seem to produce fewer eggs than a zebra. Considering both produce a small amount of eggs per spawn, this difference is unusual since one would expect the larger fish to produce the greater number of eggs.
The reason I can write the above is that i actually have two spawning groups of 173. One was originally loaned to me by the owner and it was 10 wild caught adults. The deal was if that, if I could get them to spawn, we would split the fry. I was successful and in the end I wound up purchasing the entire 10 fish group which included the owner's share of the fry. I currently have two dads on wigglers.
The second group were F1 fish I believe came from a German breeder and which I via the same person who sold me his private holdings (he did not spawn fish). This was originally 14 fish about 1.75 inch TL. The 11 I still have just began spawning in the past two months.
The bad news in all of this is that I am not in any rush to sell these fish. I did let go 3 of the 14 in the F1 group to help defray the cost of the wilds. I also did sell 7 offspring over a year to one buyer who I firmly believe will grow them out to spawn.
I know there are others who must be spawning these fish. I know of one person who brought some in from Germany and was selling pairs at about 2 inches for $900. It would take another year or so before they might spawn.
As for cost- the fish I sold were as follows:
4 fish at 1.50+ inch TL were $200 each and were priced that low because the buyer also took a proven group of L173b. He picked up the fish.
3 fish at 1.75+ nch TL were $275 each to the same buyer 1 year later. He had lost 1 of the first 4. I shipped the fish.
3 F1 from the original of 14) at 2.5+ TL inch were $500 each. The buyer picked up the fish.
I have a number of people wanting and waiting on some of my offspring. Eventually, I will be selling them. However, At this time I an trying to build numbers and grow out fish. I also want to study they growth process in terms of the patterning and how it changes. Most of what I have seen is the result of having 24 fish and then about 15 offspring in my possession. I cannot watch how they progress if I sell them, so I am inclined not to sell for now.
I wonder what vid you saw. My friend Rachel, aka msjinkzd, made a vid of my 173s and it is on her Youtube channel. I also have a few threads on Planetcatfish with pics and links which include that vid.
1. 173 get larger than zebras.
2, Zebras pretty much look like zebras from the time they go fee swimming to the time they die. 173 tends to go through different appearances over time. As it approaches sexual maturity its stripes take on the typical zig-zag pattern that makes them easier to ID. Rgis development is not consistant. At birth they look different from each other with a few showing 173 characteristics but most are all over the map.
4. 173 grows more slowly than zebra and thus take more time before it begins to spawn.
5. 173 seem to produce fewer eggs than a zebra. Considering both produce a small amount of eggs per spawn, this difference is unusual since one would expect the larger fish to produce the greater number of eggs.
The reason I can write the above is that i actually have two spawning groups of 173. One was originally loaned to me by the owner and it was 10 wild caught adults. The deal was if that, if I could get them to spawn, we would split the fry. I was successful and in the end I wound up purchasing the entire 10 fish group which included the owner's share of the fry. I currently have two dads on wigglers.
The second group were F1 fish I believe came from a German breeder and which I via the same person who sold me his private holdings (he did not spawn fish). This was originally 14 fish about 1.75 inch TL. The 11 I still have just began spawning in the past two months.
The bad news in all of this is that I am not in any rush to sell these fish. I did let go 3 of the 14 in the F1 group to help defray the cost of the wilds. I also did sell 7 offspring over a year to one buyer who I firmly believe will grow them out to spawn.
I know there are others who must be spawning these fish. I know of one person who brought some in from Germany and was selling pairs at about 2 inches for $900. It would take another year or so before they might spawn.
As for cost- the fish I sold were as follows:
4 fish at 1.50+ inch TL were $200 each and were priced that low because the buyer also took a proven group of L173b. He picked up the fish.
3 fish at 1.75+ nch TL were $275 each to the same buyer 1 year later. He had lost 1 of the first 4. I shipped the fish.
3 F1 from the original of 14) at 2.5+ TL inch were $500 each. The buyer picked up the fish.
I have a number of people wanting and waiting on some of my offspring. Eventually, I will be selling them. However, At this time I an trying to build numbers and grow out fish. I also want to study they growth process in terms of the patterning and how it changes. Most of what I have seen is the result of having 24 fish and then about 15 offspring in my possession. I cannot watch how they progress if I sell them, so I am inclined not to sell for now.
I wonder what vid you saw. My friend Rachel, aka msjinkzd, made a vid of my 173s and it is on her Youtube channel. I also have a few threads on Planetcatfish with pics and links which include that vid.
What makes the common person uncommon is common sense.
