# My new.. expensive.. fish friends :)



## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Just picked these bad boys up today. Got four of them and could not be more excited! True L046 Zebra Plecos! They're a bit tiny now but hopefully I'll have them breeding by this time next year. Pictures aren't too great because they were taken in the bag but once I release them I don't think I'll be able to get pictures at all with all the hiding they have. Hope you all enjoy as much as I am! WOOOO!


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Congrats on the pickup!

I was too slow to act on those, otherwise, I would have taken all of them.

I hope you have a nice set up just for them!


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

Cograts on the additions! Welcome to the club. Who did you get them from?


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Thanks !  

I got them from a friend in London via another friend in London lol, and yes they've got a nice setup all to themselves which Im hoping will be their "for life" tank.


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

Congratulations Cory! You three should create a Zebra Pleco thread and document your adventures. They're such beautiful, special creatures. Looking forward to hearing all about their development.


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Thanks Tabatha! Sounds like a good idea. Step 1. figure out what they'll eat.


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## lora (Mar 12, 2006)

They've been eating Sera brand food, Microgran, and Micropan. I'ts small, but they really like it. They also get frozen blood worms, and PE frozen mysis shrimp. I use a fine grater to grate it up for them. They have a small mouth and will choke on anything too big. I've also given them crumbled flake food. 
Glad to hear they made the trip okay, keep us posted on their progress.


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Ooh thanks Lora. Didn't realize you were registered here . I have some sera sinking chips with willowwood bark in them or something along those lines, not sure if they are microgran or pan or neither because I've got them in a tupperware. I was hoping to feed them some of the sinking h20 stable wafers from NLS as well if they'll take them. Will have to go out and grab some of the frozen stuff for them.


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

Remember that Hypancistrus are carnivores and as such require a high meat content in their diet. Mine are doing well on Carnivore pellets as well as a mix of Frozen Bloodworm, Mysis shrimp, Brine Shrimp and Krill. With your fry I would get them switched over to the pellets over time and then add the frozen stuff once they are a bit larger.


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## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

nice. I'm thinking I may go the pleco route too.


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## lora (Mar 12, 2006)

Sera microgran is tiny high protein granulated food for fry, and micropan is too, only the granules are a little bigger. I've been feeding both these foods to all the Zebra's, adults too, and they really like them.


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

The NLS stuff is high in protein content and the first ingredients are all meat but I will definetely head out and grab the other stuff tomorrow. Thanks for the help Knave and Lora !


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## tf_fish (Aug 5, 2008)

Hey
Cory Congrat
it is the guy from oakville
I got some Emdlers from you
I have 4 babies frog plecos


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

Riceburner said:


> nice. I'm thinking I may go the pleco route too.


LOL... careful... they are highly addictive... possibly even the crack of the fish world


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

KnaveTO said:


> possibly even the crack of the fish world


It's true. I got a hit of pleco, and now I can't stop.

Mine are 9 months old, so a bit but not much older than yours Cory, and I feed them: NLS growth #00 (very high protein), Wardley's shrimp pellets, earthworm sticks, Hikari carnivore tablets, spirulina tablets (once in a while), and frozen mysis shrimp (rarely). They will get blood worms when they are a bit bigger and I feel comfortable feeding them bloodworms.

Good luck with raising them up. Apparently very v e r y s l o w.
Some of the breeders in the UK and Germany were saying that they can have breeders within 1.5 years, but that's with 4 feedings a day and constant water changes. Oh yeah, with these guys, water changes are apparently essential for them to grow nicely. I do a 10 - 15% WC every other day. The breeder insisted that I keep the water absolutely pristine for these guys, and it probably will be worth it in the long run.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Riceburner said:


> nice. I'm thinking I may go the pleco route too.


I hope you're ready! You're going to have a few tanks with nothing in them. 
My hypans both do not like the light of day. My other plecs seem ok with coming out for a bite during the day though.


