The Lowdown On The Zebra Pleco

davo

Aimara
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Jan 9, 2006
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Just a write up from info taken from numerous sources on the most talked about pleco ever...
Hypancistrus sp Zebra
It was the late '80s that the world saw the first photographs of a small black and white striped loricariid catfish were published in aquarium magazines. However, the first imports of the zebra pleco, as it came to be called, were absolutely unaffordable. However, prices continued to drop as supply increased, and before too long they became quite affordable to everyone, and were a lot available. In 1991 the species was described by Isbrucker & Nijssen as Hypancistrus zebra. Again and again, there were reports about the spawning of this catfish, but there were never any details. They had been considered just rumors until eventually two reports appeared in DATZ (10/'93) on the spawning of the zebra pleco...

Since these reports some aquarists have definitely been successful in the regular spawning of this species, www.zebrapleco.com currently has 41 registered breeders. Since there were still some questions left unanswered after the two spawning reports by Pahnke (1993) and Walter (1993).

Beginning of the Hypancistrus

Since the species differs strongly from all other known species of loricariids, Isbrucker & Nijssen erected a new genus for it. The genus is monotypic; that is to say, H. zebra the only species in the genus Hypancistrus in 1994. Since then, there are now 40+ L numbers and LDA numbers given to plecos in the hypancistrus genus (including the beautiful L260 ;) ).

When Stawikowski (1992) introduced the loricariid L98 in DATZ, which possessed a longish irregular spotting instead of the black striping, some speculated that this was a second species of the genus. While not completely certain, this probably is not the case. To all appearances, L98 is a color variant of H. zebra. It would be interesting to find out whether the color pattern breeds true.

Another variation of H. zebra is L173 (see Stawikowski, 1994). The only speciman of this form known presently deviates from the normal zebra pleco primarily in that it has a different body shape. It is still thought this could be just a single deformed animal.


Sexing
In H. zebra there is no very strongly marked sexual dimorphism. Males and females are colored about the same. The first pectoral fin ray of the male is somewhat thicker than that of female. In sexually mature males, the odontodes of this ray are somewhat more strongly developed. In addition, the interopercular odontodes in the males are somewhat longer. Looking at the fish shape from above, the males are distintly broader than the females in the head and pectoral region. In some plecos the females can be thicker, and fatter, but like many of the hypancistrus sp. (and a few others e.g. ancistrus) the males can be be just as fat when storing up food (fat) for them to live off, when they tend and look after the eggs after spawning.


In The Wild
The home of Hypancistrus zebra is the Rio Xingu, one of the larger southern clearwater tributaries of the Amazon. It was first found in the state of Para.
In the vicinity of Altamira the river is about 1 kilometer (0.6 mi) wide. The substrate consists of dark rocks and stones of volcanic origin; in many places these are honey combed with holes. This was where many of the "cave spawning" plecos have been discovered. A recording was taken by Schliewen & Stawikowski on the visit to the area of the rio Xingu: the water had a temperature of 32.2 degrees C (slightly higher than what we generally keep our plecs at. The pH was about 6.5. There was a conductivity of 120 S / cm and a carbonate hardness of around 1odH. The iron content was less than 0.05 mg / l. Regarding temperature, this rises and falls, and since 71 - 81 degrees fareignheit is fine for day to day keeping, it has been said that when spawning if you keep the temp. higher, then reduce it to around the 82 mark quickly by adding colder water, it triggers spawning.

General Care
On the basis of its small size (under 4 inches), the zebra pleco is ideally suited to keeping in the aquarium. Like many other South American catfishes, the species is extremely adaptable, so we do not have to imitate in every detail, the conditions of their home waters. Even in somewhat alkaline, hard water, they do well. For day-to-day keeping, temperatures of 79-81 degrees F are fine. Although water chemistry is not critical, water quality is. These fish need very clean water, with plenty of oxygen. Supplemental aeration is strongly recommended.

In most cases zebra plecos are not as territorial as many other loricariids and several can be kept in one tank without any problems. Between the males there often are small skirmishes: however, these usually always turn out without injuries. You must be careful with aggressive tankmates, though, as very large or boistrous fishes can quickly oppress the zebras, and can result in them being out-competed for food. A tank for zebras need not be huge, but it is of great advantage when the bottom area is as large as possible.

Remember that in their natural habitat zebra plecos inhabit rocky areas where they find many crevices and holes satisfactory for hiding places. Therefore, to duplicate the natural conditions for these catfishes closely, construct some caves for them with slate or some stones. Driftwood can be omitted, since zebra plecos do not favor wood as a hiding place, and apparently do not chew on driftwood like some other plecos for health reasons.

Zebra plecos, in contrast to many other loricariids, are quite active during the day. However, they are quite shy, and take the smallest movement in front of the tank as an occasion to retreat into their hiding places. If you sit still and completely motionless in front of the aquarium, you can observe how they roam through the tank in search of food.

The plecos become quite hectic when you place brine shrimp nauplii into the tank. Small live or frozen foods, such as small cyclops and daphnia, are also very hapilly eaten. Bloodworms are also a favorite. It appears that these fish have a special liking for anything that is red. Mosquito larve, adult brine shrimp, and krill, are also accepted. Also, various prepared dry foods, such as food tablets with a vegetable base, are happily taken, although they are primarily a carnivorous sp. but is important for a balanced varied diet.

