New to board from Toronto

[Fish Fin-atic]

Hey everyone, long-time reader of this board, and just now registered (thanks again Julian)
I have been wanting to get these beautiful fish for over 20 years now, but their cost made me very hesitant to take the chance on not killing them - 20 years ago they were going for $60 a piece and I thought that was outrageous

Anyhow, last year I finally picked up a really nice group of 5 fish from a local breeder. I set up a 50 gallon tank at the foot of my bed so I could always watch them. I read that upper-level fish in the tank will calm the Zebras, so I added a group of 10 Harlequin Rasboras to the tank, and almost instantly the plecos started showing up out of their caves, and becoming more adventurous, even when I was right in front of their tank.

I put a Pothos plant at either end of the tank, added 2 large cherry shrimp to clean up, as well as 2 small BN plecos to get the algae off the glass, one long air stone, and a canister filter for current and filtration, and I couldn't be more pleased with the setup and these fish!
They are so much fun to watch, especially at feeding time when feeding live food, and 3 days ago I saw (what I assume to be) a female trying to get into a (presumably) male's cave for the first time, so there's never a dull moment. I regret that I waited so long to make this purchase, and I'm glad there's a site specifically dedicated to these fish - they deserve it!

[TwoTankAmin]

Welcome to the site and to the wonderful world of zebras. I am surprised to hear about the dithers since in the wild there are none where the zebras live. The ecosystem does not support small top swimmers. The zebras will either be too deep or else when shallower they tend to be in water too fast for smaller fish. However, the youngsters will be found in shallower calmer waters looking for food. Birds are a threat to such fish moreso than other predatory fish.

Zebras are expert hiders and are hard wired to bolt for cover when they spot movement. I have found that tank raised zebras are a bit less "shy."

But then every tank is unique and the fish in it tend to "adapt' to the extent they can. Clearly you zebras are comfortable in the set-up you provided. Good luck with getting spawns.

[Fish Fin-atic]

Some years back, I was chatting with a a Zebra Pleco breeder whom I met at a local fish club auction, and remember him suggesting to put dithers in the tank, and said that Harlequins could stand the warm water, and stayed neat the top/middle so wouldn't bother the Zebras. Then I read it somewhere, and decided to try it; the difference in the Zebra's activity and lack of shyness was very evident and over the next few days, it was as if they were different fish!
I know in their natural environment, there aren't many (if any) other fish above them, but it seems to work in my tank. At the moment, my intent is just to keep these awesome fish, and watch them grow, but if they breed, even better