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Thanks for the info Ameek! I'm learning that there are quite a few different feeding ideas for these guys. I've got a lot of NLS grow lying around but Ive heard a lot about them choking to death and Im not 100% sure they're large enough yet. I threw in some NLS sinking wafers tonight because it's all I've got in wafer form that has protein in it (all my other wafers are for vegetarian ancistrus). Im also just a HUGE fan of NLS products. Im going to go down with a flashlight in a bit to see if they're eating it. Im hoping they can outcompete the multitude of snails that are in the tank because they tend to gravitate towards the wafers when I've used them in the past. 

On that note, any idea if these guys would eat snail eggs? Not important one way or another but seems like another good source of protein for them if they can muscle through the mucous membrane covering the eggs. 

As for growth rate, I was prepared for slow growth if my bristlenoses were anything to go by. Never have I encountered slower growing fish lol. I'll probably be able to feed them 3 - 4 times a day because I run my own business and am able to be home a lot of the time while I work or at least in and out often. Water changes wont be a problem either. I wanted to add a fluval internal filter to the tank as well for extra filtration and flow, but found out the one I had lying around is missing it's suction cups so it will have to wait for now. Im hoping that being in a tank far too large for them will help keep the water quality good as well. 

Anyways, gonna go check on my precious zebras now woohoo!


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

All species of Pleco are very slow growing fish. Plecos are also one of the longest lived species of freshwater fish with reports of people keeping them in captivity for up to 10+ years and longer.


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## lora (Mar 12, 2006)

I don't know if you are aware of this site, zebrapleco.com, you may find it helpful as well.


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Seems like the snails are beating the plecos to the food right now. I have some snail-be-gone I got with a tank I purchased but I've heard that sometimes the snail treatments can harm the fish also. Ive never used the stuff because usually my snail infestations arent as bad as they are in this particular tank but Im thinking getting rid of them may be neccessary for the zps to get any of the food. What do you all think about using the copper based treatment to remove them? If I can't do that I'll have to set up a new tank for the zebras that is snail free and just use some established filter media in whatever filter I use so it's not a huge deal or anything but I'd rather keep them in the nice setup I've got going at the moment.


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

I would stear clear of copper based meds and treatments. Most catfish (this includes Plecos) are sensitive to such. Your best bet would be to use food matter that the plecs will stay away from to attract the snails. I have hears of people using bottles with lettuce in them or some type of pelleted food. The snails are attracted to the food and you can pull out a bottle full of them.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Try turning your temps to about 85 F. I find that most snails have a hard time reproducing as quickly in the really warm water, where as the plecs love it.

Again, like Knave said, steer clear of the copper-based meds, which includes many other meds out there when treating plecs.


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

That's what Ive been doing so far but it's barely made a dent in their population lol. THere are A LOT of them and of course removing them doesnt remove the eggs that are gonna be all over the tank. I think I may just create a new tank for them if they cant handle the copper and make sure it stays snail free. The ones in there now hitched a ride on some java moss to the best of my knowledge.


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Hmm if high temps can keep them from reproducing maybe I'll try that in concert with manual removal.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

If you can stay diligent with manual removal, then it works very well. Just make sure to get the breeding size adults every time and they will start to decline fast.


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

I'm good at being diligent  Just look at how dilligently I'm posting on this forum . I'll give it a go and see what happens, if I cant get rid of them all I'll give the zps a new tank and give their current setup over to my P. Polleni who like to munch on snails whole.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Well, if that doesn't work (it will most likely take a few weeks), you can always send them my way 

What kind of snails are you dealing with? I have MTS in my tanks, and I think they should be in every tank, as they really stir up the bottom, and 'deposit' nutrients for plants too. Otherwise, I find many snails can be a nuisance especially once their populations get going.

Also, maybe look into keeping RCS or some other shrimp (small varities) in there. I am convinced that the baby zebras must eat the newly born shrimplets, as they are about the same size as baby brine shrimp, so are probably a great supplemental food that give the little zebras a bit of exercise chasing


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

I haven't posted it in a while but anyone who wants to drop by here is welcome to as many snails (ramshorns) as they want. Ive got more than I know what to do with but as most of my tanks are breeder setups and not displays I haven't been in any rush to eradicate them (until now lol) and I know lots of hobbyists can use them as food for their loaches and such. 

