# Zebra Plecos



## Barbara Turner (15 Nov 2018)

Has anyone tried keeping zebra plecos or similar sized plecs in a heavily planted high tec tank. 

Does anyone know if they go out digging at night?

Would they be okay with a monte carlo carpet? 

Would you ever see them or would they spend all day hiding?

Are the conditions with co2 injection suitable?


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## dw1305 (15 Nov 2018)

Hi all, 





Barbara Turner said:


> would they spend all day hiding?


I've kept a couple of _Hypancistrus_ spp., L333 and L129, and they were both incredibly reclusive. I only ever saw them at night by shining a red light on the tank and even that was enough to send them back into hiding.

They are fine in a planted tank, but they have a high oxygen requirement and need warm water, so I wouldn't risk them in a tank with CO2 injection, you would only need a very minor CO2 incident to see them off.  Most people keep them on their own, because they aren't great competitors for food. 

They don't dig, but they will excavate under rocks and wood if they don't have suitable caves, both male and females will cave if there are enough caves for them.

cheers Darrel


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## Barbara Turner (15 Nov 2018)

dw1305 said:


> . I only ever saw them at night by shining a red light on the tank and even that was enough to send them back into hiding.



Hmmm don't sound like great value


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## Edvet (15 Nov 2018)

I stopped with Loricariidea when i started with plants.


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## Oldguy (15 Nov 2018)

Barbara Turner said:


> similar sized plecs in a heavily planted high tec tank.


Not kept zebra plecs, though greatly tempted, if only the price would crash. Have kept the poor relation the Clown plec L104 and have Hypoptopoma gulare and Red Lizards L010/a. The L104 not very good at algae control and not very visible, though immortal (15yrs or so) but alas no more. The other two species, again, omnivores, do give the plants a good vacuuming and are often visible.

Would not trust any of then with a carpet planting just from the way they tend to bulldoze their way around. I go for 'plecs' which are narrow across the pectoral fins.

I would not go very high tech with any plec, though the water currents may be of value. I aim for strong vigorous plant growth, with fish that are perky and active. Most plecs do not like very bright lighting but good plant growth breaks lines of sight and can give different horizontals in the tank and hence more territories.


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## alto (16 Nov 2018)

Tank bred L46

I kept a trio of wild caught L46 years ago when they first appeared on the local market - they were relatively expensive at the time but nothing like current prices (no idea what the linked German shop charges - note it is wholesale only)

Tank was 90cm x 36 x 45(high) densely planted - I don’t recall plant details, substrate was a fine gravel over Sera floredepot, yeast generated CO2, very soft tap water, pH 6ish, ironwood, 25-26*C

I’d see them occasionally (whole body out & about) before/after lights ... when I broke down the tank for an overseas move I returned them to the sale shop for considerably more than I’d paid - by this time they were (stunning) adults 

I fed frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp and made certain enough ended up below plants/wood - they’d be visible in flashes 

Other fish were some corydoras and tetras, otocinclus, and hundreds of shrimp (many more than I’d guessed) 

As I never witnessed any discord and all 3 fish were in excellent condition I’d guess I’d had a single male & 2 females


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## Barbara Turner (16 Nov 2018)

alto said:


> I’d see them occasionally (whole body out & about) before/after lights



I was hoping they would be like the albino bristle nose plecs my mother has that are always busy and completely ignore what's happening outside the tank. 

Are any of the other plecos more gregarious, L333 or L066 for example?


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## Conort2 (16 Nov 2018)

Barbara Turner said:


> Are any of the other plecos more gregarious, L333 or L066 for example?



All hypancistrus pretty much hide all the time. I've kept quite a few groups of different species before I got into planted tanks. The best you'll see most of the time is a tail sticking out of a cave or the odd flash. The best visible loricairids would be something like a whiptail, these also wouldn't dig and rescale the bottom all the time.

Cheers

Conor


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## alto (16 Nov 2018)

Barbara Turner said:


> like the albino bristle nose plecs my mother has that are always busy and completely ignore what's happening outside the tank.


This is typical of tank bred well acclimated fish 

At a lfs, customer brought in some home bred bristlenose that were crazy - they’d panic and crash all over the tank as soon as a net went in, it was pretty awful and didn’t improve much over tihe several weeks they were there


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## Oldguy (16 Nov 2018)

Edvet said:


> I stopped with Loricariidea when i started with plants.


Even Otocinclus et al?


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## Edvet (16 Nov 2018)

Oldguy said:


> Even Otocinclus et al?


