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Water Quality

Posted: Sun May 03, 2015 7:45 pm
by ZachLay24
Hi all,

Im new to the business of keeping Zebras, ive read a lot of articles and forums on how to keep them and monitor parameters but one thing im still not sure about, that is water quality. Ive read many articles where keepers have kept their zebras in a RO water environment but i was wondering if its still possible to keep and breed them without using RO water?

Any thoughts would be a great help as ive just set up my fish room and don't want to start keeping and breeding if alterations are needed.

Many Thanks Zach

Re: Water Quality

Posted: Sun May 03, 2015 9:35 pm
by stickfly
Hi Zach.
I've had Zebras for about 18 months now.
Originally I kept them in RO water with low lighting but got fed up with the constant stress of supplying RO. I started with an RO filter then tried buying the water but it was a real crap job.
I then decided to gradually convert back to tap water and the fish are fine. I now have a 5 foot ( 350 litre ) aquarium with a mix of tetras, sturisoma whiptails, a pair of German Blue Rams and 8 Zebra Plecs. I use tap water, with Prime added to make it safe + 2 x 54 watt light tubes and the Zebras look as happy as pigs in poo :D :D
If I turn the lights out so they are in the darkness some say they need to be in, then you won't see them at all. They will hide in the caves.
But as soon as the lights are on they will come out and " Waddle " around in full view, almost as if basking in the sun.
After almost 40 years of keeping tropical ( and at one point marine ) fish, I am thinking that Zebra Plecs are amongst the hardier fish.

Just thought I'd add : My aquarium has sand for substrate, fluval 306 + 406 filters ( one each end ), an Eheim 1800 streamon water flow pump and a fair amount of plants. All kept at between 27 - 29c depending on the time of year.

Regards ........ Gary.

Re: Water Quality

Posted: Sun May 03, 2015 10:29 pm
by ZachLay24
Many Thanks for the Gary, Helps alot ive converted my garage into a fish room for breeding plecos, ive currently got Green phantoms snowball and golden nugget plecos but thought id have a go at Zebras just didnt know what to use. Il keep everyone posted and send pics of the setup once sorted.

Re: Water Quality

Posted: Fri May 08, 2015 5:54 pm
by TwoTankAmin
I have an ro/di unit. I almost never use it for zebras unless simulating a dry and rainy season. And even then I may use other methods. I did not get the unit for zebras but rather for Altum angels. I just happen to use it now and then for other fish. RO is used to mix with ones water usually. Otherwise, one has to reconstitute it.

They are hardy once they get over about 6 months. They are very forgiving in conditions as long as they do not get too bad. Small ones do not do well in nitrate however.

The thing about zebras is you may be able to trigger them or you may not no matter what you try. Some people have tried for years and given up only to have them spawn months or even a year or two later.

Re: Water Quality

Posted: Wed May 13, 2015 1:34 am
by ZachLay24
Thanks for that, i think im going to reconstitute some RO water mainly for the fry tanks when i separate them as i know they can be very fragile when in conditioned tap water.

Now got the set up running just after a few zebras now :)