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Shinigami, long time no see. .

Also, he's right. The ban is still up, meaning finding zebras below, say, 120 bucks is unlikely in the near future.

Hmm really now? do any of these people have web sites by chance?

No, but all of them are CAS or ACE members.

Interesting. The guy who provided me with my two zebras stated that his breeding tank (they bred about once every 50ish days for him, each time yielding, at best, 15ish fry) was totally devoid of ANY plantage, and was, in fact, only a twenty long. pH was about 7.6, as is common in SD, and there was plenty of rockwork. Current was heavy, and the spawning cave was a bamboo hollow. Gravel was sand based. I've given up zebra spawning currently, as I'm waiting for a female to compliment my two males, but I'll surely give it a spin when I do get my hands on a beautiful girl. Also, according to Kev Koro., the hypancistrus breeding god, spawning is not neccisarily hard, but are actually somewhat of random occurences. One may be able to do everything right and yield no batches, while another may have done everything wrong and be stuffed with babies. I'll stick with king tigers for now (just got a batch last week, but the male was a pig and ate the entire clutch). As Tortis said, there are MANY successful breeding programs. If you just google the phrase, you'll probably come up with several results in that alone.


Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 30-Jan-2005 21:07

Hmm really now? do any of these people have web sites by chance?

Not so difficult to breed...I know a chap that was in Edmonton that was producing about 150 fry per year each year until he moved to SA in 2002. One of the main tricks is to have a well-planted 60 gallon wide tank with two males and 6-8 females, and low, flattish caves for each pair, plus 3-4 extras.

One other tricky thing is that there is a serious lack of females available.

There are 6-8 people in Alberta (and 4 in Manitoba) that I am aware of with potential breeding groups that should be producing within the next 8-14 months. Currently zebras are selling here for $100-$140CDN each.

There are some breeding projects going for zebra plec's, so that may lowwer price, but they haven't been too successfull. They require a very precise kind of cave, with water flowing just a certain way around it, with a substrate consisting of gravel that is no larger but no smaller than the mole that was hidden behind hitler's moustache

Seriously though, they're VERY hard to breed and I think they only produce 8-15 offspring or something like that.

How do you have a "fake" zebra? There is no other hypancistrid with those distinct markings.

the ones at drs foster and smith are WAY overpriced.

I hate to say it since i like drs foster and smith.

You can get a quality one for $150, if it is anymore than that, it is mostlikely a ripoff, and if it is less, it is mostlikely a fake.

some sites warn of imposters out there too. keep a look out for them. i want a couple of zebras for my pow/mia themed 55 but i am not going to order them online for $250 each like on foster/smith. i haven't even seen any in the more than 50 fish stores here KC they truly are a pretty fish though

I saw a zebra for $100 once. But I always stick with my own pricing guide, any fish over $10 I don't buy. I'm not saying it isn't worth it, but with my limited experience, I don't think I should risk it.

I bet some of you clicked on this because you thought I was selling some my appologies. What I want to know is if anyone knows where I can get ahold of a zebra pleco online other than Aquabid. It needs to be a place that will ship to the US. Thanks in advance!

Zebra Plecs are going to be insanely priced for a long time because of the illegality of exporting them from Brazil. We're stuck with the stock we've got, so the prices are (or should be) on the rise.

That is, unless that law was taken down since I last checked it...

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Here are four, i do not know if you want that many but you could always breed, or let them grow and sell them for more!

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwcatfish&1105760146

If you can't fid a local vendor (which I strongly suggest, as they tend to be the ones who are unwilling to ship their fish and would much rather sell them for a reduced price than pack them in a box over long distances)the best priced zebra plecos will be coming from aquabid. Foster and Smith sells them for probably twice of what they're worth.

reofl and i thought you were dunking a rock in epoxy...lol guess i was off.

"Yoghurt"

Thanks for the replys everyone.

John, what exactly is that in your avatar because from here it looks like a kidney

And they're way overpriced... Check aquabid.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1136

to save you some time...

They are usually out of stock though.

Try "DrsFosterSmith.com" Their catalog has alot of good stuff so they might have it.