Coryd55

Ok.

My mom got the insane idea that she wants to breed L46's for money. She wants to get a 55 for breeding and a 30 grow out tank.

What do you think about this?

Any other good "money fish"?

I guess thats what happens when Dino says that one of his friends put 17,000 dollars into his kids college account with L46 breeding.....

Allie

First of all L46 are hard to breed to begin with and don't have many fry at a time, which is why they are so expensive. I don't imagine just anyone would be able to breed them.
Just find out what species of fish are most popular in your area & those are the money makers. Or look up endangered species and see if you can get some wild caught species and breed them.

Butterfly

Considering a breeding colony of L46 cost several thousand dollars to buy and then they have to be two years old to breed he had a big outlay before he put that money in the kids college fund.
That said.. It would be cool to be able to do that. It's really hard and expensive to make money from breeding fish. No I'm not trying to discourage you, I just want you to be aware it's not as easy as it looks and sounds
Heres a good place to start learning
http://www.zebrapleco.com/
http://www.plecofanatics.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=32295
http://www.plecofanatics.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=32297
carol

Coryd55

Yea. That is all my mom. None of my idea haha. She thinks everything is easy. haha

steveangela1

wow.. a breeding coloney of those guys.. that would be an expensive investement and a risky one at that!

Butterfly

and thats ok. As the "more experienced aquarist" just give her all the information she needs to make a good decision. Introduce her to www.aquabid.com and the L46 prices for a start and the informaion on how to raise them. You never know you may go to college on fish money
carol

Dino

I personally know someone who has bred these fish, and was talking to Cory's mom about them.
Nothonotus over at Aquabid used to live in Knoxville and I have seen the L 46 fry he has produced.

susitna-flower

#1 I think it is GREAT when a mom wants to get involved in an area of their children's interest....very impressive.

#2 An undertaking of this type is possible if a person is willing to learn first from people who are successful, and don't "skimp" on equipment, work, or expense in areas those folks recommend.

After years of experience you will know what equipment you can DIY or not....but one thing for sure if a fish needs certain water conditions to be healthy and breed, you are just flushing $$ down the drain if you don't provide the correct conditions.

I'm currently looking at an endangered species to breed, and the requirements are a 180 gallon tank minimum, with weekly water changes of over 100%....nitrates 0-5! This is a huge commitment, and you couldn't just have one tank!

One thing for sure, there is a high demand for L46 here in the US...It may be hard to deal with all the hassle of shipments and such though. Tell your mom she is awesome....

Shawnie

okies...after many google searches, and tons of answers cept for the one i need, whats L46 ...LOL just dying to know

Dino

L046 are the rarest of the zebra plecos.
They are no longer exported, thus the high demand.

Shawnie

TY muchly ...see I knew id learn something everyday here!

Coryd55

Alright.

Thanks for all the information on them. I am gonna send my mom this thread and the links so she can read all about it.

I think it would be amazing if we could get some L46's, even more so if we get L46's breeding.

I will keep everyone updated!

COBettaCouple

With their status in the wild so bad, breeding is really something every L046 owner should try to do. When we're able to get some, I hope to successfully breed them and sell some fry but also exchange some fry with other L046 owners for developing stronger bloodlines.

Dino - I could be remembering wrong, but I thought you told me they had to get to about 4 years old before they'd be ready for breeding?

Dino

Ben's were 4 years old the first time they bred.

COBettaCouple

Ah, I see. I hope you can get some of those beauties, Cory. They're such a great fish to own.

FishnFry

I think every aquarist would love to have one of these. I'd consider 1 who has owned this lucky. They are hard to come by, thus very high priced.

COBettaCouple

True and if we got some, it would have to be from a 100% reputable breeder like Dino. It's a lot of money to spend and we'd want to be sure that they were good stock and had been cared for properly.