lil' L46 - Its the cutest thing I've ever seen

[Jkhuu]

Looks like my L46s finally spawned. I didn't realize it until I was vacuuming the dirt out of the tank last night. I saw little thing zip across the 36" tank and thought that was a neat looking black and white cherry shrimp :)
I did a quick search and found one. Measures a tad over 1cm and no egg sack left. It was late and I didn't want to disturb them too much but I managed to move this lil' guy into a fry saver.

Here are some pics !!

http://www.canadapleco.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1183&d=1269520415

http://www.canadapleco.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1184&d=1269520415

http://www.canadapleco.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1185&d=1269520416

JK

[Hitch]

congrats man!! cute little bugger.

[tobalman]

Great news, congratulations zebra breeder. LOL

[matti2uude]

Very nice!

[bcarlos]

Great news! Congrats.

[Romulous]

That is fantastic News man CONGRATS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jkhuu]

Thanks guys. I am going to see if I can find other ones in the tank....and hopefully identify the pair that got together.

JK

[Pamelajo]

So cute!!!

[Marowana]

congratz, you are going to be RICH!!! :biggrin:

[Jkhuu]

lol...thanks guys. He attached himself to the mini-sponge filter and i had the hardest time finding him. Thought he escaped out of the fry saver :)

[Catsaholic]

There is no escape out of your fry saver:) Congratulations on the baby! Are there others?

[Thanusan]

congratulations Jon!!

[Rush2112]

Awesome news John congrats!

[budahrox]

Congratz!!!!
You're very lucky!
LMAO I've always just wanted to be able to have one, let alone a successful spawn.
Great pics, thanks for posting.
Cheers!!!

[Jkhuu]

Appreciate the kind words guys !!!

I think only one so far Irena. Will be watching them closely though

[dreville]

Congrats John!!! Hope you find more little ones!

[Bwhiskered]

He is a good start. The next time should be even better.

[Jkhuu]

Yes !!! Turned out that the father was so good at blocking my vision that i didn't even notice a batch of eggs/frys in one of the caves. I looked this morning and found 2 very closed to the entrance.
There are probably 6-7 fry in there I think with egg sack and wiggly tails. I moved the father and the cave into the fry saver. This must have been their second batch.
So far, looks like the father is fanning and looking after them well. Hope he doesn't decide to eat them or some thing. I'll leave them there and check again in a few days.

[jimmy chonga]

you know your water is great when the fish are just spawning on their own. very cool to see :)

[nightowl1350]

Awesome!! Congrats on the find in your tank and good luck with many more.

[Jkhuu]

Awesome!! Congrats on the find in your tank and good luck with many more.

Thanks..I went out for a bit and when I got back, I couldn't find the bigger fry at his normal hiding place. My worst fear was that the male killed him. I checked in the cave and sure enough, he's in there with the dad. Pheww!

[Jkhuu]

Managed to get a shot of the little guy in the cave with one of the adults. Its gotten a tiny bit bigger I think. The remaining 3-4 eggs are also developing along.

1208

[Romulous]

very Nice shot of some very nice Fish John .....Congrats again man !!!!!

[Zebrapl3co]

Hey, congrats. Didn't read this until today. Yeah, for some reason, they some how managed to squeze through the fry catcher gap. Same thing happened to me. If you put the sponge on, that will keep them but not the white screen. I actually found one trapped between the white screen and the sponge. Not a good way to die. So becareful there.
The fry looks like at least 1 month old of not more than 1 month old. If they are from the same parents as your second batch, that would put your fry at more than 3 months old and your second ones with the sac .... err let see
- eggs on day one
- on the 7th day the eggs hatch
- on the 14th - 16th days you would see the yolk sack almost fully absorbed ...
So they should be some where around 10 days old and 12 days old if you see a visible black stripe.

The fry looks kind of scrawnny, you might want to feed some high protein diet as they need that in these early stages.

[Jkhuu]

Hey, congrats. Didn't read this until today. Yeah, for some reason, they some how managed to squeze through the fry catcher gap. Same thing happened to me. If you put the sponge on, that will keep them but not the white screen. I actually found one trapped between the white screen and the sponge. Not a good way to die. So becareful there.
The fry looks like at least 1 month old of not more than 1 month old. If they are from the same parents as your second batch, that would put your fry at more than 3 months old and your second ones with the sac .... err let see
- eggs on day one
- on the 7th day the eggs hatch
- on the 14th - 16th days you would see the yolk sack almost fully absorbed ...
So they should be some where around 10 days old and 12 days old if you see a visible black stripe.

The fry looks kind of scrawnny, you might want to feed some high protein diet as they need that in these early stages.

Hey Peter,
I should have contacted you earlier for Z advices. Was caught up with another fishroom dilemma :) I think you're right about the age of the 2nd batch being around 10-12 days. I can still see the sacks today. they are getting bigger thought...I think 3 of them.

Looks like the father is taking good care of both the older and younger ones.

I hatched some bbs and ready to feed the little guy. I'll feed it more protein to try and fatten him up.

Thank you thank you !!!

[Jkhuu]

This morning, I cut the silicone holding the cave top. Figure this is the only way to get the male out and remove the little ones.
I was able to identify which male zebra was the father and also confirm the number of little ones in the 2nd batch. I initially thought there were 3, but it turned out that there were 4 little guys from the 2nd batch. This was a nice surprise.