Hypancistrus zebra is yet another pleco sp. that does not eat algae and totally refuses it. Because of this, keeping live plants with these fish is a possibility, since these also are spared.

Getting Them Spawning
It has been shown that three factors are the most important for successful spawning of H. zebra: higher temperature, good oxygenation of the water, and suitable breeding caves.

It has been shown that at a temperature of 81 degrees F is about the lowest at which these fish will spawn. The Arndt's zebras spawned at the first time at 84o F. After they had begun spawning regularly, however, a temperature drop to 81o F did not disturb them.

Oxygen and good clean water is imperitive. Some people use diffusers to produce very fine bubbles to further increase the oxygen content.

Many caves should be used, so they can choose a suitable spawning site, but the caves themselves should be very tight. This means the cave should be just over the length of the fish (say about 4"), the width should be the body width with about 2/3 the length of the pectoral fin, and the height should be about the height of the body, plus about 2/3 the height of the dorsal. Caves as small as 3.5 x 1.0 x 0.6 inches have been used for successful spawning of a full grown fish. there should be numerous caves, pointing in slightly different directions. This is because there should be a decent current in the tank, and they a cave that has optimum amount of fresh water and oxygen running in it. this is usually when the water flow is moving exactly across the cave face.

Spawning...
Spawning readiness in Ancistrus males is announced by wagging with the paired fins in front of the cave, Hypancistrus males exhibit little activity beforehand. You will simply notice all of a sudden that the fish have paired off.
The egglaying behavior however, resembles very strongly that of Ancistrus species. The zebras often lay on top of each other in the cave. Finally, the male lays sideways with his caudal fin and half of his body on the head of the female. She produces her eggs in several batches. The male blocks the cave entrance with his head. After each group of eggs is laid, the female makes fidgety forward and backward movements to signal to the male that the eggs can now be fertilized. Since the female often will not leave the cave after spawning is over, she occasionally must be pushed out by the male.

The eggs are usually deposited in the slate cave mostly in the outermost corner, on the bottom. Whether the males mouth the eggs, as in Ancistrus, has not yet been observed. The fanning movements with the pelvic fins are sporadic. When "danger" threatens (for example, when a flashlight is shined into the cave) the male covers the egg mass almost completely, so that at most only one to two eggs can be seen. As with some other loricariids, the first "batch" is usually not fertilised at all, and you will just end up with a load of shells. This is known as a "test run" for the pair, and is a good sign.

Some rearers do keep the eggs with the plecs, but a lot of people artificially rear the eggs themselves. careful removal is necessary, and most people keep the eggs in small plastic tank/trap, hung in the same tank so to keep the same temperature and water. An airstone is still added to provide oxygen as the water flow will be nought or as good as. It is a good idea to add some sort of anti-fungas med to where you keep the eggs, as this is the number one reason eggs go bad. Usually some eggs go "bad", and so with a pipette suck the contents out completely so that only the shells remained. This measure is necessary because the eggs stick so strongly together that the bad eggs cannot be separated without risking damage to the good ones.

Development Eggs And Young

Immediately after they are laid, hardly any structures are recognizably in the interior of these eggs. After one day, however, the body of the embryo is recognizable as a lighter line in the egg. On the third day you can see the small heart distinctly pulsating. Although the outline of the embryo from day to day becomes more distinct, shortly before hatching there is hardly any recognizable pigmentation to be seen. Only the eyes are clearly recognized as dark spots. How quickly the eggs develop is strongly dependent on temperature. At relatively high temperatures it is about six days until hatching.

The young of Ancistrus species usually use up their yolk sacks after about four days and then begin to eat. In H. zebra it takes considerably longer: 11-13 days until the enormous yolk sac has completely disappeared. After two days you can see the first signs of pigmentation; by the eighth day the young already exhibit the first signs of a zebra pattern. The intensity of the color is not strong, however. Only after two or three weeks do they take on intense black-and-white coloration.

The young are usually out of the cave, still with yolksacks, unlike ancistrus, when they are protected in the cave.

They immediately take dried foods and frozen or live brine shrimp nauplii. They are very fragile, but as fry go, they are easy to raise as long as there is plenty of oxygen and good water quality is kept up.

Recently, the price of zebras have rocketed, due to the exportation of them being illegal, as habitat loss threatens the species population. There are plenty of people trying, or have succeeded, to breed them and lots of different genetic variations are coming about, down to natural causes, environment causes (development), and imbreeding. but then every pleco is different.........
 

Ruger345

Feeder Fish
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Jun 15, 2006
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Thanks for the info Davo. I just took a look at some of these yesterday, but a pretty big price tag on these things.:cry:
 

davo

Aimara
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Jan 9, 2006
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Thanks for the info Davo. I just took a look at some of these yesterday, but a pretty big price tag on these things.:cry:
there are a lot of black and white substitute plecs, i would suggest maybe the L260, as it gets to a similar size too, and is commonly available
 

Honda12

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Feb 7, 2006
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Good article Davo. Do you keep any of these guys?
 

Honda12

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I agree.
 

davo

Aimara
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and these are just a few of the mutations that the fish undergo. suprised they havnt got a new l number for each one
 

Honda12

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Jeeze, were do you come up with all these pics at. You have way to much free time. Well I guess I do too, I am always on here.
 
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