I have six Zebras. There are three males and three females. They vary in length from 60 mm to 80 mm. They are kept in an 8 foot x 18" x18" tank divided in half. Water flows between the two halves but the fish cannot. In one half I have one male and two females. In the other half I have two males and one female. This situation came about because in November 2004 I purchased three fish (Thought to be one male and two females). Then in Late December 2004 I purchased another three fish (Again thought to be one male and two females).
I have three questions;-
1) Should I remove the divider and allow them to form one group?
2) Should I divide them up into one male + one female in three tanks?
3) Leave them as they are?
Some Advice Please
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grimreaper
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Some Advice Please
Regards
Grim
Grim
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jerms55555
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Whats your main goal here? To try to breed your zebra pleco? Or to try to get as many breeding pairs you can with that six you have?
If your just trying to breed them for the excitment and for the fact of just breeding them I would personally take the divider out and let them sort themselves out! it will happen given the right conditions!
Now if you want to start to breed as many as possible.......I would probably do the same as to take the divider out and let them sort themselves out and once you see two in a cave take them out and put them in a different tank! BUT that brings up another issue, will the pair still spawn?? Will the remaining zebras spawn and how long wil that take?? i know zebra46 (a member here) once said that he took a pair out and they spawned in a 6gal eclipse tank before....so who knows....this is just my opinion.
If your just trying to breed them for the excitment and for the fact of just breeding them I would personally take the divider out and let them sort themselves out! it will happen given the right conditions!
Now if you want to start to breed as many as possible.......I would probably do the same as to take the divider out and let them sort themselves out and once you see two in a cave take them out and put them in a different tank! BUT that brings up another issue, will the pair still spawn?? Will the remaining zebras spawn and how long wil that take?? i know zebra46 (a member here) once said that he took a pair out and they spawned in a 6gal eclipse tank before....so who knows....this is just my opinion.
grim reaper,
please remember me for giving you good advice and dont come early
I know that several people had their zebras for 3-5 years before they got any action - so remember that to start.
Secondly , feeding them until they look like overstuffed bangers is a goal.
Thirdly , this worked for me and for a few others I have heard of, when frustration set in they and I put all the fish in one tank and suddenly ( well if you want to call 6 months sudden) there was breeding.
I would agree with jerm5555 that removing the divider is definitly a good move,
the more animals you have together the better, after reading a few reports where people studied fish that were moving upstream to spawn during the rainy season they noticed that the groups became larger and the fish almost schooled together like salmon which would be natures way of ensuring that there would remain diversity.
My 2 cents ...and then some.
please remember me for giving you good advice and dont come early
I know that several people had their zebras for 3-5 years before they got any action - so remember that to start.
Secondly , feeding them until they look like overstuffed bangers is a goal.
Thirdly , this worked for me and for a few others I have heard of, when frustration set in they and I put all the fish in one tank and suddenly ( well if you want to call 6 months sudden) there was breeding.
I would agree with jerm5555 that removing the divider is definitly a good move,
the more animals you have together the better, after reading a few reports where people studied fish that were moving upstream to spawn during the rainy season they noticed that the groups became larger and the fish almost schooled together like salmon which would be natures way of ensuring that there would remain diversity.
My 2 cents ...and then some.
Fishboy again, please offer advice on subjects you personally have experience with. While a 3 foot tank might be adequate, an 8 foot tank is certainly not a detriment to the process, and I personally find it admirable that someone would be willing to commit more than just the bare minimum to a project like this. There are many schools of thought on this subject, and people spawn their zebras in everything from pairs to large groups. It just really depends on the individual specimens and the patience of their owner, IME 
.
Barbie
.Barbie
[url=http://www.plecos.com][img]http://plecos.com/plecosbanner.gif[/img][/url]
Hi Grim
Barbie and INXS are both onto good points. It can take a while for them to start, often this is purely down to the fish and not the keeper. You have started down one route, so it might be an idea to continue that for a little while.
Then if you still have no luck, it may be an idea to try putting them all together.
One thing I would suggest, is if you do have a male in a cave, make sure there are slates etc very close to the cave for the femlaes to "Check him out", without being out inthe open.
stay patient......and I'm sure it will happen soon.
rob
Barbie and INXS are both onto good points. It can take a while for them to start, often this is purely down to the fish and not the keeper. You have started down one route, so it might be an idea to continue that for a little while.
Then if you still have no luck, it may be an idea to try putting them all together.
One thing I would suggest, is if you do have a male in a cave, make sure there are slates etc very close to the cave for the femlaes to "Check him out", without being out inthe open.
stay patient......and I'm sure it will happen soon.
rob
The perfect white lie..."Of course I didn't pay that much for the fish honey"
I just took this photo and the tank where the fish are is very old also the down side to acrylic tanks is it scratches very easily but almost indestructible but the most important part is it hold water.
this image shows a cave that is tilted up with a nice gap under it that is where the females hang out when they are ready to breed the cave is facing forward so that the fish under it can hide from prying eyes the tilt upwards also helps keep the eggs from rolling out you can also see that the fish are facing the direction of the water flow you can also tell from the males tail hanging from the cave, this male is trying to attract the females under his house. lastly the tile that is used to lift the cave is an inch high and about three inches long once you set the cave up you will notice what the purpose for all the contraption "tiles you can get from harware store pre-cut just silicone together"
an 8 foot tank works much better than a small tank as long as you have a place for the females to hang out near the male and just add one large drift wood at one end of the tank for the rest of the other fish I normally place the drift wood where all the food settles and lastly a bare tank looks ugly but for breeding purposes its owner friendly.
this image shows a cave that is tilted up with a nice gap under it that is where the females hang out when they are ready to breed the cave is facing forward so that the fish under it can hide from prying eyes the tilt upwards also helps keep the eggs from rolling out you can also see that the fish are facing the direction of the water flow you can also tell from the males tail hanging from the cave, this male is trying to attract the females under his house. lastly the tile that is used to lift the cave is an inch high and about three inches long once you set the cave up you will notice what the purpose for all the contraption "tiles you can get from harware store pre-cut just silicone together"
an 8 foot tank works much better than a small tank as long as you have a place for the females to hang out near the male and just add one large drift wood at one end of the tank for the rest of the other fish I normally place the drift wood where all the food settles and lastly a bare tank looks ugly but for breeding purposes its owner friendly.
