After much research I have decided to start breeding Plecos.
The problem is that I can not find any dealers in SA that are willing to ship specimens.
Please help.
PS. I'm especially interested in the L046
Hi All
Hi All
I'm the new boy on the block. All the way from South Africa.
After much research I have decided to start breeding Plecos.
The problem is that I can not find any dealers in SA that are willing to ship specimens.
Please help.
PS. I'm especially interested in the L046
After much research I have decided to start breeding Plecos.
The problem is that I can not find any dealers in SA that are willing to ship specimens.
Please help.
PS. I'm especially interested in the L046
KevinC
-
MatsP
- Posts: 21038
- Joined: 06 Oct 2004, 13:58
- My articles: 4
- My images: 28
- My cats species list: 117 (i:33, k:0)
- My aquaria list: 10 (i:8)
- My BLogs: 4 (i:0, p:164)
- Spotted: 187
- Location 1: North of Cambridge
- Location 2: England.
You'll probably find that most dealers aren't willing to ship L46 because they can't get any...
The Hypancistrus Zebra, and any other fish from that very region of Brazil, is not being exported at the moment. One of many reasons for this was that some exporters weren't too careful when labeling fish as some specie, and exported fish that was restricted in export as some other specie that wasn't exported. So at the moment, all export from that region is being blocked. Not that L46 Hypancistrus Zebra was exactly abundant BEFORE this little "illegal" episode started.
The currently only way of getting L46 is to buy them from tank-bred stock. As there isn't MUCH of this about, since they aren't exactly fast-growing, neither are they the easiest specie to breed, it's taking some time to produce sufficient stock of tank-bred ones to satisfy at least some part of the market. Currently, people are selling tank-bred ones for US$ 100-200 or more if they are big specimens.
There's more info if you search for "What's happening in Brazil" or something like that.
Obviously, since I live in England, I'm not able to suggest any dealers in South Africa that can ship fish. There may be some, or there may not. If you have a local fish-shop, they must have a supplier that can get fish of a variety of kinds. Ask them first.
Also, for a begginner effort of breeding, I would suggest starting with some less expensive and easier to breed species, say the Common Bristlenose, or some other non-demanding specie. You will probably find that there are several things that you didn't know about growing fish from small to "for sale" size.
As a next step in the learning curve, try something like L066, L260 or L333, which are both Hypancistrus species, but available (at least in the UK) at reasonable prices, and not impossible to breed. Once you've mastered breeding them, you should be ready for the L46's.
As to dealers not willing to ship, that can certainly be a problem. It's not entirely easy to transport live fish, especially not to remote locations. If you live at least reasonably close to a dealer that has the fish that you want, then you can probably travel there yourself and pick up the fish. That may cost a little bit more, but you and the dealer avoid the problem of finding a reliable shipper that can take care of the fish in the transport. I wouldn't be surprised if the reason the dealers are refusing to ship to you because they either have no experience or more likely BAD experience with shipping fish within the country.
It's not a good experience for the seller or the buyer if the fish arrives in less than perfect condition.
--
Mats
The Hypancistrus Zebra, and any other fish from that very region of Brazil, is not being exported at the moment. One of many reasons for this was that some exporters weren't too careful when labeling fish as some specie, and exported fish that was restricted in export as some other specie that wasn't exported. So at the moment, all export from that region is being blocked. Not that L46 Hypancistrus Zebra was exactly abundant BEFORE this little "illegal" episode started.
The currently only way of getting L46 is to buy them from tank-bred stock. As there isn't MUCH of this about, since they aren't exactly fast-growing, neither are they the easiest specie to breed, it's taking some time to produce sufficient stock of tank-bred ones to satisfy at least some part of the market. Currently, people are selling tank-bred ones for US$ 100-200 or more if they are big specimens.
There's more info if you search for "What's happening in Brazil" or something like that.
Obviously, since I live in England, I'm not able to suggest any dealers in South Africa that can ship fish. There may be some, or there may not. If you have a local fish-shop, they must have a supplier that can get fish of a variety of kinds. Ask them first.
Also, for a begginner effort of breeding, I would suggest starting with some less expensive and easier to breed species, say the Common Bristlenose, or some other non-demanding specie. You will probably find that there are several things that you didn't know about growing fish from small to "for sale" size.
As a next step in the learning curve, try something like L066, L260 or L333, which are both Hypancistrus species, but available (at least in the UK) at reasonable prices, and not impossible to breed. Once you've mastered breeding them, you should be ready for the L46's.
As to dealers not willing to ship, that can certainly be a problem. It's not entirely easy to transport live fish, especially not to remote locations. If you live at least reasonably close to a dealer that has the fish that you want, then you can probably travel there yourself and pick up the fish. That may cost a little bit more, but you and the dealer avoid the problem of finding a reliable shipper that can take care of the fish in the transport. I wouldn't be surprised if the reason the dealers are refusing to ship to you because they either have no experience or more likely BAD experience with shipping fish within the country.
It's not a good experience for the seller or the buyer if the fish arrives in less than perfect condition.
--
Mats
-
bronzefry
- Posts: 2198
- Joined: 31 Aug 2004, 16:01
- I've donated: $100.00!
- My articles: 6
- My images: 12
- My cats species list: 17 (i:0, k:0)
- My aquaria list: 7 (i:7)
- Spotted: 6
- Location 1: Sharon, Massachusetts, US
Welcome to Planet Catfish. I don't know much about shipping Pl*cos, but I wanted to welcome you just the same. 