Very few plecos left

[TwoTankAmin]

Next week I send out the final 12 offspring from my TR parented L173. The beeders went out almost 2 years ago. Also going out next week are my 3 oldest zebras the oldest is over 20 and the next one may be as well. The third is close to 20.

Also going out in the very near future are my tank of mixed Hypans, my 41 remaining offspring from the RB L236 line and my 4 altums. I will be looking for a buyer for my clown loaches and redline barbs as well.

The only Hypans I am keeping a nit longers are the WC L173 and some of their kids. The tank disaster which wiped out close to 80 fish included one of the breeders and most of the kids. I was not sure the ones that survived would be fertile. I also had about 10-12 assorted size offspring which survived. This was last year in the summer if I remember right. I got two spawns a while back but nothing since. I do not know how the fry did and won't until I can breakdown the tank.

I do not count the 8 Albino ancsitrus or the 3 super reds. I got them all small to eat algae in my planted communities. I will not leave both sexes in any of the tanks. The last thing I need are bristlnose fry.

When all is said and done I will be down to 6 planted communities and I am not sure how long I will be able to keep uup with them.

I have really loved my journey from newbie to owning my first breeding group of zebra plecos. I have enjoyed working with every species since. While I am nowhere near knowledgeable about these fish in the wild, I considered myself pretty familiar with keeping and spawning them in captivity. It is amazing how much we can learn about the fish we keep of we are willing to spend enough time observing them.

My greatest regret is that I came to the hobby so late in life. I set up my first tank at the end of Jan. 2001. At that time I knew one of the fish I never wanted to keep was those small catfish which stuck to the glass. I knew I did not want live plants and I was certain I did not care about having fish breed in my tanks. The one thing a got right was despite that I knew I should have both sexes of any species I got.

To quote the Dead from Truckin,
"Lately It Occurs To Me
What A Long Strange Trip It's Been"