L46 in a planted tank

Addict · Post by **Addict** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 10:49 am

Hello everyone!

I have no experience whatsoever with keeping L46 but I've red loads of articles etc about these fish, because I'd like to keep some in my planted tank.

The tank is 400Liter (don't know in gallons, soz) and it has 7 discus in it already.
To keep my plants in optimal conditions I add CO² (not much about 15mg/l). My water conditions would be perfect for the zebras, but the only thing that's theoreticly "wrong" is the amount of oxygen in my tank. Because I add CO² I can't add an airstone; it would chase the CO² out of the water. My oxigen level is +/- 4 mg/l and I change 1/3 of my water weekly.
I have 2 filters; 1 external (1200l/hour) and 1 internal (600l/hour).

So I'd like to ask you people here to give me some advice. I'll also add a pic of my tank to give you an impression:

I forgot to mention I wanted to start with 3 L46 and if everything goes well I'd like to add 3 more.

I_Need_Zebras · Post by **I_Need_Zebras** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 11:54 am

Unsure to be honest, but another problem maybe the fact you need bright lights to keep your plants alive, zebs like dark hidey holes and not bright light, these fish in the wild, live 30 metres down, wheres its very dark and little light ever hits them.

twinspots_goby · Post by **twinspots_goby** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:46 pm

I can see another problem when comes to feeding. zebs are not agressive eater and they have better chance to find food in a smaller space. I keep 4-5 zebs in 100L tank.

Addict · Post by **Addict** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 1:46 pm

twinspots_goby wrote:I can see another problem when comes to feeding. zebs are not agressive eater and they have better chance to find food in a smaller space. I keep 4-5 zebs in 100L tank.

I will feed when the lights go out.

Addict · Post by **Addict** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 3:49 pm

I_Need_Zebras wrote:Unsure to be honest, but another problem maybe the fact you need bright lights to keep your plants alive, zebs like dark hidey holes and not bright light, these fish in the wild, live 30 metres down, wheres its very dark and little light ever hits them.

I have several holes in the tank wheire they can hide.

twinspots_goby · Post by **twinspots_goby** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 7:11 pm

Addict wrote:
twinspots_goby wrote:I can see another problem when comes to feeding. zebs are not agressive eater and they have better chance to find food in a smaller space. I keep 4-5 zebs in 100L tank.
I will feed when the lights go out.

I'm talking about the size of your tank being a little too big for them to search food around.

Ameekplec · Post by **Ameekplec** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 4:44 am

In nature, the density of any animal is probably nowhere near 5 animals in a 30 x 60 cm area. Also, the density of food is definitely far far less n the wild than in any tank that they are fed in.

Just keep them well fed, and they should be fine with such ample space. If you feed after lights out, I'm sure the discus won't bother them if they can't see them.

The only issue I can see is flow; plecs generally enjoy lots of flow, and your tank being a planted discus tank probably is extremely lacking in that department.

Addict · Post by **Addict** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 1:52 pm

Ameekplec wrote:In nature, the density of any animal is probably nowhere near 5 animals in a 30 x 60 cm area. Also, the density of food is definitely far far less n the wild than in any tank that they are fed in.

Just keep them well fed, and they should be fine with such ample space. If you feed after lights out, I'm sure the discus won't bother them if they can't see them.

The only issue I can see is flow; plecs generally enjoy lots of flow, and your tank being a planted discus tank probably is extremely lacking in that department.

My flow is quite good imo. I use 2 filters (external and internal) and they "filter" the tank aproximately 5 times in 1 hour.

I picked them up yesterday evening btw, was a 2 hour drive but they are in my tank now. This morning I saw 2 of them and they were breathing quite heavily. Maybe I can add air in my tank when my lights go out or something?

I also changed some water today and after I did that the biggest one became quite active. He was swimming on the bottom I think looking for food. So I gave them some "tetra tabimin" (crushed the tablet like the guy I bought them from said) and it looked like he was eating it. Ofcourse I can't be sure because it's so small.

