PlanetCatfish.com

I'm sure this idea has been raised before, probably even on this site, but I thought I'd put the idea out there once again. Basically the idea is around creating a network(s) for breeding various plecs in a similar way to putting dogs, horses, etc out to stud, and with the reputation and popularity of this site I thought it might be a useful place to coordinate things from and track blood lines.

The idea is rather than buying/selling a plec, it might instead be possible to loan them for an agreed time period for example 6-12 months, with a deposit paid to cover losses, deter certain people selling them on, or people might agree to swap plecs because they had the wrong M:F ratio, want some fresh blood to avoid inbreeding, or a new challenge with a different species.

For example I'm growing 4 L14's so I hope to get at 1 M and 3 F's, but if for example I get 2M:2M, 3M:1F or god forbid 4M:0F / 0M:4F , I might want to trade a mature Male for a Female or vice versa, or be willing to loan out a M/F for 12 months until I had enough room to look after them all again.

Just interested to hear people's thoughts and whether anyone has had success with this idea on a small scale or with friends?

I think in theory its a good idea, however many people would be very about exchanging or lending for stud there prize male/female fish just incase it dies whilst out on loan. I'd like to see it work but not sure it will. If I were to lend out one of H Zebra I'd need a hefty retainer for its security.

I think that's why there would have to be a financial exchange or trade of similar value fish. Might certainly work if trading a male for a female of the same species, or if people wanted a different challenge - Maybe I'll trade my breeding group of L333's for your L200's or something like that. I'm certainly not suggesting 2 mature BNs are worth the same as 4 L46s