Anyone have any tips 4 keeping Zebra plecs?

[fishysmell]

I've been eyeing some zebra plecos at my lfs and have decided to try my hand at them when I get my new tank.  I've been keeping fish for years so I have the experience needed to take care of them.  I also know all the general things to know about Zebra plecs.  My question is does any1 have any tips from first hand experience about keeping zebra plecs.  Any advise would be appreciated.

fishysmell

 

[colesea]

I just got my first zebra pleco today (yipppy). The best resource I have thus far found is Planet Catfish.com (the site which inspired me to get a zebra in the first place). They do have a little care sheet on them, and reading it makes it seem a lot less complicated than most people would tell you (I'm not interested in breeding, so exacting conditions are not so much a concern as just keeping the pleccy happy).

Zebra plecos are more meaty-eaters, so providing some frozen brine or bloodworm is strongly recommended, although the guy at the LFS I bought mine from said they were feeding it algae waffers ??? which is why I knew I had to get the poor baby outta there. I also have some driftwood in my tank for him as well.

So far acclimation is going okay (I've thus far taken a half hour and probably will complete acclimation in two hours). All his fins are errect and he is sucking on the side of his baggie. I'm debating if I want to add just a little food in there for him or not, but I do plan on feeding him before I go to bed tonight (they're primarily nocturnal).

I've had my two clown plecos for over a year now, and figured if I'm doing well with them, then time for a change.  The only differance I can tell is that a zebra is $40 down the drain compared to the $20 of the clowns if I screw up.
~~Colesea

 

[fishysmell]

This is a bit off the topic but do you add some of your own water during acclimating Colesea?  I have heard conflicting stories about adding water.  I have tried both adding water and not during acclimation (both have worked) but Im also usually dealing w/ pretty hardy fish... dont wanna screw up on expensive ones.  Hope Im not wasteing your time on stupid questions.

fishysmell

 

[colesea]

Since I don't have an extensive drip system this is how I acclimate...

1) Open bag and roll down top, usually it will float all by itself in this manner. Let it sit like that for 15 minutes. I only use one layer of bag so that temps can equalize somewhat.

2) Siphon out some of my tank water into a bucket.

3) After 15 minutes I siphon out some of the water from the bag into the same bucket.

4) Mix the water then return a cup of it to the bag.

5) Wait another 15 minutes.

As the time goes on I keep increasing the ration of my tank water to bag water as I return it until I'm pretty positive I have almost 90% tank water being returned to the bag. Then I scoop the fishy from the bag into the tank and throw out the water that I was using to acclimate. I'll top off the tank to make up the differance that I was siphoning out.

So far, this is day two, and mr zebra plec is okay. I've decreased the tank level a little bit to get some more riffle affect in the tank from the waterfall of the filter. Looks pretty cool.
~~Colesea

 

[wayne]

I've started getting my tank ready for when I can get some either when they can catch them again (seasonal) or a local guy who's breding them sells some.  His formula- warm, clean water, some current, rocks and wood to hide, sand bottom.  Water here is very soft and clean (Gh 3, Carbonate hardness 0 at the moment), but I dont believe they're so fussy about that.  He feeds his on bloodworms and discus tablets, but reckons they're really slow growing, and don't spawn big numbers of eggs at a go.
I have problems with this fish though.  It's not common in the wild, and only found in the Rio Zingu, so I'm not sure I'm comfortable with wild caught being on sale as it might endanger the wild population.  This would make it very expensive, but tough luck I guess.
Also , apart from corydoras gerbai, what would make for a good Rio Zingu biotope?

 

[luvfishies]

Try here:

http://scott.aaquaria.com

This man knows his zebras, and there's a link to email there as well.