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I just won an auction on aquabid for a zebra pleco! I'm so excited. I will have the fish at my house on wednesday which is also my b-day. What a great purchase!

Happy birthday and congratulations! You are so lucky! They are so cool!

Congratulations for winning a Zebra Pleco. How much will it cost you?.


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Nice-Rich's fish are of awesome quality.

Awesome. Good luck with it.

And maybe once it grows up you can find a mate for it.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Thanks everyone. As some of you remember, I was swindled out of purchasing one a while back so I jumped at the chance to on aquabid. I paid 151 for it plus 30 shipping so 181 all together. Yes, hopefully when it grows larger I can sex it and find it a mate. I would love to breed these guys!

Good for you thats cheap to, wow it would be cool to get a mate. They make enough money to keep the hobby going.



Good luck with your fish!!!


Angel Eel

Awesome!

I really wish I could get/afford a Zebra Pleco, they are one of the coolest looking fish IMO.

Good luck with him and an early happy birthday to you

Remember that their diets are atypical for Plecos -- they prefer animal food. I have a photocopied article on them from "Tropical Fish Hobbyist", and will reread it tonight to see if there are any other hints about specialized care requirements -- although the only one I remember right now is that they're rather shy and tend to hide a lot.

Try to keep this little guy alive if you possibly can. The fact that their cost is rising suggests ominously that their supply in the wild is perhaps being over-collected.

Truth betold, there are as many, if not more carnivorously inclined genera of loricariids than herbivorous (in fact, there are no true herbivores in the family). Yes, I remember back only half a year ago when I purchased my trio at 75 dollars each---prices have gone up considerably since then. Though the belo monte dam project has ceased, the xingu is now to be granted as a national wildlife reserve, which subsequently means no fishing for commercial use, and thus, no hypancistrus zebra imports in the forseeable future--all specimens in the trade being sold are all tank bred.

More on the Zebra Pleco (from that Jan 1996 Tropical Fish Hobbyist article):

(1) While the Rio Zingu's water is fully 32 deg C and slightly acid, Zebras seem to do fine at 26 deg C and in mildly alkaline, hard water. But: "Although water chemistry is not important, water quality is. These fish need very clean water, with plenty of oxygen. Supplemental aeration is strongly recommended."

(2) They're not nocturnal, but they are shy.

(3) They don't need driftwood to chew on.

(4) They totally refuse algae and fresh vegetable food. They "become quite hectic when you place brine shrimp nauplii into the tank. Smlall live or frozen foods, such as small cyclops and daphnia, are also very happily eaten. Bloodworms are also a favorite. It appears that these fish have a special liking for anything red. Mosquito larvae, adult brine shrimp, and krill are, accoring to our observations, taken hesitantly if at all. But various prepared dried foods, such as food tablets with a vegetable base, are happily taken."