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grimreaper
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Thank you all for your responses. As will a lot of questions asked on forums the person asking the question sometimes does not give sufficient facts for the forum to come up with the best advice.
I will try and elaborate. I am semi-retired and for the last 6 years have been self employed breeding a variety of marine fish and shrimps. These exclude Clown Fish, Banggai Cardinal Fish, Fire Shrimps and Peppermint Shrimps. Before going into marines I bred and sold large numbers of Discus. It took me nearly 8 years to finally breed the Fire Shrimp (lysmata debelius) My activator shows the first adult shrimp that I managed to raise it's larvae. I care about conservation but to make any impact you would need to have massive resources and changes in the law but "Every little helps" as they say. When I heard about these Zebras I brought the six I have now. My intentions are to bred them for two reasons. One to help further the quantities of captive bred fish here in the UK and to make a contribution to my Fish House costs. I watch this forum most nights and find it very helpful and friendly but I felt I needed to ask my questions
jerms55555 - My main goal is to bred them. My questions are an attempt to get the best advice to maximise what I have to further that end
fishboy - They are in a divided 8 foot tank because I have a number of them. I can tell you that from my marine fish keeping experience you cannot have too bigger tank but you certainly can have one that is too small. What we perceive as the "right" size because it fits nicely into an alcove in one's front room may not be the "right" size for the animals that live in it.
INXS - I do appreciate the time scale. As with marines the key to raising good quality animals is very dependant on food quality and frequency of feeding.
Barbie - Your comment on individual specimens is very true. I had a number of breeding pairs of Discus. All were all individuals with different personalities. My two groups look too "lonely" to me I have looked at fish for many years and I'm getting the feeling that maybe they should be together hence my question. In the marine world some animals have to be kept as just a pair but these Zebras do not provided there is sufficient space for them to live in harmony
Rob - With the Male + 2 females I have done that. There is one cave and two open ledges near the entrance for the females to sit out of the current and watch him. Before I realised the other half of the tank had 2 males I changed the set-up to be the same. Later that day I looked in to find 2 fish in the one cave. This did not seem right to me (can't explain why) so I took the cave out and the fish that was first in the cave have been bitten by the second fish. I then took each fish out and had a good look under a large magnifying glass and yes they were both males. This is another reason for asking my questions. BTW the 2 male half has 2 caves now with the same open ledges for the female to pick which cave she want to sit near
zebra046 - Thank you for posting your pictures. That idea looks fine. There is noware for food to collect. I will try that.
Thank you all once again. I will let all this information sink in. I will let you all know what I decide and the progress thereof
I will try and elaborate. I am semi-retired and for the last 6 years have been self employed breeding a variety of marine fish and shrimps. These exclude Clown Fish, Banggai Cardinal Fish, Fire Shrimps and Peppermint Shrimps. Before going into marines I bred and sold large numbers of Discus. It took me nearly 8 years to finally breed the Fire Shrimp (lysmata debelius) My activator shows the first adult shrimp that I managed to raise it's larvae. I care about conservation but to make any impact you would need to have massive resources and changes in the law but "Every little helps" as they say. When I heard about these Zebras I brought the six I have now. My intentions are to bred them for two reasons. One to help further the quantities of captive bred fish here in the UK and to make a contribution to my Fish House costs. I watch this forum most nights and find it very helpful and friendly but I felt I needed to ask my questions
jerms55555 - My main goal is to bred them. My questions are an attempt to get the best advice to maximise what I have to further that end
fishboy - They are in a divided 8 foot tank because I have a number of them. I can tell you that from my marine fish keeping experience you cannot have too bigger tank but you certainly can have one that is too small. What we perceive as the "right" size because it fits nicely into an alcove in one's front room may not be the "right" size for the animals that live in it.
INXS - I do appreciate the time scale. As with marines the key to raising good quality animals is very dependant on food quality and frequency of feeding.
Barbie - Your comment on individual specimens is very true. I had a number of breeding pairs of Discus. All were all individuals with different personalities. My two groups look too "lonely" to me I have looked at fish for many years and I'm getting the feeling that maybe they should be together hence my question. In the marine world some animals have to be kept as just a pair but these Zebras do not provided there is sufficient space for them to live in harmony
Rob - With the Male + 2 females I have done that. There is one cave and two open ledges near the entrance for the females to sit out of the current and watch him. Before I realised the other half of the tank had 2 males I changed the set-up to be the same. Later that day I looked in to find 2 fish in the one cave. This did not seem right to me (can't explain why) so I took the cave out and the fish that was first in the cave have been bitten by the second fish. I then took each fish out and had a good look under a large magnifying glass and yes they were both males. This is another reason for asking my questions. BTW the 2 male half has 2 caves now with the same open ledges for the female to pick which cave she want to sit near
zebra046 - Thank you for posting your pictures. That idea looks fine. There is noware for food to collect. I will try that.
Thank you all once again. I will let all this information sink in. I will let you all know what I decide and the progress thereof
Regards
Grim
Grim
