I think you are comparing apples and oranges. Niether art prints nor a mass produced product are good metaphors. Zebra Pleco breeding is perhaps more akin to dog breeding. You don't see people who breed purebred dogs lowering their prices. If I want a full AKC registered minature schnauzer I can exp...

So what is your point? That legitimate breeders should lower their prices to discourage smuggling?

Hi Lora,

Welcome aboard! Those of us who are zebraless are welcome here as well.

I'm not sure I understand all the fuss about the price... currently I own no zebras because I cannot afford them. That's the way the world works. I have a fascination with hand forged swords and they are also expensive and rare but I never see people on the sword forums calling bladesmiths elitist b...

Thank you McEve, I could use the laugh today!

Of course, I wouldn't be a proper Mac partisan without observing that I avoid all those technical issues by owning an iMac...

Hi crazie.eddie, I'm not sure I buy your premise that we are increasing smuggling. I believe that smuggling of this fish will happen regardless of this board. The people who catch fish have families to feed and they, like everyone else, will do what it takes to feed them. Higher on the supply chain,...

To some degree, I don't see that there is anything wrong with being elitist. After all, we are specifically concerned with propagating one species and hopefully seeing that species thrive. We have concrete proof that this animal is being smuggled out of Brazil despite being on IBAMA's endangered spe...

I'd put that in the BS category. External UV sterilization can't sterlize the interior of the fish... which I believe they would need to do in this case. It just does not make sense...

I am an arachnophobe... but I am also SpiderMan. Go figure.

I am often involved in similar types of negotiations with my wife. Best of luck getting that new 20g going!

I just bought some Cherry Shrimp from Arizona Aquatic Gardens. Nine of the ten arrived alive. I also got some of the Malaysian Rainbow shrimp. Note: this was not for a Zebra tank, this was for a planted aquarium. Just wanted to let KH Block know they were available there.

Think about it from the perspective of a brazillian official. You have this massive region of your country without electricity. True, it is not a hugely populated region but it could be... if there was power. Right now that region produces minor economic benefit for the country from tourism, tropica...

Thank you for the detailed clarification. Sadly, it is hard to argue with people living without electricity. Even sadder is the fact that hydroelectric is "clean" energy rather than other, less clean alternatives. I'm not sure I accept the explanation of this being an economic measure only...

Do conservation and the hobby go together? My experience, working retail sales in LFS for about seven years and working for a wholesaler for a year is that the hobby creates conservationists. What I mean by that is (and this is all anecdotal based on personal experience) people purchase aquariums a...

I think Trigger 123 is asking how we would handle it if we walked into a store and saw zebras and were told they were wild caught... I remember when seahorses were placed on the CITES list there were "blackmarket" seahorses here and there. Most dealers, IME, are too responsible to deal in ...