Amanda

Barbrella

Yes, it's serious. Those plecos sell for between $300 and $600 each. He's selling 15 of them, and they're a pretty good size.

chowes

Aren't zebra plecos really rare?

Amanda

I just found a listing for zebra plecs priced at $23,000! I can't imagine spending that much money for plecos.

Chief_waterchanger

No. L046 Zebra plecos aren't rare, but they are on the 'Cites red list'. That means that their home country no longer allows exportation of the fish and that any trafficing of a wild L046 is a international crime punishable by years in prison as well as outrageous fines (something to the tune of 100,000 per fish, if I remember correctly.)

That is why they are sold so expensively for domestically bred L046. (It is not illegal to possess or sell domestically bred L046.)

Another factor into their huge cost is the fact that it takes 4-7 YEARS for sexual maturity to be reached. Even at the time they were discovered and up until they were over-exported and put on the red list they sold 50-75 dollars per fish... so they were never cheap fish.

Cody

they are amazing plecos, but not that amazing

Chief_waterchanger

I plan to buy Dino a colony of 5-6 of them for either his birthday or Christmas present in 2009.

sirdarksol

An excellent gift.

In a few generations, if enough people (like CWC and Dino) set themselves to the task of breeding them, the price should come down. It's happened with other fish in the past.

It's a combination of a creature that is sort-of endangered in the wild (as long as the little stretch of river they live in stays healthy, they'll be around, but a river is a fragile thing) and a long time to sexual maturity. This creates a perceived increase in value, which amounts to a real increase in value.

Butterfly

I don't believe they raise over 7-15 in a spawning either so that is a consideration also.
versus the 50 and up I was getting in a spawning of sp3 bristlenose.
Carol

Devon

If I spent that much money on fish they would likely just die on me out of pure spite.

sirdarksol

On the one hand, that's really morbid. On the other, it's really funny.

mrsmuffin

I would never spend enough money on a fish to have one of those, but I think they are the cutest things!!

Shawnie

shhhhh dont tell him!

Chief_waterchanger

I thought about that... But then being that he is Santa and would be delivering his own presents too.. I will just leave Zebra plecos instead of cookies and hope he doesn't eat very many of them before he realizes..

(No zebra plecos will be hurt in the making of that Christmas Present's presentation.)

Shawnie

too much thinking on your part!! nice visual of a zebra tail hanging outta santa's mouth tho! LOL

Devon

Seriously, that thought was taken waaaay too far... ohhh gross!!

Slug

More so it just hanging out of Dino's mouth! hahaha funny sight that would be.

This is my dream fish, has been since i came into the hobby years and years ago. Still waiting.

fishrule101

I never seen anyone paying that much for a fish. Most SW fish can out color him and there not even past 200!!

COBettaCouple

If I can find someone I trust selling L046s, I'll buy some.. give them the best of everything and hopefully do well with breeding them in time and establishing strong bloodlines with other breeders.

Amanda

I would love to get into breeding these as well. When I have more well established tanks, I probably will.

Mysterywriter221

Are you dead set on getting a zebra pleco? I got two hypostomus plecos (one has since died) and they couldn't have been more than $30 total.

Chief_waterchanger

The hypostomus are a common pleco that are in no short supply. The reason for people wanting things like L046 is either for its very different coloration, to simply have something that is less common, or, like my reason, to breed them so that if they ever went from just being uncommon, due to being redlisted since they were over-fished in the first place, to all out extinct in the wild there would still be some around to repopulate a suitable wild location, perhaps. (Hobbyists have, on atleast one occasion, been the reason a species that was once severely endangered, and possibly extinct in the wild made a turn around.

Mysterywriter221

Oh! Cool! Good luck

Allie

AND the money eh?
They don't breed easily and not for years after they mature if ever. These are not a beginners fish.

sirdarksol

It's not so much that they aren't beginners fish. If you've got the proper-sized tank, they are pretty hardy.
And because they've got a pretty long life, it's not like with bettas, where if they miss a year of breeding, they're past their prime.

It would just take some time learning what triggers breeding.