I think the idea of the rcs babies is a good one. I've seen it done before too. I'm hopefully picking up some rcs from Redclove next week when I venture down to his neck of the woods and once I've got a decent sized population going I'll toss a few berried females in for the plecos to hunt. 

Man, am I glad there are other ZP owners on this forum. You folks have been tremendously helpful and the help is much appreciated as this is a big investment for me and one I don't want to see go awry!


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Yep, I think for sure the plec, and many other fish can predate the RCS babies and get good live foods 24-7.

It's certainly a bit of a fright putting in several hundred bucks in to a few fish, but I think (Well, I really hope!!) that it'll be worth it in a few years time! I'm sure we can have a fry swap hooked up by then


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

All I can say is that I am glad that they are more of us in the GTA that are keeping these guys. Once they all start breeding we can definately look at a fry swap. Adding to a genetic pool is always a good thing... and my 4 are all F0's


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Yours are Wild caught (F0) KnaveTO? If I'm not mistaken, you got yours at Alternative Aquariums right? I was not aware that they had wild caughts there. Well, the more the merrier, and get going with the babies  

Definitely, a good exchange will be in order when we get sorted out, and I think it would be nice if we Zebra plec owners in the GTA and SO can keep our genologies straight, as it would certainly help with the breeding population here in Ontario.


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

I'm definetely in for a fry swap once I have some to swap with lol . Hopefully the fish gods will bless us all with plentiful spawns and parents that don't eat their offspring lol.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Well, at least you and I are in it for the long haul...the youngest I have ever heard of a spawn is at 1.5 years old, so we've got a ways to go to have a try at the record...probably more waiting than that though  

Will you be looking to get more? I was going to get some from Lora if I can when she has more available, and I have been considering a few other sources for more (probably state side)...either way, less money in the bank!


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Let's work on breaking that record then lol.


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## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

You folk should unite in breeding them here in ontario, like ameekplec said. Keep an optic on who and where the fish come from and whatnot. Boy this is exciting and I don't even have these fish. *giddy*


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Quick update. They seem to be fine at this point but I've yet to notice them eating anything. Tried a bit of frozen brine shrimp in the tank tonight before lights out and have tried h20 stable nls wafers, sera catfish chips and some wardley's shrimp pellets so far. Im going to grind up some mysis shrimp for them tomorrow night and Ive also got some beefheart Im going to try out but it's really hard to tell what and if they're eating when I'm asleep lol. 

Ive managed to remove most of the large snails manually which surprised me since it didn't take nearly as long as I'd have expected and I've been crushing the tiny ones I see on the glass and on rocks so hopefully that won't be an issue soon but now the food just seems to break apart without any evidence they've snacked on it. I tried putting it into the spots they normally hide in this evening and we'll see how it goes. Might have been best to put them in a smaller tank with less hiding Im thinking now but not much choice at this point since I don't want to stress them with another tank any time soon. 

*fingers crossed*


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Cory, I have never seen mine eat. But after having them for almost a month, I can see that they are eating well (full little tummies  ).

I am against beef heart, but that's just me. 

If you can, set up their tank so that you can at least see them if you shine a flash light or something. Usually during the day I can only see silhouettes, but I can see enough to know that they are healthy.

Incedentally, my four whom previously loved to hang out together under a driftwood have decided that they no longer want to get along and hang out together. Maybe they're growing up?


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Cool. I'm hoping theyre eating, hard to tell though. I can see them most of the time now during the day as they seem to have picked a few hiding spots to hang out in. Two of them usually stick to one area and two in another. Main problem is not being able to tell if they've made a dent in what I've put in but it did appear that their bellies were rounded which I know is a good thing from my bn plecos. I guess I just worry a bit more because of the cost lol. If only they ate snails and snail eggs they'd be set for life lol; although I've decimated the snail population in there as mentioned before .


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

Zebras will only consume food at night or so I have noticed with my 4. I have added a blue moonlight to the tank so that I can see them moving about the tank after lights out. Just keep watching them and try not to startle them too much with flashlight inspections.


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