# Zebra Pleco (L - 46 ) Problem!!!!



## Rudy (Sep 18, 2008)

Hi I'm about to purchase my first colony (5-7 all under 1") of Zebra Plecos ( L-46) 
They are kept in RO water. I have no plans to keep them in RO. Itsl not necessary to keep them in RO water. Can any tell me, what would be the best way to introduce them to regular tap water (Ph 7.8 ) without stressing them out completely? I want to avoid fish loss. Please keep in mind that I'm purchasing them for a store and will be bringing them home is a bag with RO water. Also maybe I should purchase only 2 for now just in case they don't survive the trasnfer? 

All info welcome. Thanks

p.s Does any one now if you can breed them ( once they are mature) in regular tap water Ph 7.8?


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## shane3fan (Nov 2, 2009)

not an expert but... I would try to start them off with water as close to their current tank as possible and then gradually change it over with less and less RO.


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## Rudy (Sep 18, 2008)

So I should lower my Ph ( 7.8 ) with a Ph "lower" solution to roughly about 6.5, then introduce the fish. And then week to a 15% water change (tap water) ?


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## shane3fan (Nov 2, 2009)

Ive got no experience with using chemicals to change pH---Ive heard they are bad and you should stay away from them. What I meant was using RO water at first and slowly changing over to more and more tap with small water changes. If that isnt possible then I would just acclimate them very slowly since they are so expensive.


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## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

No chemical pH reducer! Ugh. Chemicals add they don't reduce. RO = lower total disolved solids, lower general hardness, lower carbonate hardness. The lower KH value is why they have a lower pH reading.
Start with soft water or do a drip but don't add chemicals to change the pH.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

What are the gH and kH of your water? Those are much more important parameters to take into consideration than just pH.

The steps you need to take to acclimate them may vary greatly depending on your water hardness.



Rudy said:


> p.s Does any one now if you can breed them ( once they are mature) in regular tap water Ph 7.8?


Even if they'll spawn chances are extremely poor that you'll get any viable fry without giving them the correct water parameters.

I personally wouldn't get these without getting an RO unit or buying RO water for them.


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## Rudy (Sep 18, 2008)

I'm a work and can't check my water. But I kept other fancy plecos with success and no problems I don't see why this pleco would be different. I also spoke to a importer that imports rare pleco from brazil, and he told me that all plecos are very adaptable and just to do the drip method. ( slowly drip rep tap water to the bucket where the RO water is with the plecos ).


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## SNAKEMANVET (Jan 6, 2011)

Drip acclimation would be the best way.I drip acclimate all my fish and inverts.


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## Franco (Jun 13, 2010)

Drip acclimate them for a couple of hours. You can also dilute your tank with RO water down to about half of what you normally keep it at and then slowly bring the pH and hardness back up with WCs of tapwater over the next week.
I used to breed zebras in college and they really are wonderful little fish. I got my breeding stock for free and sold all of the babies for big bucks. My tapwater in that town came out of the faucet at 9 pH and was liquid rock and they never seemed to mind.


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## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

Considering how small the fish are,I might set up small twenty gallon tank and use 70/30 R/O tapwater mix and as mentioned,drip acclimate the fish.
Then slowly, over weeks if possible slowly reduce the amount of R/O water with water changes.
Oxygen rich water provided by sponge filter with airstone, and moderate bit of current in the tank would be helpful I believe.


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## Jeff1192 (Dec 10, 2010)

I agree with the drip line method. I use it for almost all my new fish now. And definitely don't add anything to change the pH. They should adapt to your pH not problem. Using chemicals to change your pH in my opinion just guarantees problems down the road.

Jeff


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## Rudy (Sep 18, 2008)

Thanks you all for the replies


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## Rudy (Sep 18, 2008)

Franco said:


> Drip acclimate them for a couple of hours. You can also dilute your tank with RO water down to about half of what you normally keep it at and then slowly bring the pH and hardness back up with WCs of tapwater over the next week.
> I used to breed zebras in college and they really are wonderful little fish. I got my breeding stock for free and sold all of the babies for big bucks. My tapwater in that town came out of the faucet at 9 pH and was liquid rock and they never seemed to mind.


