January's Fish of the Month

I am posting this sooner in hopes of people voting and getting a better result than in previous polls. This is mostly a catfish themed poll but I kind of want some of these to win.
Tom

 

going with Zebra Plecos this time!

 

I was going to go with the ones that got the least amount of votes, but wanted all catfish instead.
Tom

Just over 48 hours and we already have 10 votes. I am guessing no body like the clown pleco?
Tom

So here are some pics of my own fish.
The dwarf cory


The Rubbernose pleco


The clown Pleco


The Zebra pleco


The bumblebee catfish(Thank you CapeKate for the pic, I sent you a PM right after posting this)


Tom

 

great fish & you know that zebra is my fav.

 

Only 2 votes on what I voted for. I know there's lil chance of it winning!

 

HI Tom
no problem on the photo.;D .. I voted for the zebra pleco. That is a beautiful photo of him and I would loooove to know more about them. WOW what great stripes he has.

~ kate

 

i'm dying to know why the zebras are so expensive...makes me mad

 

i'm dying to know why the zebras are so expensive...makes me mad

When fishies are expensive it's b/c they are hard to reproduce, or hard to catch or find in the wild.

Tom where did you find a zebra pleco? Our lfs had the zebra look a likes but not the real thing. Did you order it in?

 

When fishies are expensive it's b/c they are hard to reproduce, or hard to catch or find in the wild.

yeah...but it seems like everybody with money is selling their babies on aquabid...so they can't be that hard to reproduce

 

Tom where did you find a zebra pleco? Our lfs had the zebra look a likes but not the real thing. Did you order it in?

I don't have one, I just got the pic from google.
Tom

 

I believe that L046 Zebra Plecos don't start breeding until they're 4 years old.. breeding isn't quaranteed and the usual things can bring down the number of fry that make it. Combined with the low numbers of them in the wild and captivity, the price is not cheap. I'd still love to get some young ones and raise them to breeding age to work with other breeders in developing many strong bloodlines and a healthy captive population to keep this beautiful fish from going extinct.

 

I believe that L046 Zebra Plecos don't start breeding until they're 4 years old.. breeding isn't quaranteed and the usual things can bring down the number of fry that make it. Combined with the low numbers of them in the wild and captivity, the price is not cheap. I'd still love to get some young ones and raise them to breeding age to work with other breeders in developing many strong bloodlines and a healthy captive population to keep this beautiful fish from going extinct.

And then sell them back to the community and be able to retire after a few years.
Tom

 

lol, I wish. But if we do well, in 3 or 4 years we'll have some to sell and hopefully pay for the endeavor as well as projects with other endangered fish but it may be 12-20 years of exchanging stock before I could establish enough bloodlines to have a lot of L046s to sell.

And then sell them back to the community and be able to retire after a few years.
Tom

 

I don't have one, I just got the pic from google.
Tom

Oh oopsy! I thought it was your pix, lol.

 

yea.. me too. I was jealous! :;pirate

Oh oopsy! I thought it was your pix, lol.

 

I believe that L046 Zebra Plecos don't start breeding until they're 4 years old.. breeding isn't quaranteed and the usual things can bring down the number of fry that make it. Combined with the low numbers of them in the wild and captivity, the price is not cheap. I'd still love to get some young ones and raise them to breeding age to work with other breeders in developing many strong bloodlines and a healthy captive population to keep this beautiful fish from going extinct.

Well that definitely explains that...4 years is a long time to wait for breeding. WOW!
I really wish I had of gotten the ones that look like them. Just as pretty but not as perfect stripes.

 

Oh oopsy! I thought it was your pix, lol.

Well in that case, I do. lol
Tom

 

yea.. me too. I was jealous! :;pirate

I was ready to start driving to Tom's to "cat"nap it.
I'd be there in about a week lol.

 

I was ready to start driving to Tom's to "cat"nap it.
I'd be there in about a week lol.

