I keep 18 Zebras in a 600 liter aquarium with lots of flow, many very large angelfish and at any moment you can see at least 10 zebra plecos out and about, only the breeding males are glued to their caves
I change the water 100% every 3 days... feed them plenty of food... and have not seen a fast growth rate... I use High protein diets... and they still take forever... I maintain a 7.0-7.2 ph at a constant rate... a few grow fast... many seem to be slow and take 1-2 years+ to even get to a reasonable breeding size. I have had a batch take 3 years to mature with constant water changes and plentiful food. The genetics are stretched so thin via inbreeding that many lines are taking longer and longer. You might say some people have the wrong plecos... but that's not true in many cases. L046 are the slowest growing plecos and if you present caves to them before they are full grown... they will take 3+ years to grow.. even with daily water changes... or 100%s like I do. Some say 50% water changes works... but I found that Water changes really on provide a clean environment... and do not help your fish grow faster... it just keeps them healthy. Many plecos will not take certain foods... that others may eat... with further compounds the issue.
My pH is about 8.0, hard water. Frequent water changes would mean a lot of water balancing before replacing the water. Do you think the L46 would be okay in 8.0 water, and would they still breed? Also, what are your recommended foods for them? thanks!
They will live and grow in high pH, but I doubt that they will breed. you can always add RO water when you have pairs and when you are conditioning for breeding them. I used hikari carnivore as staple food, with occasional cooked prawns and raw mussels
Great tips. I have 2 small zebras that were in a community tank. I removed them yesterday and gave them their own tank. They were out competed for food before. Now they look calm and not hiding as much.
Hi, I recently purchased two 1.25” L046, one got stuck between some rocks and skin on his head scraped off on one side. For example on the side of the head vertical stripe is gone and you can see raw flesh. It’s not bleeding. I moved him to breeder box, put in Almond leaf with half dose of Melafix. He is eating, will he eventually recover with skin and stripe growing back?
have 5 zebras 1 1/2 years old in 33 gallon// also have 1 zebra 2 year old in a tank by self ,, /// do you think would be ok now to add the older zebra to the tank that has the 5 zebras
It sounds like it has parasites such as flukes, not sure salt will help. If it gets worse, you would need to treat them with a dewormer, but with caution as they can be sensitive to medicines.
If in terms of breeding them, do they require special treatment too? Like i heard they prefer lower pH to spawn, or they will just spawn on their own as long as breeding group already formed and they already sexually matured?
They should be able to breed once they are about a year old, just like all other small pleco species, but it might take a while for a pair/ breeding group to form, so eventually it might take 2 years or more for them to start breeding.
I could never find fish that would enjoy strong flow, high temps and will not outcompete zebras for food:) I'm not too familiar with rainbows, but I think they would suffer from high temps. They also like harder water than zebras, and zebras won't spawn in hard water
Does the pleco need to be sexually mature to breed or the size of the fish is what matters? Cause some fish mature after 2-3years. What if they reach the breeding size before then? Can they breed?
Most small pleco species mature at about 1 year of age and are able to breed as long as they are in good physical shape. The problem with Zebras and some other hypancistrus is that people fail to provide adequate care and therefore these fish take ages to reach their breeding size and shape
Thanks:) If you have an established breeding group its best not to add new fish, as it can offset the balance (males will fight), but if there was no spawning yet its a great idea to add more fish as new pairs can form
Thank you. If these are just scratches you can use salt bath or just add some catappa almond leaves to speed up healing. If this is something bacterial, you'll need to get some general anti-bacterial treatment.
Its 38x38x43cm. They like hiding in vertical structures. I noticed that in shorter tanks, they tend to fight more and stronger fish will constantly harass weaker ones, but with slates they tend to stay on their levels and rarely fight.
They will be more confident if there are many hiding places. Younger plecs don't feel safe in pleco caves, they need something like slate structures so they can wedge themselves into crevices
thx good talk i enjoyed it, i also use smaller tanks, i find the high flow rates a problem coz they wash the food away takes a lot of messing with nozzels to get it right, the best food for my hypos including zebras seems to be stendeker beef heart and sinking blood worm pellets i try all the dry foods like bug bites pleco tabs etc but the beef heart i feed my discus is prefered my leopard frogs like premium catfood in a gel format i give this feeding info because i never see specific foods mentioned also when i make gel food either my recipe or bottom scratcher i always add a little salt and garlic paste as reccomended by leandro sousa from rio xingu fame seems to make the food more palatable.lastly to make gel food use about 27 grams of gelatine to 1 pint of food mix.
Thank you! I absolutely agree that preparing your own paste/gel for plecos is a great solution. I was always lazy to do that because I had just a few plecs. My zebras also enjoyed beef heart, but it was affecting water quality and did not stay in one spot because of the flow, so I switched to pellets and bloodworm as they would stay still on the bottom under current where plecs would eventually get them.
