My experience with tank mates (Rasboras, shrimps and a Betta

Everything you ever wanted to say about "Zebra luvin", but didn't because you thought everyone would take the mickey! Plus general topics for discussion including everything from what you feed them to your personal experiences.

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Cascudo
Obsessed!!
Posts: 160
Joined: Wed Sep 29, 2004 4:03 pm
Location: Holland

My experience with tank mates (Rasboras, shrimps and a Betta

Post by Cascudo »

I received from a member a pm asking about the maintenance of my tank and the tank mates that are seen on the picture of my tank that is displayed in the gallery of this site.

maybe my response is also of any use to other members:

I noticed that for some reason any tank that I keep zebra's tend to have algae problems. Probably because you cannot have cleaning fish like corydoras with them because these compete too much for feed with the zebra's.
Cyano/blue green algue I combat by shortening the period of lighting per day (at the moment I keep the lights on for only 6 hours a day).
Hair algae I combat by introducing Amano Shrimps (Caridina japonica), they clean all surfaces with an amazing speed! The downside is that they tend to eat also big-leafed plants and when they get their hands on a lost zebra egg they will also eat it! Be aware of this risks.

As you probably already read in this forum, it is best to keep zebra's in a species only tank, because they are very shy and don't compete for food.
However when you, just as me, wants a more lively zebra tank, I can recommend Rasbora hengeli. This is the fish that you can see on the photo.
The problem with most fish is that they eat all the food that is intended for the zebra's. The advantage of the Rasbora hengeli is that they don't eat as much from the bottom as other fish do. They do eat from the bottom, but considerely less, they seem to be afraid to come near the bottom. And because there modest size, they don't scare the zebra's.

At the moment I have beside the Amano shrimps and the Rasbora hengeli a Betta in the Zebra tank. The only problem with this fish is that it goes after the zebra food, so I can not really recommend it. But because it is just one Betta and he always drops the pellets after picking it up, the zebra's still manage to get enough food. Also because I feed them shortly before turning off the lights. In the beginning the Betta scared off the zebra's with his flashing appearance, but after a while they got used to him. The Betta does not show the slightest interest in the zebra's.
I know that this tank is not ideal for a Betta, althoug the temperature of 27 degrees is favourable, the slightly strong current and the tank height (some 45 cm) isn't . But the Betta, that I keep already several months, looks very healthy and is very active, it seems one happy fish!

My setup:
Tank: 190 liter
Temp: 27 degrees celsius
Habitants: 9 zebras (4 adults, 5 adolescents) 20 Rasbora hengeli, 4 Caridina japonica
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