ZebraPleco.com • The complete Hypancistrus zebra resource

hi everyone, hope i am posting this in the right place.
i am supposed to be getting 7 six month old zebra plecs at the end of january which i will be paying £100 each for.
the guy i am getting them from has a very big breeding group and lots of young.the young are all f1 he has told me. my question is , do you think this is too young for these fish to be sold?
i desperatly want these fish but i do not want to risk thier lives, i could deal with the loss of money but i dont think i could deal with the loss of the zebs. please help me make an informed decision

kind regards
dave

They should be about 1" (SL) by them - quite small really but should be ok...
I've just moved 15 fry from one tank to another and haven't lost any - some were only 4-5 weeks old... but that was a journey of about 30 meters in a tub for about 10 mins

here are a couple of ours at 180 days old

Hi
The price seems to be right for the going rate should be 1" plus really.
Is your aquarium up and running and ready matured? water quality is key, regular feeds and water changes.
Avoid bloodworm at that age they are still at risk from choking

Hi,my aquarium is up and running and has been for the last 3-4 weeks,i have transferred a mature filter into this tank, also it wont have any zebs in it until the end of january. do you think i should pop a few cardinals or rummy noses in there to feed the filter bacteria until i get my zebras.
thanks for any info
regards
dave

definatly - you'll need to keep it stocked to keep the media alive

If you moved the filter a few weeks ago and have not been providing an ammonia source for the bacteria, they are mostly, if not all, dead. You need to recycle the tank.

In the states we would do a fishless cycle with ammonia but my understanding is that ure ammonia is hard to find in the UK. I do use the kind from the market which has some surficants in it. But I do wcs along the way and when cycled will do a massive wc and run carbom overnight right before adding the fish. Most folks recommend against using what I do. However, it has worked OK for me.

hi, i will stock my tank with rummy nose tetras in a week or so, will these fish be ok to to keep with my zebs when i get them?
i do add a pinch of food every 2 days to feed the bacteria, is this enough?
thank for the replys guys
regards
dave

Don't add food. You'll just end up polluting the tank. Foods only release ammonia when they decay, depending on the type of food and temperature and bacteria, it can be hours or days. The ammount release can not be control so it causes an endless loop of mini cycles. I think you get the idea here.
Tetras are ok. But you would be much better of with scavengers (also call clean up crew) like dwarf shrimps (Red Cherry shrimps).
Things you should be doing now if you haven't already done so:
- Start doing regular water change now. Depending on your climate and surounding, sitting water can shift in pH in a month. Don't know why, it just does. Plants, driftwood and subtrate are probably the major factor here.
- keep you temperature at the zebra pleco confort level now. Again, temperature shifts can change things in your tank.

The big question is: "Do you have any experience raising pleco fry?"
I've seen all too often people losing an entire colony due to inexperience. Even though zebra plecos are pretty hardy and at 1/2 year or 1", they "just" got off the safe zone. You must take care not to make stupid mistakes or over do things. The best way to raise them, is to set up a good schedule and keep to the schedule. Ie., feeding amount, timely water change regiment.
Make minor adjustment if you want. But always minor change.
Check up on them once or twice a day. *Spouse jealous warming here* so don't make it too obvious
Things you don't do:
- don't put 2 heaters in there. But instead, have a good digital thermometer and a spare heater stash away. And read it when you do your checking.
- don't use any kind of automatic feeding devise. (you've been warned)
- don't blow your power head at them 24 hrs a day. There is a reason why they have caves or hide in cracks and crevices. It's because they want to get away from the currents to rest and sleep and breed. They like the current, but not 7-24.

hi zebrapl3co i have added 10 cardinals to the tank and will add some shrimp at the weekend. Do i have any experience raising zebra fry? No i dont but i have to start somewhere, my tank maintenance is religious and i quite enjoy it so i dont mind extra water changes.
i will probably check on them more than twice a day and i have no spouse to upset as i kicked her out when she told me i had to many tanks, it was never going to work im serious as well.
as i said, i have never kept this beautiful fish before but have spent many hours online trying to find as much info as possible, i would not even think about keeping these fish if i was not confident in my abilities as a fishkeeper
thank you for your concerns and advice
kind regards
dave