@@tropicalfishhub thanks. That’s interesting. I actually noticed no light on it that’s what made me more curious. I could see a blue hue on yours which leads me to believe they’re very happy!
My zebra pleco goes all over my community tank. It eats algae from the glass all the snail eggs it eats wood. It's very out going. My other zebra pleco is exactly as you described. But some are outgoing. Also my outgoing one will compete for food and not be bullied away by my loaches. But I am in the middle of setting them up their own tank.
Its a good idea to create a species-only tank for your zebras. Some of them are indeed more outgoing than others, but overall they rarely thrive in community tanks as few community tanks can be heated to 31-32C, which is the temperature zebras need to thrive, grow and breed. Strong flow is another important point, which can rarely be achieved in a community tank
@@tropicalfishhub hello thanks for your reply. So I have high flow lot's of people think some fish can't take high flow but at the end of the day all these fish come from river's where 90 percent of it is high or very high flow. I have my angel fish in a fish tank with a power head that could drive a boat and you can't tell they just sit as if there is no flow. I've always believed high flow is important for all fish from rivers besides a few exceptions. My cardinal and rummie nose in my other tank have very high flow they are perfect and years old. I feel my zebra plecos are doing really well they are stunning . I keep them at 82. They don't grow slowly they eat well I feed every other day and just treat them like any other pleco and they do really well. They have a stunning blue tint bright white and black. I've not uploaded much footage of them but if your interested I'll try to today so you can check them out . One is 2.5 year's old the other is around 14 month's. I hope my experience in keeping these fish in a community set-up can help you as your videos have helped me in about 3 month's they will be in their own tank.
@@1stdanclaire Thank you! That zebra on driftwood looks like a female. I'm sure they thrive in your tank. If you plan on breeding them it makes sense to keep them in a separate tank with higher temps and do a bit of power feeding to get them in breeding condition.
@@tropicalfishhub I'm grateful for your comments and feed back I enjoy the term power feeding. I forgot to mention I think what helped me bringing these fish up in my community setup is that my tank has been running for ten years and has a hefty snail population with eggs everywhere so my zebras are always power feeding😁 I'd like to ask why you think my older zebra is female? I was researching and I thought the brushes on the face and back of the pectoral fins meant it was more likely to be male. But I'm new to this so really don't know.
Yes, this is Dennerle 60L tank! I feed them Hikari carnivore pellets, some vibra bites, a bit of API catfish pellets, and very occasionally some frozen bloodworm.
I keep 18 Zebras in a 600 liter aquarium with lots of flow, many very large angelfish and at any moment you can see at least 10 zebra plecos out and about, only the breeding males are glued to their caves
Not sure your angelfish appreciate the flow:)
I change the water 100% every 3 days... feed them plenty of food... and have not seen a fast growth rate... I use High protein diets... and they still take forever... I maintain a 7.0-7.2 ph at a constant rate... a few grow fast... many seem to be slow and take 1-2 years+ to even get to a reasonable breeding size. I have had a batch take 3 years to mature with constant water changes and plentiful food. The genetics are stretched so thin via inbreeding that many lines are taking longer and longer. You might say some people have the wrong plecos... but that's not true in many cases. L046 are the slowest growing plecos and if you present caves to them before they are full grown... they will take 3+ years to grow.. even with daily water changes... or 100%s like I do. Some say 50% water changes works... but I found that Water changes really on provide a clean environment... and do not help your fish grow faster... it just keeps them healthy. Many plecos will not take certain foods... that others may eat... with further compounds the issue.
Very informative, as always!
Thank you!
The L46 looks well fed and contented. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you:)
My pH is about 8.0, hard water. Frequent water changes would mean a lot of water balancing before replacing the water. Do you think the L46 would be okay in 8.0 water, and would they still breed? Also, what are your recommended foods for them? thanks!
They will live and grow in high pH, but I doubt that they will breed. you can always add RO water when you have pairs and when you are conditioning for breeding them. I used hikari carnivore as staple food, with occasional cooked prawns and raw mussels
Great tips. I have 2 small zebras that were in a community tank. I removed them yesterday and gave them their own tank. They were out competed for food before. Now they look calm and not hiding as much.
Thank you! They will certainly enjoy their own tank:)
Hi, I recently purchased two 1.25” L046, one got stuck between some rocks and skin on his head scraped off on one side. For example on the side of the head vertical stripe is gone and you can see raw flesh. It’s not bleeding. I moved him to breeder box, put in Almond leaf with half dose of Melafix. He is eating, will he eventually recover with skin and stripe growing back?
