Help with new tank

[ice168]

Hi im starting a brand new tank for some zebras, My tanks is a 130 litre tank with,
- Internal biolife filter
- Fluval plus 4
- Aquaclear 402
- Sand as substrate
- 4 caves
- 1 Bogwood
- 1 Anubias barteri plant

Do you think this is a suitable setup?
Also i wanted to ask if there would be a problem if i brought a few zebras, knowing that the tank/filters are new and that it has only been running for less then a week.
If so how long would i need to wait before i can introduce some to the tank.
Also is it possible to keep some L173 with some L46 zebras?

Many thanks.

[Barbie]

I would NEVER recommend cycling a new tank with zebras, no! The soonest the tank would be safe to add fish sensitive to ammonia and nitrite would be 4-6 weeks, depending on how long it took the bacteria colonies to mature. I wrote a short article on the subject that you can read Here. Rushing zebras into a tank that's not mature can be a very costly mistake, IMO.

L173 technically IS Hypancistrus zebra. There are people out there selling fish as L173 that are other things, namely L287. They should like similar water conditions, but will be larger and could potentially outcompete the zebras for food. With the potential investment you'll make to get zebras, it usually makes more sense to pick up a second tank for the other fish, just to be on the safe side.

Barbie