# zebra plecs wanted



## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

I am trying to find a local breeder of zebra plecs and I am struggling, most of them want to know about your set up before selling them too you, i can understand as it has taken a lot of time and effort to breed them but its almost like a "snobby" status 
"oh your not posh enough to buy MY zebs" i can imaging them saying!

anyway some one told me they have seen some for between £394-495 depending on age! That is just STUPID!


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

how much are you expecting to pay? 

and as for the snobbishness. Zebra breeding is a pretty exclusive club at the moment. so they have earned their right to be a bit protective over their animals. I've got 5 and they are the most important fish i own and if i manage to breed them then I'll find it very hard to let them go.

anyways I should hopefully be breeding soon. I've got the tank setup up perfect now (according to a friend who breeds them) and the male is nearly mature


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## bosshogg (Nov 19, 2006)

i personally feel that with the state of the wild zebras unless youa re wanting to buy them to help with there conservation dont buy them maybe look at getting the false zebra plecs L129 just as pretty but not endangered.
Clare


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## SelinaRealm (Sep 16, 2006)

alpharoyals said:


> I am trying to find a local breeder of zebra plecs and I am struggling, most of them want to know about your set up before selling them too you, i can understand as it has taken a lot of time and effort to breed them but its almost like a "snobby" status
> "oh your not posh enough to buy MY zebs" i can imaging them saying!
> 
> anyway some one told me they have seen some for between £394-495 depending on age! That is just STUPID!


The price tag goes with the fact that these fish are indangered and there is a complete ban on taking any from the wild. This means that the fish that are currently breeding in captivity are the ONLY ones in captivity.

I keep fish myself - they are not worth as much as zebra plecs...but I would not sell any of my babies without checking you had the correct set up first. This in not snobby....this is for the protection of the fish, due to some people having completely wrong setups...bad water quality, and above all else no intention on researching what is actually required. Some people just want a 'pretty' fish.


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## Mason (Jan 21, 2008)

would you know care where any royals you breed end up then? 

Just because it's fish doesn't change a thing.

If you bred albino royals would you sell them for the going rate for albinos or normals?

Very rare fish, not that easy to breed, how dare they charge *and* care where they end up.

The reason it's done is because if they sell a fish, and it drops dead, people are going to want a refund, 90% of the time it'll be the new owers setup or husbandry that killed it. It's in the seller best interest (less hassle long term) to ensure they goto homes they stand a chance at surviving at.


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## SelinaRealm (Sep 16, 2006)

Mason said:


> would you know care where any royals you breed end up then?
> 
> Just because it's fish doesn't change a thing.
> 
> ...


Well Put!!

I agree fully.: victory:


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## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

Mason said:


> would you know care where any royals you breed end up then?
> 
> Just because it's fish doesn't change a thing.
> 
> ...


Dont get me wrong, I am not saying "they are just fish" I would still care where they go if I bred them and I dont have a problem paying the going rate (which is not £395!) I am just finding it hard to find out what is a practical price.
Shop 1: £395
shop 2: £190
Classifieds between £90-£150 (obviously private breeders are cheaper i know) I dont mind paying around classifieds prices but dont want to get my pants pulled down at 400 big ones! and dont want to "give an offer" to a seller and them think I am taking the piss!


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## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

bosshogg said:


> maybe look at getting the false zebra plecs L129 just as pretty but not endangered.
> Clare


Why buy the L129 (Skoda) when you can afford the L046 (mercedes)
No way near as pretty... at all.


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

depending on quality age size etc you could pay anywhere up to 500quid and not be ripped off. Also depends where they came from etc. If the shop got theres from a breeder down the road, shipping costs are next to nothing, if it came from the other side of the planet it could cost a fortune for shipping. I've got 4 on the way iv'e paid 600quid the group for inc. delivery from germany. thats because i know the breeder and he needs more space. But these plecs im getting are top dollar quality and could easily have gone for 400 plus inc delivery.


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

tbh, anything over £100 each is a rip off.

