I've kept zebras before and they are nice, but I have never tried them in a community aquarium. Right now I have a L-134 and it is really a beautiful fish. It also has no trouble competing for food.
ordering plecos online question
- Thread starter jd_7655
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Good news all I found the deal of a lifetime I picked up a L46 zebra last night at my local fish store for $40 its realy small though at 1/2 an inch. The owner swong me a deal since I come in all the time. I've owend lots of other pleco's over the years but this is my first zebra I've always shyed away from them because of thier high price tag but I could'nt pass this one up. I'm hoping to get a digital camera soon when I do I'll post some picks.
Thats great. I would highly recomend quarintining it in a bare bottom aquarium. This way it will learn to feed. I would recomend bloodworms to start off. You could also try some brine shrimp or beefheart, but these are lighter in weight, so they may float away. I can not stress this enough about getting it to eat before putting into a comunity aquarium. You may want to ask the LFS what they were feeding it and if it was eating okay.
P.S. I'm not trying to scare you, I just want to prevent future sadness.
P.S. I'm not trying to scare you, I just want to prevent future sadness.
My lfs had just gotten thier shipment in and the fish was never released into thier tanks. I brought him home and he looks healthy so i dumped him in and seems to be doing well. As for feeding I'll try differnt stuff untill I find something he likes shrimp pellets, frozen bloodworms, If none of that works I'll try live black worms but only as a last resort.
Zebra plecos under an inch long would be less than a month old, so you'll definitely want to be VERY careful with his acclimation and feeding. I seriously doubt he'll compete well enough for food to not starve to death in a community setting.
Barbie
Barbie
It depends on several factors. With large fish, small bags, long transport times, or any combination of the above, CO2 builds up in the bag and the water and acidifies it. At the same time, ammonia is building up in the bag. Because of the acidity of the water, though, it remains in the form of non-toxic ammoniUM. As sood as you open the bag, CO2 begins escaping into the atmosphere trying to reach equilibrium. This raises the pH, converting more and more of the ammoniUM into ammoniA. This is more damaging to the fish's gills, so the idea behind the zero acclimation method is to prevent damage to the fish caused by high ammonia levels. which method is best depends on several factors. There's a big thread discussing the pros and cons of this method somewhere on the forums here.
Try searching for zero minute acclimation.
Forgot to add, if you are ordering plecos, AVOID River Wonders. I've never personally used them, but I've heard several stories of them ripping people off.
Agree with barbie. I've bought and raised sub 1 inch L33's and they are super fragile. Also if they've been more than 2 days in transit I think they're just going to be done for as they can't go that long without eating i.m.h.o.
I would be wary of buying plecs online. Apart from general 'condiiton' you don't know how long they've not been fed for. They often turn up in prety bad shape at lfs's and starve to death, especially if they're small. Baryancistrus are terrible for this. Small, hollow looking baryancistrus are usually done for.
Anything you buy which 'hollow stomached' is an area of concern.
Having said that mail order is sometimes your only option. But buyer beware, if they repeatedly send you skinny fish try to shop elsewhere.
I would be wary of buying plecs online. Apart from general 'condiiton' you don't know how long they've not been fed for. They often turn up in prety bad shape at lfs's and starve to death, especially if they're small. Baryancistrus are terrible for this. Small, hollow looking baryancistrus are usually done for.
Anything you buy which 'hollow stomached' is an area of concern.
Having said that mail order is sometimes your only option. But buyer beware, if they repeatedly send you skinny fish try to shop elsewhere.
Wayne , :thud:
I strongly disagree with your statement about starved fish. Unless you are talking about very young baby fish - any fish need to be starved for several days before shipping or they will poison themselves with wastes in the bag during transit. This is why shippers/sellers will starve fish before shipping them.
Additionally I have found that you really don't want to feed your new fish the first few days after receiving them as they need to get acclimated to the new water.
More losses occur due to fish that were fed before shipping and poisoning themselves with their own feces in the bag due to ammonia poisoning.
Another bunch will perish by being fed too soon after being relesed in the new tank and having food either rot and foul the water or just getting bloat due to complications not being able to digest the food in the new surroundings.
I have had fish go without food for weeks sometimes and fare much better then fish which were fed too much.
Both Janne and Barbie who are accomplished pleco keepers have reccomended to abstain from feeding for some time if pleco health is at stake - it has worked for me on several occasions .
If dealing with a good source for plecos through mail it is mostly very safe too.
I strongly disagree with your statement about starved fish. Unless you are talking about very young baby fish - any fish need to be starved for several days before shipping or they will poison themselves with wastes in the bag during transit. This is why shippers/sellers will starve fish before shipping them.
Additionally I have found that you really don't want to feed your new fish the first few days after receiving them as they need to get acclimated to the new water.
More losses occur due to fish that were fed before shipping and poisoning themselves with their own feces in the bag due to ammonia poisoning.
Another bunch will perish by being fed too soon after being relesed in the new tank and having food either rot and foul the water or just getting bloat due to complications not being able to digest the food in the new surroundings.
I have had fish go without food for weeks sometimes and fare much better then fish which were fed too much.
Both Janne and Barbie who are accomplished pleco keepers have reccomended to abstain from feeding for some time if pleco health is at stake - it has worked for me on several occasions .
If dealing with a good source for plecos through mail it is mostly very safe too.
