pleco's banned in S.A?

the lady at the pet shop told me that the pleco is banned in south africa and they never getting them in agian... why? if i may ask?? does that mean i cant get more pleco's ever?? :cry:

 

Provably because Brazil they banned the exportation of plecos 3 months ago

 

List of all the banned plecos

L002, L074 – Panaque sp.(L002) – Tiger â€Peckoltiaâ€
L004, L005, L028, L073 – Hypancistrus Sp. (L004) – Angelicus Pleco
L010 – Loricaria lata
L011, L035, L108, L116 – Squaliforma cf. emarginata – Red Fin Thresher Pleco, Thresher Pleco
L017 –Hopliancistrus sp. (L017)
L020 – Oligancistrus sp. (L020)
L021 , L023 – Pterygoplichthys pardalis - Albino Pleco, Common Pleco
L024 – Pseudacanthicus sp. (L024) – Flame Pleco, Red Fin Cactus Pleco
L025 – Pseudacanthicus sp. (L025) – Scarlet Pleco
L027 – Panaque sp. cf. nigrolineatus ‘tapajos’ – Goldline Royal Pleco, Tapajos Royal Pleco, L027 Tapajos
L027, L027c – Panaque sp. cf. nigrolineatus ‘tocantins’ – Platinum Royal Pleco, Tocantins Royal Pleco, L027 Tocantins
L027, L027c, LDA63 – Panaque sp. cf. nigrolineatus ‘xingu’ – Longnosed Royal Pleco, Red Fin Royal Pleco, Xingu Royal Pleco, L027 ‘xingu’
L027a, L330 – Panaque cf. nigrolineatus – Watermelon Pleco
L027b – Panaque sp. cf. nigrolineatus – Olive Royal Pleco, Teles Pires Royal Pleco
L031, L176, L300, LDA04 – Parancistrus nudiventris – Peppermint Pleco
L033 – Lasiancistrus sp. (L033)
L036 – Hemiancistrus spilomma
L046, L098 – Hypancistrus zebra – Imperial Pleco, Zebra Pleco
L053 – Harttia sp. (L053)
L058 – Lasiancistrus sp. (L058)
L063 – Pseadacanthicus sp. cf. serratus
L064 – Pseudacanthicus sp. (L064)
L065 – Pseudacanthicus sp. (L065) – Blizzard Cactus Pleco, Mustang Cactus Pleco
L066 – Hypancistrus sp. (L066) – King Tiger Pleco, Network Pleco, Scribbled Pleco
L067 – Pseudacanthicus sp. (L067)
L068 – Ancistrini sp. (L068)
L069 – Ancistrini sp. (L069)
L070 – Hypancistrus sp. (L070) – Zombie Pleco
L079 – Pseadacanthicus sp. (L079)
L082 – Ancistrini sp. (L082) – Opal Spot Pleco, Polka-dot Cigar Pleco
L083, L165 – Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps – Gibby, Sail Fin Pleco
L086, LDA14 – Oligancistrus sp. (L086)
L096, L160 – Pseudacanthicus spinosus – Coffee & Cream Pleco, Spiny Monster Pleco
L097 – Pseaudacanthicus sp. (L097) – Polka Dot Cactus Pleco
L102 – Hypancistrus inspector – Snowball Pleco
L136, L136a, L136b, LDA05, LDA06 – Hypancistrus sp. (L136)
L138 – Hypostomus sp. (L138)
L139 – Hypostomus sp. (L139)
L143 – Lasiancistrus sp. (L143)
L171, LDA15 – Hopliancistrus sp. (L171)
L172 – Ancistrini sp. (L172)
L174 – Hypancistrus sp. (L174)
L175 – Oligancistrus sp. (L175)
L178 – Lasiancistrus sp. (L178) – Red Fin Lasiancistrus
L179 – Pseudacanthicus sp. (L179)
L185 – Pseudacanthicus sp. (L185)
L186 – Pseudacanthicus sp. (L186)
L196 – Pterygoplichthys lituratus
L197 – Ancistrini sp. (L197)
L198 – Ancistrini sp. (L198)
L208 – Ancistrini sp. (L208)
L210 – Ancistrini sp. (L210)
L216, L151 – Dekeyseria scaphirhyncha – Flat Head Pleco
L217 – Lithoxus sp. (L217)
L221, L223 – Guyanancistrus sp. (L221)
L238, LDA40 – Delturus sp. (L238) – Brook Pleco
L250 – Hypancistrus sp. (L250)
L251 – Pseudacanthicus sp. (L251)
L254 – Spectracanthicus sp. (L254)
L256 – Lithoxus sp. (L256)
L258 – Parancistrus sp. (L258)
L259, LDA32 – Parancistrus sp. (LDA32)
L260 – Hypancistrus sp. (L260) – Queen Arabesque Pleco
L262 – Hypancistrus sp. (L262)
L263 – Leporacanthicus sp. (L263)
L270, L307, LDA76 – Hypancistrus sp. (L270) – Chocolate Zebra Pleco, Tapajos Zebra Pleco
L271 – Panaque sp. (L271)
L272 – Panaque sp. (L272)
L273 – Pseudacanthicus sp. (L273) – Titanicus Pleco
L275 – Pseudacanthicus sp. (L275)
L283 – Pseudacanthicus sp. (L283)
L290, L291 – Squaliforma cf. horrida
L294 – Leporacanthicus cf. galaxias (L294)
L296 – Panaque sp. (L296)
L297 – Hypancistrus sp. (L297)
L299 – Pseudacanthicus sp. (L299)
L310, LDA51 – Hypostomus cochliodon
L315 – Spectracanthicus sp. (L315)
L318 – Hypancistrus sp. (L318)
L320 – Pseudacanthicus sp. (L320)
L321 – Pseudacanthicus sp. (L321)
L328 – Pseudolithoxus sp. (L328)
L332 – Parancistrus sp. (L332)
L337 – Lasiancistrus sp. (L337)
L343 – Pseudacanthicus sp. (L343)
L333 – Hypancistrus sp. (L333)
L345 – Hypancistrus sp. (L345)
L347 – Pterygoplichthys sp. (L347)
L353 – Oligancistrus sp. (L353)
L354 – Oligancistrus sp. (L354)
L360 – Hypostomus sp. (L360)
L361 – Hopliancistrus sp. (L361)
L363 – Oligancistrus sp. (L363)
L365 – Lasiancistrus sp. (L365)
L366 – Hypostomus sp. (L366)
L367 – Hypostomus sp. (L367)
L373 – Oligancistrus sp. (L373)
L374 – Panaque sp. (L374)
L375 – Pseudacanthicus cf. spinosus
L380 – Pseudcanathicus sp. (L380)
L381 – Hypostomus sp. (L381)
L383 – Pseudacanthicus sp. (L383)
L385 – Pseudolithoxus sp. (L385)
L391 – Oligancistrus sp. (L391)
L397 – Panaque sp. (L397)
L398 – Panaque sp. (L398)
L399 – Hypancistrus sp. (L399)
L400 – Hypancistrus sp. (L400)*

