ZebraPleco.com • The complete Hypancistrus zebra resource

Hi ANdy

AS far as a date goes for getting the site up and running I really couldb't say. I have loads still to do, but works seems to be dictating everytihing at the moment!!

At four inches, I would say that you have an absolutely mammoth zebra. I have a male that is just under four inches and thought he was one of the biggest around!!


I would say that the fish must be very well established and at least 4-5 years old, but I must be honest that is purely a guess. The sizes of zebras vary enormously, I have one spawning female that is over three inches, and two that are just over 2 inches. They all spawn, and are all around 5 years old.

Rob

Thanks ROb

it might be a little under 4 inch as i didnt take a measure to it but it is the biggest fish i have and i am almost sure its a female due to only very short odontale growth on the gill plates and pecs. i have fish half her size with roughly the same growth wich i think will be males ( or do they grow to that length and stop if female and carry on if male? if you know what i mean) the other 10 xebras i have are mostly to small to sex but i have 3 that i think 2 male and 1 female. i am desperate for them to spawn, problem is the big female has took residence in what i think to be the premium cave and the males are in caves either side of her with the rest of the zebras sharing caves or hiding where they can. ar ethe males not ready or should i take out her cave and force her to shack up with either male????

Hi Andy

Can you get a picture of the fish. At four inches, if it was a male, I would expect it to be quit obvious. As the males get older, they become very easy to sex. So it does sound like it could be a female. If you can get a good view of the pectorial fins from the top, try and see if they are purely crescent shaped, (female), or leave the body straight at a 90 degree angle, and then go crescent shaped.

As far as moving the caves about, what size is the cave with the supposed female in? Can she fit into the other caves.?

From what I have seen, the majority of breeding takes place with a mature male, especially if there are younger fish in the tank. So if the males are a great deal smaller than the female, they may be too intimidated.

Could you get a picture of the cave set-up, showing how close together they are etc?

Cheers

Rob

i will try and get some pics on my digital camera and post them on here (not sure how to do that yet but i'll figure it out) yeah she can fit in the other caves easily infact the one she is in is probably one of the smallest caves in the tank. i will try and get some pics and post them soon. thanks.

Hi Andy.

If you don't have somewhere to upload the pics online, (which you will need in order to post on the forum) e-mail them to me and I'll put them in one of your posts.

rob

couple of photos I put up before showing ventral photos.

I know i have a semi mature species but you can still see the v and u shape vents.