Franco 
Did you breed them in regular tap water or RO?


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## adamprice271 (Jun 10, 2006)

I'm sure you can do it in tap water. Just remember these plecos are not like the rest. Have plenty of bloodworms, beefheart, and earthworm sticks ready to feed these little guys. Are you getting wild caught or F1?


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Jun 15, 2008)

Hi Rudy,

We had Barbie Fiorentino, Internationally know Pleco breeder, here at GSAS for a talk in November. She did a great presentation on "Spawning Loricariidae Catfish" and although I am not a "Pleco" person, I found the talk very interesting and I learned a lot. I did not know that some Pleco species are carnivores and not algae eaters or that most of us "freeze" our Plecos by keeping them at temperatures in the 70's! Apparently most Plecos like very warm temperatures, around the mid 80's, which is too warm for a lot of my plant species. She mentioned that PlanetCatfish is where most of the serious breeders hang out! Hope this helps!


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## Rudy (Sep 18, 2008)

adamprice271 said:


> I'm sure you can do it in tap water. Just remember these plecos are not like the rest. Have plenty of bloodworms, beefheart, and earthworm sticks ready to feed these little guys. Are you getting wild caught or F1?


I'm getting F2,or F3. He is a breeder near my area.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Rudy said:


> I'm getting F2,or F3. He is a breeder near my area.


Ken's spirulina sticks work great.
Brine, mysis for larger fish etc.

As long as the KH from the tap is relatively low, you should not have much issue. Say 3 or less, slow drip acclimation etc.

You might consider reducing the KH with RO to say 1.5 for awhile and then slowly up it over a week or two, they are fairly hardy.

82-86F.


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## Rudy (Sep 18, 2008)

Thanks everyone. Much appreciated.


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## Rudy (Sep 18, 2008)

My tap water is KH 4 & GH 7 
what do you guys think? Is it still safe?


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Jun 15, 2008)

Hi Rudy,

Per Barbie Fiorentino, soft water is best! You should be in good shape but I would still acclimate them slowly since they are used to RO.


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## Franco (Jun 13, 2010)

I bred mine in tap water. My pH was 7.8, GH was over 300 ppm, and KH 7+. I used coconut shells for caves and fed them meaty foods combined with zucchini, yellow squash, frozen peas, and blanched collard greens. The pretty much ate whatever my other plecos and apple snails were eating. This wasn't a species tank so as extra insurance I sucked the eggs out of the caves with a length of airline tubing and hatched them in a large glass flask with an airstone to tumble them. I then put them into a 10 gal that I had let sit outside and develop a good layer or algae and micro fauna (I used the same method for corys, bristlenose, and a crap load of other fish). Whenever I wanted them to breed I'd just dump a couple trays full of ice cubes into the tank to drop it from the low 80s to the mid 70s and the corys and zebra plecos would do their thing. I had received my mating pair for free from an old guy who got out of the hobby. With no initial investment and selling the babies for $50 to $100 a piece, I made enough to not take out any loans for school that semester.


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## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

Would use cooler change water were it me rather than dumping Ice cubes in the tank.Would also consider simply removing the coconut shells and placing them in fry tank .Most eggs in my expierience are adhered to the roof,sides of breeding caves and would be much simpler to remove the breeding cave as opposed to removing eggs (easily damaged).
Course if tank is holding only breeder's,,afore mentioned becomes non issue.


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## Franco (Jun 13, 2010)

Mine laid there eggs in a shallow depression inside of each cave and not on the walls/roof of the caves. Sucking them out was easier and I've always used ice cubes instead of cold water for corys and other plecos so I figured if it works don't fix it.
For being so easy to breed I am really surprised there aren't more of them available and for lower prices. I think I had higher survival rates in zebra fry than I ever had with bristlenose and other small plecos.


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## amphirion (Nov 13, 2008)

fwiw, this might be helpful for you:
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=3444


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