Any Zebras for Sale?

[zeberdy]

Anyone know where I might get zebra plecs from that are affordable

[Adam]

Hi Zeberdy,

Check out the thread that I started titled "Looking for Zebras". Some good supplier links have been supplied by the guys here. I have already reserved another 4 zebras pending inspection. You will be looking at upwards of £85.00 per fish. Good luck.

[Dr. P]

Here's the link to Adams post....

http://www.zebrapleco.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=47

[Tristan]

got some of mine (their last 3) from trimar and some from browsing the internet.
http://www.tropicalfishfinder.co.uk/
is a good site as if you buy their card for £8 you can get a 10 - 15% discount, which in several £90 fish is quite a saving. They tend to list the fish that are available and you can set up a system whereby you are emailed when a species you are looking for becomes available.
Well worth a look.

[DasArab]

I recon that this year they will break the £100 barrier. Ive heard romours that the importation of wild ones could be banned.

[Adam]

Likewise I've heard the same, the likelyhood is that zebras will become a CITIES listed species which in effect is a ban on importation/exportation.

I was talking to a supplier of zebras today and he told me that each consignment of fish he has received over the past few months has been a third more expensive. Expect prices to go through the roof soon. I still remember paying £35 for the first zebra I ever bought.

[DasArab]

Adam its only 2 years ago that they were that price up here. God i wouldnt pay more than £3 for a cory back then, how times have changed.

[Adam]

someone somewhere is making a hell of a lot of money out of us.

One of the places I visited had their zebras up for £150 , they also had cory sterbai for £25.00 and a large can of prima was £24.99. Now that's just taking the piss, needless to say I made no purchases.

[Dr. P]

One of the places I visited had their zebras up for £150

I suppose that aint too surprising but.....

they also had cory sterbai for £25.00

Holly shibby!! £25!!!! I buy them for like £6.99 and thought that was bad enough!!!

[Tom26000]

I hate to say it because I buy the fish as well but if we all pay the money the prices will keep going up! My local wholesaler use to get zerba plecs in at just under £17.00 just over four years ago. I very much doubt these prices will have gone up by much. I am going to try and find out tomorrow. Maybe even place an order if they can get hold of any.

I just hope all these zebra plec colonies are going to start breeding soon and maybe that will bring the price down, or will people just sell them for the same price!?

Regards

Tom

[Barbie]

This is a simple case of supply and demand, in all honesty. People want them, and are willing to pay the price it takes to get them. I know I spent quite a bit on my breeders and I need them to repay that investment and help me expand my fish room. If one person doesn't want to pay what they cost, the next one will, so why would I drop the price?

Barbie

[Tom26000]

Thats my point entirely. Until the hobbiest stops paying the ridiculous sums zebra plecs will continue to become more expensive. If I were in the business of selling zebra plecs I doubt I could say no to the current bids. We just need more people breeding them in the hobby and then the price will fall.

Regards

Tom

[Barbie]

Their spawns range between 5 and 15 fry on average, from what I've been told. My male is so far averaging 6. (methinks he's having a wee bit of difficulty with this hatching process). The average spawn rate is monthly, from what I've read. I paid a hefty price for 12 zebras, lost 8 due to a miscommunication with the ex, bought 7 more, raised them for 2 years, and finally have had a few small spawns. I don't intend to sell any at ALL until I have 20 growing out somewhere, in case something should happen to be breeders, as I couldn't afford to replace them.

I get requests a couple times a week for fry, and literally have a list with 20 people on it that want to be notified when I have some for sale. The price isn't going to come down unless they are being raised commercially, and I know 3 or 4 places working on it, but only 1 with any degree of success. They were 60 dollars retail when they were still being imported with ease, I doubt you'll see that price again in 5 years, even with large scale captive breeding. The demand is just more than the fish can produce, which is what caused the problem with them being controlled in their native waters in the first place.

Barbie