Get to know the right people... and get them for £80 each! :lol2:

They are not actually that hard to breed.

Get your tank set up nicely, make sure it is perfect, take pics, send them to the breeders. =]


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

£80 is way too cheap for these guys. You can get them for that but it devalues the fish themselves. this is what is ruining the fish hobby in this country. Breeders and shops selling high value fish at stupidly low prices and meaning that others have to reduce prices to keep up until the small scale breeders and businesses go out of business, meaning more bloody maidenheads pop up and the actual decent shops lose their quality due to lack of funds.

if i paid less than £100 for a zebra plec without good reason i'd be a bit suspicious


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## bosshogg (Nov 19, 2006)

please £80 for zebra plec hahaha in my dreams,yes about 5years ago when they were still been brought into the country you could pick them up for about £25-50 but now with the ban been extended for at least another 2yrs!! the cheapest i got offered was from my friend as he knew i would breed them for conservation was £500 for a trio and the only reason i didnt take them was beacuse i was getting ready to move and knowing what L46 are like i didnt want to risk them.

so i take it you will be doing your bit and getting a trio to help with the numbers??? and i take it you have reserched into L46 as there need a specialist set up there not like any old pleco 

i dont mean t sound like i am having a go but with the numbers what there are yes keepers are been strict to who they sell to because we as keepers need to incease the numbers not sell them to someone that just wants a Mercedes instead of a skoda in his tank!!!!


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

erm....:lol2::lol2::lol2::lol2:

How do these plecs need a "specialist set up"? A large tank, with lots of caves will be fine for a group of three. Nothing special here.

These fish can easily be bought from breeders for between £100 and £150. There is nothing wrong with bringing the prices of fish down.


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## bosshogg (Nov 19, 2006)

not quite specialist sorry couldnt work out how to do describe it zebra plecs are very sensitive to water quailty and PH and need to have this monitored religously, so yes there are more specialistt than most plecs you couldnt fill a tank from the tap, stick some caves and leave them to it, you couldnt geed them Plec food aka Algae wafers, as zebras arnt algea eaters there need fresh ffod like roamino lettuce.

a good site foreverything L46 is Habitat - The Complete Online Zebra Pleco L046 Resource


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Ahhh getcha! : victory:


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## bosshogg (Nov 19, 2006)

Esfa said:


> Ahhh getcha! : victory:


no problme been dysleix it sometimes makes it hard for me to get it across i know what i want to say in m had just have pronelem getting it to paper (or screen!!)


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## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

mike515 said:


> £80 is way too cheap for these guys. You can get them for that but it devalues the fish themselves. this is what is ruining the fish hobby in this country. Breeders and shops selling high value fish at stupidly low prices and meaning that others have to reduce prices to keep up until the small scale breeders and businesses go out of business, meaning more bloody maidenheads pop up and the actual decent shops lose their quality due to lack of funds.
> 
> if i paid less than £100 for a zebra plec without good reason i'd be a bit suspicious


This is the problem I am having with Royal prices, People sell them way too cheap and don't care about the future. I think the problem is they dont have a net cost like when a shop buys something in, me and you know it does, food, electricity and substrate.... but people dont see the hatchlings "costing" them anything.

anyway! steering off topic. I still havent any sugestions of local breeders regardless of cost. :whistling2:


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## LDP (Jan 16, 2008)

Sign up here and PM *sojapat* he is getting some in on the 15th. Main site seems down at the mo but the forum is up...


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## Mez (Feb 19, 2007)

i know 3 sold for just over a grand recently.
make sure you get L046 aswell...not something similar:whistling2:


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## LDP (Jan 16, 2008)

All About Zebra Plecos
by Christophe Girardet


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

unlucky for whoever paid a grand. I got 4 for 600 . puts my group up to 11 now. had 2females then got a 1.2 trio and now an extra 2.4 so i got 3 males to 8 females. Hopefully should breed, the setup is bang on, loads of caves, nice sandy substrate, and fairly high flow


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## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

Post some pics then you tease! :lol2:


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## LDP (Jan 16, 2008)




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