Breeding Zebra Plecos

Raul-7 · Post by **Raul-7** » 12 Jun 2005, 17:07

I plan to setup a breeding tank this summer in order to try and breed these rare gems. I want to make them more available, and thus cheaper for everyone (me included!) who can't afford their high price tag. Anyways, I've read Shane's article and I find very helpful; but I still have some questions to ask.

I'm going to divide my empty 75g(48"x18"x20"), making an area of 36"x18" and and another of 12". I plan on filling the 12" area with live plants to help keep NO3, NO2 and NH4 down; while the 36" area will be the Zebra's breeding habitat. Now for my questions, what should I use as my divider? Would fine plastic mesh work or should I use glass filled with drilled holes? Should their be any plants in the breeding habitat or only crevices, driftwood and caves? What diameter PVC would be ideal for caves? And it seems I need 20 times the volume per hour, so that means the filter needs to provide 10 times while the powerhead provides the other 10 time?

Sorry for the long post and thanks!

livebearium · Post by **livebearium** » 12 Jun 2005, 17:26

I think Lee's makes a plastic divider that can "easily" be removed by you later. I have used them before for similar setups. YOu should be able to find them at your LFS or at the Big Chains.

Doran

Post by **Barbie** » 12 Jun 2005, 17:55

You'll have trouble finding plants that appreciate 86 degrees much. There really isn't any need for them, IMO, as long as there's enough filtration and you do enough water changes to keep the water quality optimal anyway. You might be better served by 2 33 gallon long tanks plumbed together on a central sump or something though. They really only use the floor space, and the rest of the tank is wasted for anything but buffer. As to dividing the area off so the zebras can't get into it, why bother? They aren't going to hurt the plants, they don't dislike them, they just also don't do maintenance.

People have spawned zebras in tanks with everything from 5-20 times turnover, also. The current isn't mandatory, it's just a closer representation of what they would be dealing with in nature. Most of this is going to be strictly about YOUR preference. Some of the triggers and what not can help, but it's really about your own fish and how well conditioned and ready they are, IME.

You can find volumes of info on spawning and working with zebras at http://www.zebrapleco.com also. Be sure to read through the posts, as there's volumes of information already there from past questions.

Barbie

Raul-7 · Post by **Raul-7** » 12 Jun 2005, 23:10

Thanks for the quick replies, and sorry about not using the

when typing out pl*co.

Actually Barbie, there are plants that can handle those high temps; such as Crypts, Hygrophila sp. and Anubias sp. And the only reason I'm going to use plants is for backup, afterall I tend to forget regular waterchanges and also plants are great at sucking up ammonia before the bacteria have a chance at coverting it into nitrates.

Anyways, I do plan on sticking with the 75g since it's the only tank I have empty right now and I'm kindof trying to save up for buying the pl*cos. As for the filtiration, how does an Filstar XP3 sound? Including a Hagen with 350gph for circulation? Would that be sufficient enough?

As for the caves, what diameter PVC pipe should I use?

Post by **Shane** » 12 Jun 2005, 23:34

I tend to forget regular waterchanges

Raul,
I do not want to sound negative, but you have not mastered basic fish husbandry, breeding H. zebra is probably not the next project for you. What other loricariids have you spawned?
-Shane

Post by **Barbie** » 13 Jun 2005, 03:10

I actually have quite a bit of experience with planted tanks. Crypts, hygro and anubias will all grow very spindly and have trouble at 86 degrees. Good luck!

Barbie

WhitePine · Post by **WhitePine** » 13 Jun 2005, 04:02

Crypts also tend to melt with frequent large water changes especially when in a warmer tank. If you really want plants to suck up extra nutrients I would use floating plants like duckweed and riccia.

Cheers, Whitepine

Raul-7 · Post by **Raul-7** » 13 Jun 2005, 14:21

Shane, I've bred a lot of fish; mainly Cichlids (S.American, not African). But the only catfish I've bred are Otos and the Bristlenose catfish.

I've read the Zebra's live in 80-82F water, not 86F. Emersed plants are the best for sucking up nutrients, just leave their roots in the water. But what about the PVC pipe, what's a good diameter pipe size?

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 13 Jun 2005, 15:08

H. Zebra, per the information I've gathered, are living in 80+'F, so anywhere between 80 and 86'F is in that range.

Spawning them is probably best done by increasing the temp and then dropping it by adding RO water.

Pipes: The size of the pipe is dependant on the size of the fish. You need a size of pipe that is suitable for the male + female to just fit in. If the male can't block the female in the pipe, the female will "escape". Likewise, obviously, if both fish don't fit in at the same time, you won't get any spawns.