 

aww man... now i cant get a buddy for the one i have...

 

They have been found to be invasive and colonizing in rivers in KZN

 

It has nothing to do with what is banned in Brazil. They were put on the SA invasive species list. It is only the common pleco. Must say I am impressed with your LPS.

 

Gribbeseps (forgive spelling) are also banned

 

Why you say you impressed?

and the blue eyes? Are they also banned?

 

Because they following proper procedure by removing illegal stock.BTW, do you have a tank over 1000L to house 2 pleco's?

 

No... I got the 3 foot tank only

 

OK, you guys are mixing up 2 very different topics here.

1) Common plecos (the very large, brown ones. Common plecos, leopard plecos, hifin leopard plecos. Includes gibbiceps). Yes, they are now banned in South Africa, one of the species is ok for you to keep if you already have it and do nothing else with it, the others are totally banned. All of them look kind of the same (sorry if you're a common pleco fundi)!

2) All the other kinds of plecos: bristlenoses, angels, gold nuggets, orange seams, leopard frogs, royal panaque, blue eyes, zebras, candy stripe - anything beyond the basic common ones - NOT banned. Still fine to keep, thank heavens.

OK, now to what @FabioCarvalho said - yes, Brazil has recently banned the export of a number of types of pleco (and other fish) from their country (probably hoping the world forgets about them and fails to make a fuss when they wipe them all out by building dams :evil: )
HOWEVER, this does not affect us at all. Why? Because we do not import from Brazil at all. The proper papers or trade agreements or whatever are not in place, so whatever plecos are available to us come from other places (mostly captive-bred, from the Far East). Brazil has no power to "ban" us from keeping anything, they can only refuse to export. And they don't export to us anyway. So @Kieshara, there are still plenty of nice plecos that you will be able to get. I'm not sure if by "blue eyes" you mean the blue-eyed bristlenose or ancistrus, those gold-coloured ones? You should be able to find them. If you mean the actual Blue-eyed pleco, that's also perfectly legal for us to keep, but if you ever find one the owner will most likely ask for obscene amounts of money for it. But dreaming is still allowed, because nothing but the few species of "common" pleco are actually banned.

 

I was at a LPS in Boksburg last weekend and they told me ALL plecos (also Exotic) are banned and they are getting rid of the stock they have and they will not get them anymore...

 

Sounds like someone was trying to sell you something...

 

Well i dont know which one is more prettier.. The blue eyed pleco or the blue eyed bristlenose? If i could get both i be a happy chappy

 

Must admit I for one am very happy about this ban.

 

@Vis

why are you very happy?

 

Well to me they are not that pretty, they make big messes in tanks but the main reason is that thousands are sold to uninformed people who think they are small little algae eaters and they sit and suffer in small tanks till they die.

 

@Vis

i always loved pleco they are great to watch

 

Go for the blue-eyed bristlenose - the blue-eyed pleco is like a unicorn made of plutonium (in that you can't find them, and if you did they would cost the GDP of a small country) :tongue:

Oh, by the way, I just found this amazing story about why they are so rare - it sounds like a legend or a cartoon villain origin story, but it might just be true! Look here for the story of the American Millionaire.