Breeding L46 hypancistrus zebra

[Orinocensis1]

Hi everyone, my name is Joe and I'm new to the forum, but have been visiting planet catfish for years, it's a great site!

I have recently purchased my buddies zebra pleco collection consisting of 13 fish. 5 are wild caught adults (3 males and 2 females) and the 8 juvies are about 1.5" and they are from the group of 5 adults 2 spawns.

The person that had them before me had the 5 adults in a 40 breeder and had 2 successful spawns. He said he didn't do anything special just noticed in the tank one day that there were little fry in there.

My question to you guys is that I have all 13 fish in a 135g (6 ft long) and I have never read about people having success breeding zebras in a 6ft tank. What do you guys suggest? Also some breeding tips from your experiences would be appreciated! thanks in advance!

[KrisA]

I didnt change any water for 2 weeks, then feeded with high protein diets, like Repashy meat pie.
I changed 50% with cold soft water after 2 weeks, it lowered the temperature from 30 till 25 degrees.
That mate them spawn, I have had 3 spawns so far, last one unfortunately eated by the male, but i hope they will spawn again within 2 weeks.

You can see my breeding report her:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/common/my_ ... id=168#386

[Orinocensis1]

Great info thanks!

If anyone heard of breeding in a 6ft tank please let me know. Or what the best size to breed them in.

[TwoTankAmin]

The issue is not on the spawning side of things, its what happens when you succeed. Zebra fry are very small and need to eat. The bigger the tank, the harder it will be to insure they get food.

For years I have had success spawning a group that started as 13 adults in a 30 gal. breeder tank (36x18x13 inches. But this tanks has a super amount of cover. I also did lose some fish over the first 4 year period and had to add a new pair to get the colony back to a bigger number. After a 2 + year hiatus where nothing worked to restart them, they resumed spawning recently.

You might want to consider using a tank more in the 75 gal size range (48x18 inch).

[Orinocensis1]

Ahh ok so spawning in there will not be a problem just gonna be hard for fry to get food, gotcha thanks!

[Orinocensis1]

Here's a pic of 4 out of 5 adults. Would you agree there are 2 females? The other that is not in the pic is def a male.

[KrisA]

Number 2 from the top is certainly a female.
I'm not 100% sure about the bottom one to the right, could be both, but my guess would be a female too.

[Orinocensis1]

Yeah that's the one I though could be a female as well. Thanks for your opinion

[jac]

My experience with zebra breeding is that they can realy take take time. It's not uncommen that they stop spawning for a year or more. Also moving them and cathing them can interrupt their spawning behavior. Sometimes moving them can be a trigger but can also put them off breeding.

My zebra started spawning after 3 years and now spawn frequenly. A good feeding regime and frequent water changes will get them in breeding condition. This can be a bit tricky in such a large tank. So keep a good eye on the condition of the fish to see if they eat enough.

Good luck, enjoy and have patience.

[Orinocensis1]

Thanks for the info! Yeah it might be tricky in this big tank but I will give it a shot, with all my breeding projects going on, this is the main one i am really paying extra attention too it lol. What diet do you use for them?

[jac]

In the mornings I give carnivor tablets and at night I feed frozen foods such as brine shrimp, mysis, black en red mosquito and daphnia. Ones a week I give them spirulina/plancton tabs.

[Orinocensis1]

Awesome! Thanks for your help!

[RickB]

Rich S in Mn and Duane H in Rockford, Il have had a lot of success breeding L046's in our bells so I know this type of structure works well with all the smaller plecos. We have literally bred thousands of plecos in them and you can google "Boester's bells" and see that many others have had success also. Pic is at :
http://boesterscichlids.com/pricelists/miscsupplies.htm
Good luck !!
Rick Boester