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I did it, I caved, I finally bought my 'white whale' of a catfish. I, at least as if 4 hours ago (and hopefully still, I'm not at home to check!) now have three L46. My friend traded for them a few years ago, has had them for two or three years himself, and is getting out of fish. So I bought his three unsexed plecos.

I really am hoping the heater doesn't fritz again and cook the tank at 90* (it went up to 85 before it turned off). I really hope the powerhead isn't too strong, And I really hope these guys will make it. Friend is a cichlid fanatic, So the zebras were in a tank with some African cichlid inch long fry, a sponge filter, a slow filter, and enough hair algae to feed a thousand SAE. I really really hope I won't be posting in a day or so wailing that I was an idiot for getting these fish who lived in those conditions for years, only to die in my fast flow and warm water tank.

At last count, two of the three remained in their caves, and the third was parked under some rocks near the flow. Here is hoping.

To make myself less of an anxious wreck, what are some of your expensive pleco, or catfish in general, lessons you learned too late?

Congrats and welcome to the world of zebras.

And I know what you mean, when ever I add expensive plecos into my tanks, the first night is always the hardest...but as long as you acclimated them properly (I always use drip for 3-4 hours with a small heater to keep the bucket water warm), and your tank is mature and aged, they will be fine.

As for temp, if it always randomly spikes in temp, then I would suggest getting a new one. But if it maintains at like 85F, then you have nothing to worry about...mine are kept at a constant 86+F.

As for flow, they dont mind a sudden increase in flow at all. My zebras get a constant 350g/h blast 24/7 and they seem to like it.

As for lessons, there isnt really anything that you wouldnt know already:

- always Qt new fish for weeks (more importantly when you want to add stuff to the tank)
- make sure the tank is well established and ammonia/nitrite at constant
- dont over feed
- disinfect everything that is going into the tank (bleach dip new plants, bleach and rinse rocks, boil wood etc).
- dont put them with aggressive fish or aggressive feeders as they dont compete well for food
- provide lots of hiding spot, more then the # of fish
- do regular water changes
- dont do too large of a water change at a time, if you have to for some reason, do it at intervals with smaller amounts (one thing I like to do with my water changes is to place the bucket with the new water above the tank--propped up by some beer boxes or what ever is handy, connect a hose from the bottom of the bucket to an opening on the lid of the tank and just let the water slowly drip into the tank. This way, I avoid any large temp changes and in case the city changes the water chem before I notice, I dont shock the tank with a sudden all in 1 water change).

oh, and one thing I actually did learn from prior experience, always have more then one filter running in the tank (each able to handle the tank say the other fails). And do alternating cleaning. (I have an Eheim 2222 and a 2213 and 2 hudro sponges filtering the 20gal that my zebras are in).