It sounds like it will heal, they are quite hardy when it comes to injuries. It will take some time though and the stripe may not be exactly the same
This was very helpful. Thank you
have 5 zebras 1 1/2 years old in 33 gallon// also have 1 zebra 2 year old in a tank by self ,, /// do you think would be ok now to add the older zebra to the tank that has the 5 zebras
If that older zebra is female there should be no problems at all, but if its a male it can potentially try to dominate smaller zebras.
No ! Don’t put the shrimp in this tank.
He will punch you from 2091
In your video it’s an 8 gallon for a good growth ?
Many useful tips . very good content. thanks for sharing your knowledge .
Loved the video :) What size tank are they in and what size would you suggest for 6 please?
Thank you:) That was a 60 litre tank. 6 adults would need something like 80-100 litre tank
No this is unfortunately like that Mr.!
But unfortunately, it’s name opalamotuiamm
Good that Mafia is now in the hobby 😂 thanks bro ✊
finally I found some real talk video with essence of information for keeping these fish! thank you so much! I think the same rules go for L134.
Thank you:) Leopard frogs L134 are even easier to grow than zebras as long as they get enough food
Can angelfish live in 31 degree water? Discus certainly can. What price are they selling for in the UK? They're so expensive here.
Yes angels can live at 30C, but they don't like flow. Zebra plecos are also expensive here, juveniles start from £80, adults around £250 and more
any updates on this? have they bred? have they died? what happened?
They were rehomed last year. no space for more thanks now
Yeah it always means “Do it livestream “
What the zebra pleco fish name?
Have 6. But soon 5 more
100g of algie are 51g of protien
An injurious female?
I got zebra 236 rb can keep them with Discus in ro water?
Zebras will like RO and discus temperatures, but they needs lots of flow, and discus don't like flow, so probably not a good idea
Can you use salt for zebras . Noticed one is doing some flickering on rock. Water conditions look good. Any advice
It sounds like it has parasites such as flukes, not sure salt will help. If it gets worse, you would need to treat them with a dewormer, but with caution as they can be sensitive to medicines.
If in terms of breeding them, do they require special treatment too? Like i heard they prefer lower pH to spawn, or they will just spawn on their own as long as breeding group already formed and they already sexually matured?
They indeed require softer water for their eggs to hatch. I have soft water, so I never had to use RO, but some people use remineralized RO.
I was always told they needed 2.5 - 3 years to reach sexual maturity. Mine are now 2.
They should be able to breed once they are about a year old, just like all other small pleco species, but it might take a while for a pair/ breeding group to form, so eventually it might take 2 years or more for them to start breeding.
so I presume a high temperature 30°Celsius or 89°F is a suitable besides good foods are growing fast?
yes, I keep it at 30-31C. They like it hot;)
So no dither fish then? I have mine in a 40G with 7 dwarf neon rainbows.
I could never find fish that would enjoy strong flow, high temps and will not outcompete zebras for food:)
I'm not too familiar with rainbows, but I think they would suffer from high temps. They also like harder water than zebras, and zebras won't spawn in hard water
Does the pleco need to be sexually mature to breed or the size of the fish is what matters? Cause some fish mature after 2-3years. What if they reach the breeding size before then? Can they breed?
Most small pleco species mature at about 1 year of age and are able to breed as long as they are in good physical shape. The problem with Zebras and some other hypancistrus is that people fail to provide adequate care and therefore these fish take ages to reach their breeding size and shape
@@tropicalfishhubjust curious, what do you feed them? Cause you clearly figured out the equation for fast growth
Another informative video . Thank you
Bro you are the l046 master. Great tips. I have 3 L046 and I plan to get 2 more for a full breeding colony. What do you think
Thanks:) If you have an established breeding group its best not to add new fish, as it can offset the balance (males will fight), but if there was no spawning yet its a great idea to add more fish as new pairs can form
@@tropicalfishhub yes, all 3 of mine are way too young for breeding, still 1.5 inch. I’m getting 2 more. Thanks !
hi . your channel is very helpful . Can you say a treatment for sores of angels . plz.
Thank you. If these are just scratches you can use salt bath or just add some catappa almond leaves to speed up healing. If this is something bacterial, you'll need to get some general anti-bacterial treatment.
@@tropicalfishhub Thanks
Right guys?
Please provide the dimensions of this tank. It seems deep. Is the depth important in your opinion?