Should have said larger ones
But even hypoptoma and bristlenoses can wreak havoc on plants.


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## Barbara Turner (16 Nov 2018)

I'm guessing Twig catfish could be the other option, but again I'm going to be lucky to ever see them.

 I already have pygmy Cory's and ottos only ever come out at night.


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## sparkyweasel (16 Nov 2018)

Maybe you should get one of these:
http://www.greenpleco.com/Shop.html


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## alto (16 Nov 2018)

Barbara Turner said:


> I already have pygmy Cory's and ottos only ever come out at night.


While otos can be more reclusive- seems to vary between the species - it’s much less usual behaviour for a shoal of pygmy corydoras 
- perhaps your shoal is too small 
- perhaps other fish are dominating the tank, pygmy Cory’s are much less oblivious to other fish behaviour than the larger Corydoras species


I know your tank is in disarray after the moves, but do you have photos & tank details?

Twig cats are often found hanging about on the glass and quite visible in tanks IF they feel confident and aren’t harassed by other fish, though again look for tank bred fish 
Wild twig cats do tend to hide much more - at least for the first several months (or longer ... depending)


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## Barbara Turner (16 Nov 2018)

alto said:


> While otos can be more reclusive- seems to vary between the species



I had no idea there were 19 different spices of ottos.. Power of Google..



alto said:


> it’s much less usual behaviour for a shoal of pygmy corydoras



I've been looking for some some more pygmy Cory's for a while but they haven't turned up in any of my Lfs. I currently have 4 pygmy and 3 peppered.

I need to wait till everything settles down, I won't be buying any fish for a couple of weeks. I've got the second half of the move this weekend.

After having another look at the tank all the wood has moved around /  fallen over so I think it best to pull out everything apart from the carpet and re-scape.  Hopefully my carpet will recover. 
Heres what it looked like before the move.

I was wondering about changing to a valley type layout, and swapping the black vinyl to white. A bit depends on the layout of my new lounge though. 
I really want to be able to see it from the sofa.


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## Barbara Turner (16 Nov 2018)

This is the kind of thing I was thinking of...


 

 






Ps sorry if I have copied anyone photo with out permission, hopefully you will take it as a compliment.


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## Barbara Turner (16 Nov 2018)

sparkyweasel said:


> Maybe you should get one of these:
> http://www.greenpleco.com/Shop.html




Buy a nice shoal of green plecos.... Swap to terrestrial plants and it would making moving house a breeze. No worries about algae, co2 or water changes.


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## alto (17 Nov 2018)

I just read the poll options 

Has anyone here really had L46 rescape the tank every night   

Mine must’ve been the angelic sort   ... they didn’t even rasp sword leaves nevermind mess about with substrate or plants


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## alto (17 Nov 2018)

Barbara Turner said:


> 4 pygmy and 3 peppered.


Try for a shoal of at least 10-12 pygmy corydoras though 20 is better if you want to see them shoaling midwater 

Sorry I can’t tell from photo - awesome tank helper! - what’s your carpet plant?
HC & MC seem to do very well with a lift & replant, leaving room for plants to grow together 
I prefer MC as it suits my lackadaisical tank care routine, after a replant, it takes about  3-4 weeks to cover the open soil areas, then another month to recover density 
I aim for a medium energy system, moderate CO2 & lighting, low dose fertilization (though my intent is daily dosing rather than weekly)

What are your tank dimensions?

For tank background, it’s worth watching Jurijs mi JS Foggy Film video 

I have an ancient “midnight blue” background on one tank - modern version has the same “name” but it’s under a different brand (usual buyout scenario) and is nothing like - it has almost a smoky appearance: color intensity varies from top to bottom so perhaps this creates the effect


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## Edvet (17 Nov 2018)

(I realy would try to find something like this for your daughter)


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## Barbara Turner (17 Nov 2018)

Edvet said:


> (I realy would try to find something like this for your daughter)



I came in and she had pulled the drawers out to make steps and climbed up herself. Obviously decided the drawers were easier than moving a chair. I need to be a little careful as if I buy her a nice set of steps she will probably try and go for a paddle.



alto said:


> What are your tank dimensions?


120cm x 50cm x 53cm High, it is a red sea reefer 350 with the sump removed.



alto said:


> For tank background, it’s worth watching Jurijs mi JS Foggy Film video



He makes a some interesting points, there are alot more options than just black or white though. Also the black is a nightmare to photograph as it picks up 100's of reflections.
https://www.decorativefilm.com
I have black silicone so need to be a little careful.
I wondered about a  bronze or a grey.


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