More zebs than ever

bengranger80 · Post by **bengranger80** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 7:05 pm

Hi,
just been looking on ebay at the price of zebras, and I have to say I have never seen so many wild caught zebras for sale on there before, and i look fairly frequently.
Are more numbers being caught in the wild before? or are there just more opertunities to get them out of the country.
does anyone think that the price will be coming down, or will it hold at about £200 for an adult wc zeb?
There is definetely something going on, as i have never seen so many people with wc zebs before.
took me ages to find my adults, now it seems you could go out and buy 100 adults with relative ease!
Any thoughts are invited.
Thanks
Ben

Post by **TwoTankAmin** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 1:07 am

The prices driven by demand finally got high enough to make it worth while to smuggle a ton out.

It is the same in the states. The prices are even lower here.

Jo's Zebs · Post by **Jo's Zebs** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 6:11 pm

The prices are dropping already there are wilds on there £50 less than last week I followed a couple of auctions where there were listings of 20 & 10 non sold I dont know if this is due to opinion on wild caught or just saturation I have never seen so many wild caughts up for sale before

BigPlans · Post by **BigPlans** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 8:45 pm

Hi,

I purchased mine 3 weeks ago from a guy who had about 100 but I think they have all been sold now. There are no zebs on eBay at the mo which paints a picture.

Post by **TwoTankAmin** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 2:51 am

I doubt it is the wild caught side of it that has them going unsold. The market is glutted. These are currently showing on AquaBid (none have a single bid):

Plecostomus: L46 hyprancistrus zebra Canadianaquatics 9/30 $300.00
Plecostomus: 2.5" zebra pleco L46 free shipping! Wlsnakeskin 9/30 $150.00
Plecostomus: 1 Pair L46 Zebra Pleco Free Shipping! Group 2 N00dl3 9/30 $950.00
Plecostomus: 20 LARGE PROVEN BREEDING COLONY L46 ZEBRA PLECOS Amazing_betta 10/1 $8000.00
Plecostomus: 1 Pair L46 Zebra Pleco Free Shipping! Group 3 N00dl3 10/1 $950.00
Plecostomus: 4 L 46 Zebra Pleco 2.25 to 2.50 in Free Shipping! N00dl3 10/3 $1000.00
Plecostomus: Wild Caught L 46 Zebra Pleco 2.50 inches RARE! N00dl3 10/3 $250.00
Plecostomus: 10 L46 L-46 L046 L-046 Hypancistrus Zebra Zebrabreeder 10/3 $1600.00
Plecostomus: 5pcs L46 Zebra Plecos Zebraplecos 10/4 $2750.00
Plecostomus: 8 L 46 Zebra Pleco 2.25 to 2.50 in Free Shipping! N00dl3 10/5 $1900.00
Plecostomus: 1 Pair L46 Zebra Pleco Free Shipping! Group 1 N00dl3 10/6 $950.00
Plecostomus: 20pcs L46 Zebra Plecos Zebraplecos 10/7 $4785.00
Plecostomus: Breeding group L46 Zebra Plecos (4M+8F) Zebraplecos 10/8 $8400.00
Plecostomus: 5x L98 Zebra Plecos Variant Zebraplecos 10/10 $6500.00
Plecostomus: 15 young breeding L46 Zebra Plecos Zebraplecos 10/10 $9375.00
Plecostomus: 15 L46 Zebra Plecos (f1) Zebraplecos 10/10 $3600.00
Plecostomus: 40 young breeding L46 Zebra Plecos Zebraplecos 10/10 $24000.00
Plecostomus: Breeding group L46 Zebra Plecos (5M+10F) Zebraplecos 10/12 $10500.00
Plecostomus: 30pcs L46 Zebra Plecos Zebraplecos 10/12 $7050.00
Plecostomus: L46 Zebra Plecos ( 2M+4F ) F0 Zebraplecos 10/12 $4995.00

jerry58 · Post by **jerry58** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 5:22 pm

Hi
Thats strange no bids yet but maybe they are waiting till the last day to bid.

