# My new zebbies! :D



## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

From Zebrapl3co (Peter). About 1.5", very nice coloration, lovely little guys 

In their new tank, there are a whole bunch of places to hide, but they all like to be around one rock but all on different sides.

Drip acclimating:

















A close up of one of them:









Waiting to be released into the tank:

















Now I can only see tails and an occasional face too


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## Katalyst (Jul 29, 2007)

Yay! They are so cute!!! Guess I know who got kicked out of where for their tank lol. I hardly see them either unless they are eating.  

They look great, I'm on the fry list right? RIGHT! lol Yeah yeah I know it'll be awhile.


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

Beautiful fish and good looking patterns.
Interesting information on them here:
http://fish.mongabay.com/species/Hypancistrus_zebra.html


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Katalyst said:


> Yay! They are so cute!!! Guess I know who got kicked out of where for their tank lol. I hardly see them either unless they are eating.
> 
> They look great, I'm on the fry list right? RIGHT! lol Yeah yeah I know it'll be awhile.


Yep, these guys totally won out to the flash plecs  Who could resist? But apparently flash plecs get more views on their cat-e-log page on planetcatfish.com (a great resource for anyone who keeps catfish species) than zebra plecos do.

BTW, I only saw them when they were eating too. I hope they've really settled in for you!

Haha, fry list!! I wish. Maybe in a million years. I'm happy with the little guys. So nice!! They even have that nice blue-ish tinge too


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Gosh they are wonderful! Congrats!!!


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## hojimoe (Mar 7, 2008)

wow nice pick up... kate do you have them too?


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

A few days have gone by, and they've settled in a bit. I added a powerhead, and now they've moved up a level in their slate pile.










Hanging out together:









Posing for a picture:


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

They are stunning! Good luck, I hope they spawn for you in the future! How long does it take them to mature?


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Very cool looking little guys.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Tabatha said:


> They are stunning! Good luck, I hope they spawn for you in the future! How long does it take them to mature?


I've heard of people getting spawns when they are 2 - 2.5 years, so I'm a while off.


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## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

how are they with plants? They're gorgeous.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

They're actually very good community tank members, as they are relatively docile, stay small and aren't too demanding in terms of specific water parameters. They just like it really clean, so I do 25% WC every other day.

They leave plants alone (they're carnivorous), but at their price and the rarity, I couldn't care less if they tore them plants to shreds, as long as they're happy


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

So it's been 10 months now, and the little guys are getting a new home. I picked up a 20 long and so they're getting way more room than in the 10g they're in now.

Right now they're waiting it out in a holding tank, but I thought before I put them back into the tank to all but turn into tails, I thought I'd snap a pic or two of them. It's been 10 months since this:









Now they are a bit bigger:




































Talk about slow grower! They're fed twice a day too. But at least they're all healthy. Looks like one of them is a "dominant" one and has grown considerably. The rest are about the same size as each other.

Hopefully with a lot more space to roam, they're going to grow a bit faster


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## overleaf (Feb 1, 2009)

Those are pretty awesome. I'd be interested in picking several up but their price is prohibitive  They are definitely attractive though!


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Great Stuff 

I miss mine, but I don't miss the extra time involved with them. 25 tanks is enough work to maintain without having to take care of those puppies lol.


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## Katalyst (Jul 29, 2007)

They are lovely! Sooner then later hopefully I can pick some up. I saw Jk's yesterday when I picked up a pair of king tigers and man are they cute! 

Eric have you considered moving the dominant one to a different tank to see if the rest put on size faster? It what I've done with a few types of hypans and it seems to work. Then again that means another tank to be obessessive compulsive over!


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

wow......they look amazing.

would love to get my hands on some of them but their price is a little out of my league. 

As for the dominant one, I kinda like the idea of a leader in the group thats a little larger than the others? don't you? I always felt that varied sizes look more natural than all the same size.

keep us updated.


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

Hmm, aside from the alpha, they look kind of skinny. They might be growing out of the shrimp pellets. You might want to feed them some high protient stuff. Try feeding them 1/2 a pellet of the Hikari Carnivores stuff ... Let me see if I can find that ...
Here it is: http://www.hikari.info/tropical/t_05.html
or the masivores:
Here : http://www.hikari.info/tropical/t_28.html

*Never pay again for live sex! | Hot girls doing naughty stuff for free! | Chat for free!*


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

I've been alternating them on shrimp pellets, growth crumble, hikari carnivore tabs, sinking tabs, earthworm sticks and mysis shrimp. I agree the smaller three looks a bit skinnier than I'd like them to be, but I'm hoping with the increase in living area they'll start to put on more weight. 

All in all though, they seem pretty healthy. In person they have that nice blue sheen to their white stripes


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Katalyst said:


> They are lovely! Sooner then later hopefully I can pick some up. I saw Jk's yesterday when I picked up a pair of king tigers and man are they cute!
> 
> Eric have you considered moving the dominant one to a different tank to see if the rest put on size faster? It what I've done with a few types of hypans and it seems to work. Then again that means another tank to be obessessive compulsive over!


I don't think I can do that......my gf was surprised at how "big" the 20L was. Don't think I can have another small tank kicking around....

I haven't told her about my 75g reef tank plans yet......


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