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My larger female zebras tube has been down for like 2 weeks now........ She is full grown and the adult male has been in his cave as usual....
How long are their tubes down before they seek out a male?

30g tank with a wc adult pair and 3 2" F1's. Only the adult male has taken a proper slate zebra sized cave, everyone else is using nooks and crannies.

well her tube is still down and no eggs yet........

Hi Fern; I`m sure glad you are active on this site, I wish there was more traffic.
Is it possible that your female has spawned in a place you can`t seeÉ Also are you sure you have a mature maleÉ I hope you have some luck and produce your first batch.
I think My 7 wild Zebras are imature still. They are only about 2 and a half inches now. How big are you fish. Do you have pics of your tank

The 2 adults are 3" (standard length) I've had them a year and a half. The 3 F1 I've had for 2 years and they are 2-2.5" so not quite there on breeding. The male is proven, he came from a breeding tank, the female is not. Soooo She should only breed with the wild male who is in a cave that I can easily see into. I will get a pic and mark their places on it, that may help?

My zebs seem to breed around the 4 year mark, a lot of people say at least 3 years, but in practice its more closer to 4 years.

does the female interact with the male a lot or hang round the males cave?plecs wat av bred in past always sort of paird of n stayd together . a ad 2 starlite briselnose plecs a was tryn to breed bt never hapend the female was a littel bit older than the male and that always lookd gravid . a hope she lays 4 u soon .al b gttn 4 more zebras in nxt week or so al tk some piks n pt tm on so u cn tk a luk

The adult pair in question are wild caught so who knows how old they are.
The only interaction I see is noses peak out when I do a water change. I feed at lights out..... Other than the peeking out during water changes I just count the tips of tails from time to time to make sure they are still all there. I look in the males cave weekly with a small flash light to see if anything is going on, that and he is getting ok with the light so hopefully if there are eggs someday he wont freak out on me......
No pic yet, Had to do some major fish shuffling this week with most of my other tanks so I haven't had the time.

Left side of tank

Right side of tank

That's just one male, he just shows up in both pics so I figured I would mark him in both.
So 1 WC Male 1 WC female and 3 F1's in a 30g. I couldn't do anything about the glare

dont all talk at once I know my tanks aren't all super pretty but the water is clean and the fish are healthy I run about 1,500 gallons so pretty isn't something I look for in most tanks

Great looking zebs, I'd put in some more hiding places though. Maybe try and create some tunnels.
I did the same and my zebra's move around more. This way they'll look up each-other's company easier.

I have been looking for some more innert rock to add or even more of that silly plastic rock, that what one of the F1's is holed up in.

Wow, really pretty looking tank you have there

Heeeheeeee, had to say it.

Ya I get the scratch and dent specials Think I paid $5 for that tank I average 20-30 tanks running at a time so I only clean the insides water spots and algae are a common thing around here
But ya I fully agree it is a fugly tank but it holds water and they are happy

I have old eyes- I could barely see any fish in your pic at all.

I normally sex hypans now based on venting- tubes are often visaible long before they will use them. Its often easiest to see them clearly right after a water change.

Only 2 tails and a bit of one can be seen, 2 are well hidden.... and my pic sucks No way to get even a semi decent pic of their tank.
The 2 adults I know are male and female. The 3 juveniles I am guessing are 1F 1M and an unknown, wont worry about them for the next year or 2 though, they are still too young yet.