I have always maintained that Dan sells for very expensive prices. Today I did a fly through his site and took a look at his pleco offerings in the Catfish section. He sells a couple of the fish which I have bred over the years. This includes Hypancistrus zebra, the L236 and Super White L236 both from the Budrovcan line as well as a few Super Red Bushynose. L236 has recently been identified along with several other L numbers as all being variants of Hypancistrus seideli.
I have been breeding these various plecos since May of 2006. Today I only have a single breeding group of the pretty rare Hypancistrus L173 remaining along with the last 13 Super White Budrovcan line 236 born in my tanks. For the past 3 years I have been on a path of divesting myself of all the rest due to advanced age.
I have taken great pride in the quality of the fish I sell and in their being in the best condition and health when sold. If you are interested in my history etc., you can do a Google search for my screen name and find out for yourself. Here is a bit of a headstart. See the 4th thread:
Fishaholics.org - The zebra pl*co saga
The prices I have charged for my fish are between 1/3 to 1.2 of what Dan charges for the ones he offers. I have sold everything from 1.5 inch to 4+ inch fish over the years. U have also sold as many as 85 fish in a single sale. I also did not sell my fish in ones and twos. Normally my minimum has been 5 or 6 of any given species. Further, if one was able to pick up the fish rather than having me ship them, I would discount the price per fish by 18-20%. I also would discount based on the size of an order.
I have never had a web site for doing sales nor I am not regstered on social media.so have not sold vian these either. Desprite that I am told I have an excellent reputation but have never seen this for myself. What I do know is people have been able to find me because of referrals and my presence on a few fish forums like Planet Catfish as well as several now defunt forums. I have also done room sales at the All Aquarium Catfish Conventions, in the vendor room of the annual NEC events. My my final event was the 2023 Keystone Clash. Being at such events was one of the ways people came to know me and the species I was fortunate to have spawning in my tanks.
Like Dan, I have had almost no DOAS, The few I did have were due to shipping delays and to an episode involving toxic fish bags.
Chemical in Plastic Bags Lethal to Aquarium Fish (I corresponded with the lead researcher involved with discovering the cause of this problem.)
I have no issues with the quality of Dans fish. He has an excellent rep. in this regard. But, I do have a problem with his pricing. I also understand that he is business and sells many more species than I ever have. No matter where one buys their fish, what matters the most is that they receive healthy fish of high quality so that, as long as they are cared for properly, they should live long lives. I was never as much of a business as I was one who wanted to make my fish pay for themselves in the long run. I have had a weakness for the B&W Hypancistrus since I saw my first picture of a zebra pleco. in 2001 in the Baensch Aquarum Atlas. I also wanted to get my fish into the hands of other people who wanted to breed them.
I have bought more of my fish as imports or at wholesale prices or directly from breeders than I have on a retail basis. This has meant buying them in larger quantities- 25 - 300+ fish at one time. There has been one feature in commonwith all the pruchases. They were fish I wanted to keep for myself. So, if I did not sell them all I was perfectly happy to keep them for myself. All of this contributed to my being able to sell some of the same species as Dan and of similar quality but for a lot less money.
I do not fault anybody who buys from Dan as long as they are willing to pay what he charges. This is especially true when the species involved are difficult to find.
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