Calling all Zebra Pleco keepers!

[Kevzebrapleco]

Does anyone else on or in this forum actually own Zebra Plecos too? If so please give me a shout as it would be nice to speak to some other zebra pleco owners, thanks.

 

[coralbandit]

I am Up to 10 now !

 

[Kevzebrapleco]

I am Up to 10 now !

I’m up to 15 just got 3 proven females

 

[coralbandit]

How long till you expect breeding ?

 

[Kevzebrapleco]

Maybe this year if I’m lucky next year latest gonna just let them get on with it without interfering and see what happens

 

[coralbandit]

I got turned on to these guys by a customer a couple years ago .
He ordered 6 of my EBR and said they were going to get his zebras to spawn .
The rams laid eggs in the first week he had them and his zebras laid eggs the next day !
I didn't know anything about them then but thought if they were good with my rams I should look into keeping and breeding them .
I have only had my first 5 for over 6 months now and the last 5 came just over a month ago but I hope like you in time ..

 

[Kevzebrapleco]

Wow, so it’s just me and coralbandit? I knew they were rare but didn’t realise they were that rare???

 

[mattgirl]

Once you two get yours making babies maybe there will be more happy folks lucky enough to have a zebra pleco. I don't think I will ever be able to afford one but I can live vicariously through y'all.

 

[coralbandit]

They average $150 each here in America ..
There may not be many with them on the forum but where I got them says they can't stock them fast enough !
I only know of one other ever to have them ?

 

[jinjerJOSH22]

They average $150 each here in America ..
There may not be many with them on the forum but where I got them says they can't stock them fast enough !
I only know of one other ever to have them ?

My lfs sells them at a special offer of £100 you know still £75 more than I'll likely ever pay for a fish
However when you consider you're going to want to buy a group in an attempt to get mixed genders you realize just how expensive they really are.
Just to clarify I don't own them, too rich for my blood

 

[CHJ]

I got turned on to these guys by a customer a couple years ago .
He ordered 6 of my EBR and said they were going to get his zebras to spawn .
The rams laid eggs in the first week he had them and his zebras laid eggs the next day !
I didn't know anything about them then but thought if they were good with my rams I should look into keeping and breeding them .
I have only had my first 5 for over 6 months now and the last 5 came just over a month ago but I hope like you in time ..

Electric Blue Rams make plecos spawn?
I haven't heard of this trick.
Does it work on L134s? I have some in a different tank.

 

[coralbandit]

Electric Blue Rams make plecos spawn?
I haven't heard of this trick.
Does it work on L134s? I have some in a different tank.

I am sure many animals and fish share symbiotic relationships .
It could also simply be the release of hormones by one breeding fish triggers another ?
As for L134s you need to find a fish that matches their needs and you can breed ?

 

[Kevzebrapleco]

Once you two get yours making babies maybe there will be more happy folks lucky enough to have a zebra pleco. I don't think I will ever be able to afford one but I can live vicariously through y'all.

If mine do start breeding I’m going to sell them for £50 each (which would be $65!) I’m not in it to make money and I believe that’s a fair price and will give people who didn’t have the money or opportunity to buy or own one the chance to have and love this amazing fish as I have and do.

 

[CHJ]

I am sure many animals and fish share symbiotic relationships .
It could also simply be the release of hormones by one breeding fish triggers another ?
As for L134s you need to find a fish that matches their needs and you can breed ?

They are in a species only tank I was just wondering if there was a trick I was missing out on.
I'd like to keep them species only. But if I was missing out on something magical I could test it out.

 

[Kevzebrapleco]

They are in a species only tank I was just wondering if there was a trick I was missing out on.
I'd like to keep them species only. But if I was missing out on something magical I could test it out.

I was told by somewhere the other day who take major shipment of zebra plecos and old skool breeders that the best way to make the zebra plecos breed is when the atmospheric pressure drops, do a significant water change with -3 degree colder water than what’s in the tank which makes them believe the fresh clean water coming in is rainwater thus means it’s springtime and baby making season I hope this helps, I’m gonna give it a try haha

 

[Kevzebrapleco]

My 3 new females that are coming Friday morning

 

[Kevzebrapleco]

Good evening everybody

 

[Kevzebrapleco]

My 3 beautiful female Zebra plecos turned up today all happy and healthy after their 24 hour journey being shipped to my house. Just acclimatising them now and will take some pics

 

[coralbandit]

I have not been getting notifications on this thread ?
Nice on the females !
I photo'd mine from up top when I moved them together ..
First group of 5 ;

^^ Thinking 3 females ? ^^

^^ Second group and thinking 3 females again !^^

 

[Kevzebrapleco]

I have not been getting notifications on this thread ?
Nice on the females !
I photo'd mine from up top when I moved them together ..
First group of 5 ;

^^ Thinking 3 females ? ^^

^^ Second group and thinking 3 females again !^^

Nice and defo some females in there

 

[Kevzebrapleco]

I didn’t manage to take any pics of my new 3, I was too busy trying to acclimatise them and get them in the tank. Once in the tank I never see them again!!! Haha. Its weird how addictive getting zebra plecos is for a fish you never see!