Its 38x38x43cm. They like hiding in vertical structures. I noticed that in shorter tanks, they tend to fight more and stronger fish will constantly harass weaker ones, but with slates they tend to stay on their levels and rarely fight.
thank you /i have 5 in a 40 gallon they never come out about 1 year old
They will be more confident if there are many hiding places. Younger plecs don't feel safe in pleco caves, they need something like slate structures so they can wedge themselves into crevices
very helpful to me , thank you so much
Just throw some pothos in the tank makes water changes easier lol
Actually, I previously had pothos in there, but now I removed lighting to reduce algae, so pothos had to go;)
Thanks! Great information!
thx good talk i enjoyed it, i also use smaller tanks, i find the high flow rates a problem coz they wash the food away takes a lot of messing with nozzels to get it right, the best food for my hypos including zebras seems to be stendeker beef heart and sinking blood worm pellets i try all the dry foods like bug bites pleco tabs etc but the beef heart i feed my discus is prefered my leopard frogs like premium catfood in a gel format i give this feeding info because i never see specific foods mentioned also when i make gel food either my recipe or bottom scratcher i always add a little salt and garlic paste as reccomended by leandro sousa from rio xingu fame seems to make the food more palatable.lastly to make gel food use about 27 grams of gelatine to 1 pint of food mix.
Thank you! I absolutely agree that preparing your own paste/gel for plecos is a great solution. I was always lazy to do that because I had just a few plecs. My zebras also enjoyed beef heart, but it was affecting water quality and did not stay in one spot because of the flow, so I switched to pellets and bloodworm as they would stay still on the bottom under current where plecs would eventually get them.
@@tropicalfishhub you need to use more gelatine in the mix it stays in one piece then try 30 grams gelatine to a pint of beef heart mix
Thank you!
Hi sir, do L046 need drift wood on their tank?
and is feeding artemia (baby brine shrimp) good for them with that high flow? thanks
No they don't need wood, they do not eat it or from it
@@andychandra8969 I don't think they can catch it unless it lodges itself somewhere in decor
They are so pretty. Curious why you didn’t have the light on.
Thank you! I have no lights on that tank, because zebras seem to be more confident with no lighting, and also there are no plants there:)
@@tropicalfishhub thanks. That’s interesting. I actually noticed no light on it that’s what made me more curious. I could see a blue hue on yours which leads me to believe they’re very happy!
@@missmermaid6249 Yes, they seem to be happy there! I am hoping they will breed, but I guess they need more time for that.
My zebra pleco goes all over my community tank. It eats algae from the glass all the snail eggs it eats wood. It's very out going. My other zebra pleco is exactly as you described. But some are outgoing. Also my outgoing one will compete for food and not be bullied away by my loaches. But I am in the middle of setting them up their own tank.
Its a good idea to create a species-only tank for your zebras. Some of them are indeed more outgoing than others, but overall they rarely thrive in community tanks as few community tanks can be heated to 31-32C, which is the temperature zebras need to thrive, grow and breed. Strong flow is another important point, which can rarely be achieved in a community tank
@@tropicalfishhub hello thanks for your reply. So I have high flow lot's of people think some fish can't take high flow but at the end of the day all these fish come from river's where 90 percent of it is high or very high flow. I have my angel fish in a fish tank with a power head that could drive a boat and you can't tell they just sit as if there is no flow. I've always believed high flow is important for all fish from rivers besides a few exceptions. My cardinal and rummie nose in my other tank have very high flow they are perfect and years old. I feel my zebra plecos are doing really well they are stunning . I keep them at 82. They don't grow slowly they eat well I feed every other day and just treat them like any other pleco and they do really well. They have a stunning blue tint bright white and black. I've not uploaded much footage of them but if your interested I'll try to today so you can check them out . One is 2.5 year's old the other is around 14 month's. I hope my experience in keeping these fish in a community set-up can help you as your videos have helped me in about 3 month's they will be in their own tank.
@@tropicalfishhub hi again I uploaded some footage of my hopefully pair if your interested.
@@1stdanclaire Thank you! That zebra on driftwood looks like a female. I'm sure they thrive in your tank. If you plan on breeding them it makes sense to keep them in a separate tank with higher temps and do a bit of power feeding to get them in breeding condition.
@@tropicalfishhub I'm grateful for your comments and feed back I enjoy the term power feeding. I forgot to mention I think what helped me bringing these fish up in my community setup is that my tank has been running for ten years and has a hefty snail population with eggs everywhere so my zebras are always power feeding😁 I'd like to ask why you think my older zebra is female? I was researching and I thought the brushes on the face and back of the pectoral fins meant it was more likely to be male. But I'm new to this so really don't know.
Thank you. What do you feed them? It's a Dennerle tank? It looks nice with rounded corners.
Yes, this is Dennerle 60L tank! I feed them Hikari carnivore pellets, some vibra bites, a bit of API catfish pellets, and very occasionally some frozen bloodworm.
@@tropicalfishhub Thanks! Have the 2 first foods, but no L46, yet. Have some L134 but they are not shy to the food so they are growing nicely.
@@kristianadolfsson Leopard frog plecos are also very beautiful!
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Can I put shrimp in it?
I don't see why not! They won't touch anything except their own kind.