General set up for zebra?

[IMCL85]

hi all I'm new to catfish keeping, but I have feel in love with zebra after I saw them on TFH magazine I read every monthes. I dont like any other species of the catfish family but cory and zebra pleco for their awesome coloration. In about a monthes or so I will have a new tank in my house alone with my other 5 tank. The new tank is about 75g us(but if needed bigger that ok too I have space to put one more 150g+ in my baseman). I'm planning setting it up for zebra only. Atm I'm planning on using sand for substrate. But I dont have much experiance on sand since I never use them before. I only use round gravel before so any suggestion on the substrate is welcome(as I know that sand r hard to vacum when doing water change). And also dont know atm which filter to pick (ehiem/aquaclear/sponge) this is the current one I use. I would have alot of driftwood and man round rock inside the tank alone with some plants like jarvafern or wisteria. Would this be a good set up for the zebra. I'm planning on getting 5-6 of this fish from my LFS which they have to order. And comes at $90 dollars each. Very expansive indeed compare to my discus . So any suggestion is welcome on this before I do anything stupid to this beautiful pleco I love.

[Tom2600]

Hi and welcome

Firstly your setup sounds great for 5-6 zebras!!

Secondly, $90/fish is absolutely nothing for these fish these days. At that price I would get as many as I could. Over in the UK they are going for $300+ of your Canadian dollars!!

Zebras are relatively hardy fish but to make them feel at home you will need plenty of hiding places. Keep the temp. at around 28C and give them lots of current and oxygenation.

If you want to breed them you will need to make/buy some caves (of a specific size that you can find on here if you do a search), plenty of patience and a fair bit of luck.

You sound like you are on the right track. I would personally recommend using either no substrate at all, or a very thin layer of gravel if you are not going to have an undergravel filter.

In terms of filteration I always have two or three types on any tank. That way if one needs a clean the other will provide some form of back up.

Cheers

[IMCL85]

Thx for ur advice. I see how many I could get. But for sure atleast 5. My friend is the owner of the fish store so thats probably why he order for me for free and takes no credit for it. If I order else where its going to be 200dollars+ as well . Yea I will make hell alot of cafe for them with rox and stuff. And see how they do first. What about tank size? what size would u think is good for them right now I'm planning to get another 75.

[NeoCult]

Im using a Juwel Rio 125 tank with sand substrate, Fluval 4 internal filter, Eheim 2224 external filter, some rocks and caves as you can see in the pic ive attached of my tank, good luck with your tank and fish and get some pics up when you got em