No, just a few days and then a few days back. lol I only live a few hundered of kms west from you.
Tom

 

No, just a few days and then a few days back. lol I only live a few hundered of kms west from you.
Tom

With my driving skills it'd be a week,lol

 

With my driving skills it'd be a week,lol

Ok, I'll take that.
Tom

 

I believe that L046 Zebra Plecos don't start breeding until they're 4 years old.. breeding isn't quaranteed and the usual things can bring down the number of fry that make it. Combined with the low numbers of them in the wild and captivity, the price is not cheap. I'd still love to get some young ones and raise them to breeding age to work with other breeders in developing many strong bloodlines and a healthy captive population to keep this beautiful fish from going extinct.


COBettaCouple lol, I wish. But if we do well, in 3 or 4 years we'll have some to sell and hopefully pay for the endeavor as well as projects with other endangered fish but it may be 12-20 years of exchanging stock before I could establish enough bloodlines to have a lot of L046s to sell.

Oooh That's Great, man! I hope you really get to do it!
And don't forget, I'm in line to buy to buy with a discount!

 

That is so cool, the bumblebee catfish is now only one away from the zebra pleco.
Tom

 

lol, the overnight shipping costs would be a killer, though!

Oooh That's Great, man! I hope you really get to do it!
And don't forget, I'm in line to buy to buy with a discount!

 

That is so cool, the bumblebee catfish is now only one away from the zebra pleco.
Tom

Within 3 days there are 16 votes!
Isn't it splendid!

lol, the overnight shipping costs would be a killer, though!

Aww then I'll have to come fetch it in plane!arky

 

Aww then I'll have to come fetch it in plane!arky

Or get your fish friends of the sea to go and get them for you. lol
Tom

Within 3 days there are 16 votes!
Isn't it splendid!

Ya, are the planets aligned or something. lol
Tom

I had just got excited because there had only been 5 days pass and there were already 17 votes. But nothing has been active here since yesterday really early(for me).
Tom

 

And poor old clown pleco hasn't even 1 vote!

 

It is a tie between the zebra loach and the bumblebee catfish. It is 6-6
Tom

 

Rubberlip is close behind
Carol

 

think about how easy it would be to make money from breeding zebras...buy a pair for $400-500...have 10 babies that survive...sell them for $200 ea.
(I guess you would have to count the costs of food, tank equip. etc. but still...)

 

yea, 4 years of care..

 

It's been up for 7 days and there are more votes then in the last one. But the Zebra pleco is winning with 7 votes, followed by the Bumblebee catfish with 6, then the Rubbernose pleco and Dwarf cory are tied with 5, and the Clown pleco brings up the rear with 0 votes.
Tom

 

The reason zebras (L46) are so expensive is that they are no longer collected from the wild.

All captive stock is from fish that were in captivity before 2/05.

This fish never was cheap.
I saw them on wholesale lists for as low as 10$, but never lower than 30$ in a store.

Legit pairs run closer to 2000-3000 $ not 400-500$.

I expect the fish to get back into the under 150$ range in about 3-4 years.
I don't really ever expect it to drop back below 100$.

 

LOL I voted for the Clown Pleco because I do not want the little one to be left out, and I actually own one and they are such sweeties. I love the Zebra Plecos also but my attempt to own one was a miserable failure with the prices asked for (upwards of $200 and then they backed out at the last minute... I think they got a better offer)

Drs Foster and Smith.com used to have the Zebra Pleco listed in their website as available for $175.00 but no more and they say that they do not expect to offer them again.

Rose

 

clown plecos are cute little ones.. they're all great fish. ;D

 

here are some auctions on aquabid for LOTS of l-46 zebras

 

Wow, 30 votes and only 9 days have passed, now if we could have had this type of turn out on all the polls.
Tom

 

The zebra pleco is gorgeous. Wish I had the funds to get one. Oh well. Maybe I can talk the fiance into that instead of a honeymoon. Hehehe!

 

Zebra = 11
Clown = 1
Runnernose = 6
Bumblebee = 8
Dwarf cory = 8

 

clown plecos are cute little ones.. they're all great fish. ;D

My female clown pleco, Stripey is a scaredy "cat" She hides all the time...I think it's b/c she was in with my Africans.
Never have small timid fancy plecos with African cichlids. They all got beaten up...I feel horrible about it. It's one thing I have learned about my types of fancy plecos.
I don't think we really need plecos with african cichlids...ever see a mbuna eating algae off the glass. Like someone pressing their face up against a window.