 

[Kevzebrapleco]

Hi zebra Pleco fans, sorry haven’t been on here in a while. How y’all doing? And how are your finest fish? Lol

 

[DarkOne]

Just came across this video and thought of coralbandit but all of you zebra keepers might be interested.

 

[Toothy]

Super cool fish. Wouldn't mind trying to breed if I could find some reasonably priced fry. Found this interesting video.

 

[CHJ]

LFS has zebras but their price is old skool (500$ each IIRC) so a big nope on those.

 

[jake37]

our local lfs was trying to breed them - i should check if they had success. Kind of forgot about them since i can't buy more fishes for 16 months.

 

[Kribensis27]

I really want one of these, but I currently have about $10 so that won’t be happening soon.

 

[Toothy]

LFS has zebras but their price is old skool (500$ each IIRC) so a big nope on those.

That's crazy! I could maybe pull the trigger if I could find some under $100 and get them breeding to hopefully offset the cost some. Probably not going to happen but nice to dream about.

 

[Kribensis27]

Yeah, if I find any under 100$, I'm going for it. That's definitely not a deal I would pass up! Although the price will likely start to decline as more people get them and start breeding them, but I'm not patient enough to wait for that!

 

[CHJ]

Last time it was 100$ it was a local guy and local pick up only.
At the LFS I hear he got out of the zebra game. So he sold the thousands he had. God knows what he is doing with the money.
I wish I got to see his zebra ranch before he shut it down.

Lots of people planning to get rich quick with zebras so their price will keep going down as some succeed.

 

[coralbandit]

The price of zebras has gone up ..They are $210 from my source [ DiscusMadness].
It takes like 3 years for them to mature enough to breed and when they do they lay only 10-15 eggs [not hundreds like other plecos] ..
I highly doubt the price of them will be going down any time soon ??

 

[Toothy]

coralbandit, have you had any success breeding them?

 

[coralbandit]

coralbandit, have you had any success breeding them?

Not yet .
I actually lost about half of them ! I assumed they were fighting maybe getting ready to breed and moved the remainder in a much larger tank ..I have not seen eggs ..My super red plecos are like clockwork so I hope it will happen some time with what I have left ..

 

[Toothy]

Bummer, hope you have better luck on the new set up. How many and what size tank was your original set up?

 

[jake37]

the store i mentioned that has been trying to breed them mentioned that he disliked breeding them because they only lay 10 to 15 eggs.

 

[coralbandit]

Bummer, hope you have better luck on the new set up. How many and what size tank was your original set up?

I had 10 in a 20g tank after they were in 5 and 10 g prior . Now the remaining are in a 60g

the store i mentioned that has been trying to breed them mentioned that he disliked breeding them because they only lay 10 to 15 eggs.

10-15 is actually the high end of eggs count ...
They are not an easy fish to breed .Just take the investment and time into account ..3 years ...
Then pretend you are a good fish breeder and reap the rewards !
I am waiting and pretending .....

 

[SanDiegoRedneck]

I am sure many animals and fish share symbiotic relationships .
It could also simply be the release of hormones by one breeding fish triggers another ?
As for L134s you need to find a fish that matches their needs and you can breed ?

I have a good friend here in SD with lots of sick plecos he just doesn't do forums. his L134 and zebras breed with no dither fish.

 

[DarkOne]

Not yet .
I actually lost about half of them ! I assumed they were fighting maybe getting ready to breed and moved the remainder in a much larger tank ..I have not seen eggs ..My super red plecos are like clockwork so I hope it will happen some time with what I have left ..

****, sorry to hear that. My one spawn of BNs yielded over 230 plecos and I've only lost less than a handful.

I have a good friend here in SD with lots of sick plecos he just doesn't do forums. his L134 and zebras breed with no dither fish.

There was a master breeder that had a group of zebras that spawned regularly but stopped once he moved (different water source). He couldn't get them to breed again.

I have a group of L134 (6) and L128 (5) that I'm raising to breed. They're just over a year old so I have at least a year to go with the L134 and 2 yrs for the L128.

 

[Toothy]

****, sorry to hear that. My one spawn of BNs yielded over 230 plecos and I've only lost less than a handful.


There was a master breeder that had a group of zebras that spawned regularly but stopped once he moved (different water source). He couldn't get them to breed again.

I have a group of L134 (6) and L128 (5) that I'm raising to breed. They're just over a year old so I have at least a year to go with the L134 and 2 yrs for the L128.

Good luck! I really like the Leopard Frog plecos.

 

[Toothy]

Stopped in my LFS today. They had 3 little L46 zebras for $350 each. That's just crazy. Guess I wont be owning one.

 

[Toothy]

L46 Zebra Plecos $125 hmmm https://nationwideaquaticsusa.com/pages/stock-list

 

[coralbandit]

L46 Zebra Plecos $125 hmmm https://nationwideaquaticsusa.com/pages/stock-list

I would look for reviews about them ..Not ones they list but other 3rd party ?

 

[Toothy]

Came very highly recommended from Malik who has some super cool stuff but doesn't ship as of now. I don't really know Malik other than chatting with him but seemed like a good guy for what it's worth. I'm probably at least 3 months out from being ready for fish and will exhaust all local/semi-local sources first.