PlanetCatfish.com

Hello,

As you can see from the title, I have the chance to buy a group of breeding zebra plecs. There are 9 of them and I have been told by the seller that they are willing to split the group.

I cannot afford to buy the whole group as much as I would want to but I could perhaps buy some of them and then set them up in a breeding tank.

As this is an expensive idea, I am wondering if it is worth my while. I have never bred fish before and certainly not plecs. However, I have always liked these fish and I like the idea of having them and trying to breed them.

Can you give me any pointers as to how difficult it would be. What size tank/filter etc etc. And also, how many of them I should get. Could I buy just 2? Does there have to be the same number of males and females?

Thanks for any help.

Hi

I would jump at the chance of buying them(at least 3-5) if you could afford them.
Right now in the UK they are becoming increasingly hard to get and what there is are quite expensive.

You will find an article on breeding them on this site in shanesworld Reproduction articles.

Buy what you can and good luck with them if you choose to do so.

Cheers
Lisa

Thanks Lisa,

I looked at the article in Shane's World and I found a few interesting facts. I am thinking of getting 2 females and 1 male.

I am not sure about the basics though like what size tank and layout. I have seen different information ranging from bare-bottom with some rocks to sand, rocks, wood and plants.

I understand I am going to need a pretty powerful filter. It would be good if someone could advise me on what size tank and then what filter to go in it.

Or, seen as though I don't know these things, should I not even bother?

It's just that now they are being sold as singles people are likely to only buy them as such and I would like to buy a group if I feel confident about it.

They are still pretty expensive btw but I haven't even seen them available around here for a while.

I would certainly buy at least 4 (depending on the price!) as they are really hard to get hold of and even if they don't breed it is really nice to have them. I would suggest a 3" / 3.5" tank with either an external or internal Fluval filter (again depending on how many you buy) Fluval filters seem good as they kick out a lot of water to increase the current in the tank, and get lots of aeration too. I have bought some Zebras and am hoping to breed them, but if not then I will just continue to enjoy watching them! If you don't mind me asking, what are they asking for the plecs?

Hi Guys

Cheese specialist. Are these the zebra's advertised on the uk only classifieds. If so, I spoke to nicola this morning about them, and she said she was unable to sex them. She was going to place pictures of them on the advert but was unable to get clear photographs.

As far as I am aware she plans on keeping two females and a male. SHe is also not too sure of the sex of the others so I reacon (if you have time), a check by yourself might be the best bet.

I was enquiring about buying the females, as I have just figured out that one of my supposed females is actually a male. He therefore needs some lurvely ladies!!!!

I decided not to go any further however as I have no way of seeing them or therefore sexing them, plus four of the six remaining were spoken for, (presumabley yourself). There are difficult to get hold of at the moment, but £75 per fish is alot to ask for unsexed zebras for breeding.

Good luck, but make sure you get some females in there!

As far as info goes, have a look at the cat-elog, and just to whet your appetite on what the little critters look like once they start breeding check out my zebra site.

http://www.qems.biz/zebra.htm


rob

A bit expensive isn't it IMO. Have you spoken to Rob in Sunderland? I believe he has some for sale and a tad cheaper as well. Post me a message and i'll get you the number. Or trawl thru the classifieds in aquarist-classifieds.co.uk.

Ron

you want to make sure their fertile as some have been made sterile making them impossible to breed. i think this is completely wrong as the only reason this is being done is to make sure no one breeds them so the prices stay high and this makes me

rosey wrote:you want to make sure their fertile as some have been made sterile making them impossible to breed. i think this is completely wrong as the only reason this is being done is to make sure no one breeds them so the prices stay high and this makes me

Where did you here that? I've never heard that before.

They are selling(if you can find them)for over 110.00 in the U.S.A.

i posted a topic on w to breed them on http://www.corydorasworld.com in the breeding section and was told that they armostly infertile wich i hope is net true

Rosey - I have also heard that not all of them are sexually active, that is some might be infertile. However, that's quite a different story than to say that somebody deliberately makes them infertile to keep the prices high. You are the first and only person I am aware of who claims the latter.

Hey,

Thanks for the replies. I was told that they had bred as a group (9 of them) but that they did not know which specific plecs had bred. I am going to give it a miss anyway, I am not able to afford that sort of money to set them up and not have them breed.

I think I might try and breed other plecs that I like, perhaps the L134 before I jump in to anything quite so expensive!

As I am now not getting a tank for plecs, I have decided to get a tank anyway for my kribs. I might try my hand at plecs.

~~ Dana ~~