Suitable Tankmates

zcat · Post by **zcat** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 12:20 am

Hi all

I've been searching around and have received quite a few opinions on suitable tankmates. Some folks say no tankmates at all because they scare the already shy zebras, and others say having tankmates around helps them feel secure. I'd really like to keep something in the tank that I can watch and enjoy since the zebras will be likely hiding.

What tankmates do you keep?

My set-up is a 40 gallon with strong water flow. Possible tankmates I've thought of are:

Rainbowfish (3-4) - I have many species and they seem pretty mellow.

Deninsonii Barb (sp?) (3-4) - They are a very nice looking fish and I have some in my community tank. But they are very active, always swimming around and playing chase or hunting around the plants for food.

Retroculus Lapidifer (1 pair) - South American Cichlid that comes from the same area as the Zebras. Non agressive, but might move things around tank. I can't seem to find this one anywhere though unless I import it myself for a ridiculous cost.

Blue Acara (1 pair) - South American cichlid comes from river areas but maybe not swift moving rivers? Peaceful and non-aggressive towards tankmates. May dig around in the gravel.

Thoughts?

Cascudo · Post by **Cascudo** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 11:24 am

If you want tankmates for your zebra's, choose calm and small fish that don't move around in the same area as they do and don't compete with feeding.

So avoid:
- other bottomdwellers
- big fish
- agitated fish
- fish that compete much for food

I would recommend just one school of small, calm fish like cardinals (they are also from the amazon rain forest like the zebra's, although not from the same river (Zebra -> Rio Xingu, Cardinal -> Rio Negro) and they are very calm. Also you could have some surface dwellers like hatget fish, because they will never meet the zebra's.

IMO cichlids are generally speaking too big and agressive and digging in the gravel might disturb the zebra's (although dwarf cichlids like Apistogramma cacatoides might be an option), and Rainbowfish might be too big and agitated and intimidate the zebra's.

At the moment I have a school of 13 Rasbora hengeli and 10 Amano shrimps with them. This goes rather well, although the rasbora's are a little bit agitated. I haven't sorted out for myself if it is a advantage or not, too have them with the zebra's.
In the past I had other pleco's and botia's (that scared them off), corydoras (that ate their food) and pearl gourami's (that scared them off because of their size). Although these are all peacefull fish, they were no proper tank mates for the zebra's.

Bottom line is that you have to create a really calm environment for the zebra's, then they will come out more often an may even reproduce.
Not having tankmates at all is the safest option, but I understand that it is nice to have a little variation in the tank.

wandj · Post by **wandj** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 1:07 pm

Rainbow fish have a beautiful temperment...but they will eat all your Zebras food. Do NOT mix them. I had lots of Rainbows and that is the biggest thing I noticed. They don't have an effect on the plecos at all exept they eat everything you throw in before it gets to the bottom and they go after it there as well.

Cascudo · Post by **Cascudo** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 1:26 pm

Good point by Wandj, I also heard that Rainbows are very competitive for food and Zebra's aren't the slightest bit. They won't have a chance to eat, only when you feed them after you turned off the lights. But then you won't have te pleasure to see them come out for feeding.

I thought of another option:
Imagine a school of black neons and how the black and white stripes of the black neons would go along with the zebra's?

McEve · Post by **McEve** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 2:00 pm

I've tried several different fish together with the Zebra, Threadfins (didn't cope with the current), Hatchet fish (didn't like the current), Cardinals, (stole their food) and Endlers (stole their food).

So.... Zebra's go best together with Zebras in my experience

zcat · Post by **zcat** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 4:38 pm

Hmmmmm......... :pondering what to do now:

Thank you all for the advice

The last thing I want to do is finally get eagerly anticipated zebs and scare them constantly or starve them.
I'm leaning towards the zebra only tank. Or maybe a pair of blue rams? I have a pair in my community tank they are peaceful and very small. They have even tried spawning once, but as first time parents they ate the eggs. If they proved to much for the zebras they could go back to the community tank.

What about the little oto's for algae?

Cascudo · Post by **Cascudo** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 10:31 pm

Rams aren't any problem concerning behaviour, as you said they are peaceful and small.
What I don't like about them is that they become ill very easily, at least the fish that I get over here, but maybe you have more luck.

About the oto's I am in doubt. I stick to the idea that it is better not to have other bottom dwellers. But oto's are so small that I think that the zebra's will chase them away when in competition of food.

wandj · Post by **wandj** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 4:23 am

I need Otto's in my tanks to keep the algae off the glass. So they are mixed in with my Zebras now. They get along fine. I have a little Zebra that is smaller than the Otto's, and he doesn't let the Ottos' bother him at all. In fact, the Otto's are much more skittish than my Zebras. No prob.

To bad about Endlers. I was thinking of mixing them. Can an Endler swallow a bloodworm?

zcat · Post by **zcat** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 5:03 am

Oh yes, my endlers love bloodworms. I find it absolutely hilarious to watch the small fry tear off with a worm almost as big as they are

wandj wrote:I need Otto's in my tanks to keep the algae off the glass. So they are mixed in with my Zebras now. They get along fine. I have a little Zebra that is smaller than the Otto's, and he doesn't let the Ottos' bother him at all. In fact, the Otto's are much more skittish than my Zebras. No prob.

To bad about Endlers. I was thinking of mixing them. Can an Endler swallow a bloodworm?

zcat · Post by **zcat** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 4:22 am

Greetings

Has anyone kept Discus with Zebras? I was reading up a bit on them and it seems like their tank requirements are similiar to Zebras.

KenW · Post by **KenW** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 4:34 am

The only problem I see with Discus is they aren't to found of current and they get big.

Ken

wandj · Post by **wandj** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 4:39 am

Hi. I'm keeping 3 adult Discus in my 55gal that has 11 Zebras and 4 Ottos. I have 2 large canister filters, and air stone and a powerhead on the tank. I have a calm corner because I turn the outflows down the side of the tank and it happens that there is about 1/3 of the tank that is calm. I find that they travel all over the tank and do not just sit in the calm area. So maybe it's a bit exaggerated that Discus don't like current. They seem to be just fine.

Give it a go. But a lot depends on how fast your current is.

wandj · Post by **wandj** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 4:43 am

Oh, and the size of the Discus does not seem to bother my Zebras either. They act like they normally do. And at night, the Discus are like floating statues. I don't think the Zebras mind the big Discus floating around them.

Mindy · Post by **Mindy** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 8:52 am

The Deninsonii Barb, is that the Red Torpedoe barb? They are definitely out not only because they zoom around the tank like nutters, but they also require much cooler water, even cooler than most ordinary tropical tanks.

In my Zebra tank, I still have the fish I used to mature it - 5 Harlequin Rasboras, a spare Lemon Tetra (yes, I know they need a school, but I'm phasing mine out of the community) and... Endlers. I don't have any problems. I feed when the lights are on and they eat what's floating around in the water and then switch the lights off and the zebs come out to eat.

Des · Post by **Des** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 8:53 pm

Hi zcat,

In my zebra stock tank, I also have lots of large Rams and various types of Corydoras. This weekend I added some Dwarf Otos and some large Zebra otos. Hope the Zebra otos will be Ok in the higher temps.
Please note that you do not want fish that will eat all the food and leave none for the zebras.

Des.