The market is glutted.

What does that mean can you expand on it?.

Thanks Jerry

twinspots_goby · Post by **twinspots_goby** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:31 pm

I noticed that some of the sellers have bad reputations. That's why there is no bid even though they set a cheaper price.

Jo's Zebs · Post by **Jo's Zebs** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:53 am

glutted - way to many on the market, they are for sale all over the place always on AC at ever decreasing prices.

jerry58 · Post by **jerry58** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 11:02 am

Hi
Thanks for that but what I am saying this glut can only apply to where they are being sold (Turkey and USA )and this info does not reflect the over all picture as this might imply.

Thanks again Jerry

Post by **TwoTankAmin** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 5:48 pm

Here is the thing. The Japanese have always outbid for exotic fish, so many go there before the come here. I have lost out on fish before when the seller opted to take more money from ovwerseas.

If there is excess supply coming into the States, then it is a good bet that the other places which will pay more for the fish must also be oversupplied.

My concern still remains that over colection is now the greatest danger threatening the wild sebra population. I have seen no first hand reports to refute this (nor to support my thinking either).

Lifted193 · Post by **Lifted193** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 7:53 pm

I have notice that the "WC zebras" for sale in the US lately are smaller then they were about 10yrs ago!....Does that mean they are over collecting and not giving the wild stock a chance to grow?
Anybody else notice this too?

twinspots_goby · Post by **twinspots_goby** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 3:31 am

Lifted193 wrote:I have notice that the "WC zebras" for sale in the US lately are smaller then they were about 10yrs ago!....Does that mean they are over collecting and not giving the wild stock a chance to grow?
Anybody else notice this too?

A good point.

I noticed that the price of the zebra pleco in Japan decreased as well.

unungy · Post by **unungy** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:00 pm

YES that is right, and they will come even cheaper in future shipments......

I am sure that the zebra will be kept as one of the most difficult fish to acquire in the hobby even if the prices will drop down, just because they don't breed in big numbers and the rate of fatality is quiet high.

I am sure with the help of our experts that breeds them will be even easier to get some beautiful zebras at more affortable prices.
I am still trying to breed them but it will take me at least 2 year or so because I decided to raise them from small.

I have noticed that prices have reduced from other importers trying to sell their stock before the prices drop down even more, I'm not sure if I have contributed in any way reducing the prices on my stocks, but I'm happy that people can afford them at better prices.

I have sold mass numbers of zebras to breeders in different states and I am sure in the next year or so they will be contributing to reduce the price even more, I heard of a fish farm in Florida putting a project together to be the biggest distributor of F1s in the states. Good luck to them

Well good luck to those that are trying to breed them and keep more numbers of this beautiful creature.

Regards,
Saul

Post by **TwoTankAmin** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 7:20 pm

unungy- curious on your take on the info in this thread in light of your post above?

unungy · Post by **unungy** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 8:35 pm

TwoTankAmin wrote:unungy- curious on your take on the info in this thread in light of your post above?

TwoTankAmin,

Sorry for jumping in with so much info in this thread I find it very interesting that people see the zebra pleco as a hard fish to afford or find.

On the contrary it should be more available to the hobby, unfortunaltely because of its price it becomes hard to affort and sometimes we spend an arm and a leg trying to acquire some zebras plecos, I say this because my first colony cost me a fortune...
Perhaps I could share some points of view from the importer's side, and I hope people don't take it the wrong way.

Also the reason the most exotic fish goes to Japan and Asia is because of the money exchange difference with the american dollars and the consumers not wanting to spend much money for excotic fish it is not by choice the suppliers send the fish over there... and not the USA.

For example: I was tring to bring some L25, which are hard to get and I was asking for an small discount of 5$... within 30 mins they were sold to Japan.

I hope this info will be used illustrative and may help understand some view points shared in this very interesting thread.

Regads,
Saul