From what I understand, you'll have to be pretty good with your regular water changes. I'm unsure if plants will be good enough "backup" for these fish, as the plants must be pretty quick growing to absorb nitrate as quickly as it's produced, if you keep it low most of the time.

Aside from the advice given previously, there's also quite a bit of info to be found from the FAQ on the subject of Zebre pleco breeding, with links to articles on the breeding of Zebra pleco and pleco's in general. [The old FAQ was pretty naff, but I wrote a new one that Jools recently added, with some more direct links].

--
Mats

Post by **Barbie** » 13 Jun 2005, 18:39

IME, zebras will not condition well much below 84. It takes way longer to get their appetite stimulated so they eat enough to be ripe and ready to spawn. I personally keep mine at 86, although they've been as high as 90 for months at a time before I got them spawning initially. There are many ways to solve the same problem. All I can offer is my own personal experience with them. I wouldn't recommend skipping water changes for them. The very thing they live in and breathe should be a focus for attention, not something specifically planned around ignoring, IMO.

Barbie

Maarten · Post by **Maarten** » 13 Jun 2005, 22:43

Ik keep my group of 6 L260's at about 85F with the PH @ 6.5 Kh @ 2~3 and low conductivity but I havn't seen any spawning yet, I just moved them from a 80x40x40cm tank to my 121x55x60cm last weekend. They look a lot happier and scout the sandgrounds a lot more during the day then in the old tank...

xinguinsis · Post by **xinguinsis** » 14 Jun 2005, 09:24

Hi Raul,
Probably worth your time to do a search on docs ,dissolved organic carbon theres more reasons to do water changes than nitrogenous waste.
Regards Chris

Raul-7 · Post by **Raul-7** » 14 Jun 2005, 22:49

I might plan on building an automatic water changer, but that would take time. I'll probably work on that in a couple of weeks. Does anyone know where to get Zebra's from other than Aquabid? And would a 1.5" PVC pipe make a suitable cave?

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 15 Jun 2005, 09:55

The current sources of H. Zebra are tank bred ones. At the moment, any exports from Brazil of H. Zebra is stopped, and has been for quite some time. So I expect that Aquabid may be the best source.

I think Kevin Korotev(sp?) had some for sale not so long ago.

Beware that there are people who will try to sell you H. Zebra on aquabid that are trying to commit fraud. H. Zebra is very sought after, so people are willing to try to get a bargain, and fall into the hands of someone that isn't honest. If you are buying via aquabid, I'd recommned that you look at the sellers feedback history before committing any money on the purchase. There are certainly very honest people on Aquabid, but unfortunately, also some people who try to make a quick buck...

You could try to advertise in the "Wanted" section on this forum and see if anyone has something to offer.

It's not impossible to get them, they are just quite expensive and hard to find...

1.5" pipes might be right for a certain size fish, but it depends on the fish... Since these pipes aren't very expensive (in this country, it's a couple of dollars for a 2m, 6'6" length, and I expect the US prices to be similar), you can chance it.

--
Mats

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 15 Jun 2005, 10:44

is water changing really that much of a hassle?

i do a 100 litre plus change of RO water once a week in two tanks. it only takes an hour at the most. I actually enjoy it. to make it easier i put the containers up the stairs and run a long hose down into the tank.

i understand if you have lots of tanks it will take a long time, but that's part of the fun of fish keeping surely?

as xinguinsis says it's not just nitrates that you want to get rid of when you change the water.

Raul-7 · Post by **Raul-7** » 15 Jun 2005, 14:23

I'm building it as a precaution, I mean almost every breeder has an automatic water changer of some sort.

I did manage to contact the seller from Frankfurt, GER and he told me he got a shipment of 200 Zebra's from Brazil back in December. I don't know how he managed to get them, but he still doesn't have any feedback yet so it might not be a good idea to bid on them.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 15 Jun 2005, 14:32

You'll have to go through a lot of hazzle if you want to leggally import fish from Germany to the US, so I'd probably stick with US locations.

I also doubt that 200 H. Zebra was received from Brazil in December, but you never know, they may have been exported as something else and the customs people didn't check carefully (H. Zebra is not difficult to recognise, as they are pretty much the only Loricaridae that is pure white with medium thick black stripes).

No feedback is usually a bad sign.

If these fish are indeed wild-caught specimens, they should be in the size of 2-3", so check that too.

--
Mats

Breeding Zebra Plecos

Breeding Zebra Plecos

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