ZebraPleco.com • The complete Hypancistrus zebra resource

Hi,

I'm new to this forum and am really glad I found it cuz I have one huge question. HOW IN THE WORLD DO ALL OF YOU HAVE SO MANY ZEBRA PLECOS???

I've been looking for years and haven't seen a single one available anywhere. I'm obviously looking in the wrong places because they seem pretty abundant here. Can anyone tell me where I can acquire some of these gorgeous fish?...I'm in California. BTW: what happened to these fish that made them so scarce nowadays? Sorry for the rookie questions.

dan

Patience, frustration, some more patience, a little more frustration and a little more patience followed by another sprinkling of frustration...and that's how you find zebs.

Seriously though I can't account for everyone on here, but some have aquired fry from breeders, others have trawled Fish shops and some have bid for them on places like ebay.
If your wanting to find some, to breed, the best place is to hang out here... and keep an eye on places like aquabid as well. Another word of advice if youre wanting to breed them, is have enough cash to purchase a group of ten or so...they quite often come up in groups, as I think a lot of people buy groups of them thinking they're going to make a bundle of cash, when it doesn't happen after 6-12 months they sell them wanting their money back.

I tend to agree with Mr Plasticmac! There is no easy way to aquire zebras now, only sheer determinatation.

The reason for the zebras being difficult to come by now are, ( in a very brief summary, but look in "In the Wild" for more info):

1. Major Algael Brloom in Rio Xingu several years ago
2. Glod MIning, (Mercury Poisoning)
3. Over -fishing of already greatly depleted stock
4. The introduction of an Export Ban on most Xingu L no's.

Keep an eye on the sales and wants section and you will probably get your hand on some, but you need to be quick. If a zebra is for sale anywhere onthe net it will probaly be highlighted in this forum.

have fun

rob

I got most of mine before the export ban from Brazil, as I think many others on this forum did as well. But they do occationally pop up as private sales. I don't think you'll find them in any LFS' these days..

But like the others said, if there's any available on the net you'll most probably hear about it here first

Just as a random point - Maidenhead Aquatics in Bracknell has 5

The price is £180 for them - at 1.5"
2 for £300.

WoW ! That ain't cheap.... although I wouldn't want the price to crash !

Simon

I hope the prices on these little guys fall. They have always been a pricey fish but it has gotten out of control. I have 6 now and plan to get more in hopes of breeding them. I'm not doing it for the money, but for the love of the fish/hobby. $250 to $350 for a juvenile is outrageous.

I would hope that anyone that has the ability to care for these little guys can have one. Not just the wealthy hobbyist that wants to breed them to line their pockets.

Hopefully, with more breeders coming to the hobby and as the tank bred population grows maybe the prices will become more reasonable. One could only hope....

I agree...I hope that the small few that own these fish have continued success with their breeding programs. Who knows, maybe F1's and F2's will be even easier to breed in captivity and even more prolific. It'll be a great day when they are more abundant and within reach again. I just hope they don't disappear for good like the blue eyed pleco...haven't seen them in almost 8+ years...wonder if we'll ever see that fish again

dan wrote:I agree...I hope that the small few that own these fish have continued success with their breeding programs. Who knows, maybe F1's and F2's will be even easier to breed in captivity and even more prolific. It'll be a great day when they are more abundant and within reach again. I just hope they don't disappear for good like the blue eyed pleco...haven't seen them in almost 8+ years...wonder if we'll ever see that fish again

Blue eyes are still about, although rare. I know someone who picked one up the other day for 500 euros.

dan wrote:I agree...I hope that the small few that own these fish have continued success with their breeding programs. Who knows, maybe F1's and F2's will be even easier to breed in captivity and even more prolific. It'll be a great day when they are more abundant and within reach again. I just hope they don't disappear for good like the blue eyed pleco...haven't seen them in almost 8+ years...wonder if we'll ever see that fish again

whats a F1 or F2? im confused....

andrewcoxon wrote: whats a F1 or F2? im confused....

Look at Barbies post here:

http://www.zebrapleco.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1307

in australia its about $1000 per 4cm specimine!