The Zebra Pleco Tank (L046)

[Si4geckos]

Ordered a new brace for the juwel tank today. Hopefully be here mid week.

I need to get some black window tinting film for the background.

Going on a fishy-mission tomorrow to hopefully sort the stocking out too.

The chap I bought the new juwel tank off gave me some pebbles he had in there. They're white/ pale grey, but on closer inspection, they have very sparkly flecs in them. I'm unsure if I want to add them to the tank now. May affect water chemistry? Any thoughts?

[plankton]

Gold would be ok - maybe you can flog 'em for loadsamoney if it is.
If it's pyrites then that's a little more "iffy". I don't like anything metallic is the tank if I can help it (except in heaters and filters of course).

[Si4geckos]

Gold would be ok - maybe you can flog 'em for loadsamoney if it is.
If it's pyrites then that's a little more "iffy". I don't like anything metallic is the tank if I can help it (except in heaters and filters of course).

They reminded me of what I'd imagine a big piece of rock salt would look like. Not hopeful it's gold. Maybe white gold? (Or fools gold!) I'll try and get a pic. Might dose one with some Sarsons and check for fizzing too.

[Si4geckos]

New tank brace arrived today. Only a bit of basic plastic, but makes a huge reduction in flexibility of the glass and stops it bowing. I also bought some black enamel paint for the back. That'll be tomorrow's job then in between work.

[plankton]

Working between work, that's what we like to see!

[Si4geckos]

Been a busy week, but managed to get the tank painted. Think it was too cold for the paint to dry properly, so I ended up with lots of bubbles. 4 coats later and it's pretty black on the back. I've glued the new top brace in and filled it up for a couple of days with no leaks. Bonus at least.

Today I was off this afternoon so did the grim job of cleaning the black sand. It's perfect for what I was after. Annoyingly the previous owner had put a handful of clown puke type multicoloured gravel mixed in with it, so spent a looooong time fishing out the multicoloured bits. I also stripped the filter (fluval 405) down and gave that a good scrub. Came with x4 different types of media, so thats a bonus. As long as my pipes off my 306 fit the aquastop valve I should be good to go. It's old, but seems to work well. Just needs the hoses sorting.

I also drilled new holes in the centre long lid part so the led light could be zip-tied onto the side (it was underneath, but now there's a top brace again, it won't fit.

As far as I'm aware the tank should be good to go. Glass cleaned, sand cleaned, light fitted, leak tested, everything else cleaned. Just need to do some swapping about inside now. Get the shrimp/ current tank moved out the way then I can get this one in place, get it filled up and test the heater, filter with various spray bars, air pumps, etc.

Getting exciting!

[BigBen]

I've just had a read through this, Zebra's look awesome. I've been thinking about setting up my 3ft tank for them. Do you mind if I ask what the going rate for them is, both retail or breeders?

[Stephen]

You have been busy Si, glad it's gone well for you.

All the best

[Si4geckos]

I've just had a read through this, Zebra's look awesome. I've been thinking about setting up my 3ft tank for them. Do you mind if I ask what the going rate for them is, both retail or breeders?

The cheapest ones around seem to be about £80-85 for about 3-4cm ones;£120-130 for 6cm ones. Adults can be £150-200+ depending on size, age and gender. Most groups of 10-12 adults seem to sell for about £150-180 per fish. Doesn't vary much between breeders and shops. They're just expensive fish. Just make sure you get legal tank bred ones, rather than wild-caught ones as they're endangered now and the illegal trade is sadly wiping them out. They're very slow growing and take about 3/4 years to reach maturity. Best getting at least 6 if you want to breed them and if you do, get the largest and smallest from whatever source you get them from. This gives you the best chance of males and females as they have different growth rates. Hope that helps (and you have deep pockets).

[stechappo]

I've just had a read through this, Zebra's look awesome. I've been thinking about setting up my 3ft tank for them. Do you mind if I ask what the going rate for them is, both retail or breeders?

The cheapest ones around seem to be about £80-85 for about 3-4cm ones;£120-130 for 6cm ones. Adults can be £150-200+ depending on size, age and gender. Most groups of 10-12 adults seem to sell for about £150-180 per fish. Doesn't vary much between breeders and shops. They're just expensive fish. Just make sure you get legal tank bred ones, rather than wild-caught ones as they're endangered now and the illegal trade is sadly wiping them out. They're very slow growing and take about 3/4 years to reach maturity. Best getting at least 6 if you want to breed them and if you do, get the largest and smallest from whatever source you get them from. This gives you the best chance of males and females as they have different growth rates. Hope that helps (and you have deep pockets).

Wow, around 8 years ago I went to a fish Auction and bought 3 of these for £6 each, didnt keep the long as they hid most of the time, amazing the difference in price now, but not surprising as I havent seen them in years anywhere.