ZebraPleco.com • The complete Hypancistrus zebra resource

Last week, my breeding male, Lloyd, spawned for the 9th time in 8 months. One of the months he spawned with two different females. I am curious how long a small colony of zebras (4M/3F) will breed for? I thought mine would breed for 6 months or so then take a break for 3-4 months, then repeat the cycle. What are other folks experience when it comes to continually breeding zebras?

Something else that might be relevant - I take away the babies after about 2-3 weeks to raise in a grow out tank. Maybe the fact the babies aren't around encourages additional spawning? (i.e., is Lloyd thinking "gosh my kids keep disappearing, I guess I'll try to make more so I know my genes are passed along!")

When my colony was going strong I was getting 2 spawns a month alternating between the largest male and the alpha male. They were going at monthly intervals spaced 15 days or so apart. The alpha went for about 9 months and 10 spawns and the the big one went for about 7.5 months and 8 spawns. The off time was about 5 months and they resumed. A few other males spawned occasionally and the peak of it all was a triple when I had almost fee swimmers, wigglers and eggs all at the same time in different caves.

The down side is over the years I lost a few fish and my last spawn was last November. My recollection is that their yearly onn and off cycle was not a 12 month total period but more like 13.5 or so.

But that was just my experience, your actual mileage may vary