Also took some pics last night:

Post by **Barbie** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 4:45 pm

5 times the tank volume turned over an hour is what I consider absolute minimum. It's not actually all that much flow, especially if you see the types of conditions these fish are collected in. The fact that they're out and struggling to breathe their very first morning is surely not a good sign of continued success. I'd definitely rethink your plans for keeping them in that tank, if it was me. They like temperatures much warmer than plants are going to appreciate, IME.

Barbie

Addict · Post by **Addict** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 6:14 pm

Barbie wrote:5 times the tank volume turned over an hour is what I consider absolute minimum. It's not actually all that much flow, especially if you see the types of conditions these fish are collected in. The fact that they're out and struggling to breathe their very first morning is surely not a good sign of continued success. I'd definitely rethink your plans for keeping them in that tank, if it was me. They like temperatures much warmer than plants are going to appreciate, IME.

Barbie

I didn't say they were struggling to breath, but ok. I've permanently added an air pump and will work to an oxygen level from 7/8 mg per liter. Which should be more then enough; it's the same the breeder has.

If you look at the pic of my tank you'll see I have discus in it. These fish need temperatures above 28°c. My current temperature is 29°c and it's no problem for my plants and perfect for the L46!

I'm also changing the plants who need alot of carbon dioxide so I can reduce my CO² flow aswell.
I would also like to say that I want to keep the zebra's and the plants are less important. so some advice on what I still have to change would be nice.

The idea is to keep zebra's and discus together in a planted tank.

-edit-

Forgot the filter part;

My external filter has a capacity around 1200l/hour. My internal only has a capacity of about 600l/hour. I could change it with a pump that does 1200l/hour but if I use it's really powerfull. If I feed for example everything gets blown away into peaces etc wich causes a mess in the tank.
So I won't change that for now.

Post by **Barbie** » Sat Nov 01, 2008 1:46 am

It sounds like you've thought of everything then. Good luck!

Barbie

Addict · Post by **Addict** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 6:09 pm

Just to be safe I changed them to a small tank and they are doing really well. They eat really good and look healthy.

In the meanwhile I can slowly start rebuilding my big tank. I'm changing plants with wood but I would still like to keep some plants. It's hard to find some examples of planted tanks with zebra's in it though. I'm also adding a new filter (900l/h) and a powerhead for a good flow.

Some more advice would be appreciated by the way

.

Jo's Zebs · Post by **Jo's Zebs** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 6:40 am

Hi I use the same sized tank for my main zeb group it was formaly a discus tank hence the size juwel 400L think it is 6ft. I use 2 heaters 1 external canister filter 1200l/hour and 1 internal which I changed to a 1200l/hour from the standard juwel 600l/hour I also use a Eheim 5500l/hour powerhead for extra flow and 2 massive air driven sponge filters also a full length airwall the tank is like a whirlpool. The only plants I have been able to keep in this tank are planted bogwood with java fern and anubis although I do have no gravel in my tank so plants are not an option unless they are growing on wood, I have found no problem with the tanks size other than it looking a little bare so I use some nice wood to distract from this. The zebs explore the whole tank when the lights are out returning to thier hiding places in the daytime. There is only one point I would like to make I would not put discus in my zeb tank because it is geared up for the zebs other than the tempreature the conditions with the harsh water flow would not be too kind on discus whic do prefer much calmer waters, at a push you could keep both creating dead spots for your discus to rest but ask yourself what your future intensions are for your tank to breed zebs or to keep a selection of fish that will help you decide what steps to take with the setup.

I_Need_Zebras · Post by **I_Need_Zebras** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 9:42 pm

Jo, you have any photo's of your tank setup?

Jo's Zebs · Post by **Jo's Zebs** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:02 am

Hi yes there are a few knocking around here are the last ones I took on the pics page http://www.zebrapleco.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5116