Going by Peter's method :biggrin:, I think they are around 2 weeks old. 'Thanks again Peter'

So, they are now in the fry saver and the father when back to the big tank with the rest of the group. Hopefully he will pick up from where he left of and continue breeding. Attached is a quick blurry pic of one of them.

[gucci17]

Congrats John!!! I see you've been keeping yourself busy!

[Jkhuu]

Congrats John!!! I see you've been keeping yourself busy!

Hey Derek,

Thanks bud !! I hope the parents are busier than me :secretsmile: Here's an update pic from today. Cute lil' buggers.

Cheers !

[Romulous]

where is the bowing in awe smiley ?????? LOL

[dreville]

Beautiful!

[MsGardeness]

Congratulations John - that's quite inspiring!

[Romulous]

How are they doing John keep us posted on their progress I like watching them grow !!! LOL

[Jkhuu]

How are they doing John keep us posted on their progress I like watching them grow !!! LOL

Hey Bill. They are keeping well. Grown quite a bit. 2nd batch almost catching up to the first lil' guy. We'll snap some update pics shortly.

Cheers,

JK

[Jkhuu]

Congratulations John - that's quite inspiring!

Thank you MsGardeness. Now I am keeping a closer eye on Z tank compared to before.

I like to report that my timing for removing the frys from the male worked out ok. He still remembered what to do after spending some time with the 2nd batch. Tonight, he's got the female again trapped in the cave. Fingers crossed.

Atleast I can start having a more accurate breeding/tracking log :secretsmile:

[Zebrapl3co]

Wow, is it from the same female? That's a little close to the last 2nd batch .. unless it's another female from the first batch ...
That's pretty hard to do, getting a trio going.

[Jkhuu]

Wow, is it from the same female? That's a little close to the last 2nd batch .. unless it's another female from the first batch ...
That's pretty hard to do, getting a trio going.

Hehee. To be honest Peter, I am still waiting for the chance to confirm the original female. I now know which was the male, but waiting for them to spawn again and hopefully find out which of the female spawned.
To date, I haven't a clue whether the 1st 2 batches came from the same female as I missed those spawns. If it is the same female, maybe its yet too soon for them to spawn again like you said.
Last night, I checked and saw that he had some another fish trapped inside. Could it be another male/female that ventured into his cave by accident ? or possibly the pair was doing the dry run ? or he's just double-dipping and there's a trio ?
I just checked and he let him or her out. But hopefully I can confirm who is who soon.

[Jkhuu]

Confused with the behaviour now Peter. When I got home, he's got her trapped again. Maybe I interrupted them earlier today :)

[Zebrapl3co]

Well, I've once tried to get a trio going because at one point in time, I had more females than males. But the problem is that all three have to be compatible for it to work. One of my female was very jealous and went into the male's caves and rile things up and caused the male to kick out the second batchs eggs. The 2nd batch was fertilized and I hand raised them my self. I let that go for a while but the same thing happens again 4 months later. Then my stupid filter got stuck and the younger female died.
From that experience though, I find that it just depends on how well the females get along. The older female continue to breed until recently, the male died. Looks like from old age or some kind of slow sickness because I can see him slowly deteriorate over a spam of 1 year.
Oh, also, my usual trick is to let them stay together in a cave for 2 days. On the third day, if there is nothing going on, I would separate them. This is because if it was a male traped in there, the 3rd day is usually the fatal day where one get's kill (or naugh to death). Some breeding can go really ugly too, especially when they are inexperience. Even if they are a pair.

[Jkhuu]

Thanks Peter,

Extremely valuable tips and information. At some opportune time, I plan on moving the group onto 2nd level of 3 tier stand. Killing my back/next trying to get down to ground level trying to peak into their caves, etc :blush:
My worst fear is having to witness the urgly things that could happen while they are breeding. Guess, sometimes, that's unavoidable and part of nature.

[Jkhuu]

The little ones are getting close to an inch now. Healthy appetite and seems to be doing well. Here's a pic of them.

[Romulous]

awesome looking John great job once again how are the parents doing ????? With this weather you'd almost think they would be trying again ?

[matti2uude]

I'm surprised how fast they're growing for you!

[MsGardeness]

Incredible colouring! How old are they at this time?

[Jkhuu]

awesome looking John great job once again how are the parents doing ????? With this weather you'd almost think they would be trying again ?

hey Bill, They started caving a few times and then the male let her out. Keeping an eye on them though. Suspect the female might not be ready.


I'm surprised how fast they're growing for you! Yah...I thought so too. The only one left from the 1st batch is a tad bigger then the rest, but they are catching up to him/her in terms of size.


Incredible colouring! How old are they at this time? Think it was end of March when i first noticed the first one.

[Romulous]

great growth rate bro ....... keep it up whatever you are doing and if they did it once they will definately be doing it again ....... just like in our world .... when she is ready things will happen LOL
Keep up the great work I love seeing this
Bill

[Jkhuu]

Update : June 4th, 2010

On a regular check Friday, I saw 2 different pairs of Zebras caving. The males kept the females in pretty much all day Friday.
Saturday morning, only the male is left in cave1 and some eggs I think. Not sure how many though as he's blocking it pretty good. But I managed to see atleast one to confirm that there were eggs in there.
Pair2 however is still caving. Maybe it's taking longer as they are new at it.

I decided to go on with the water changing routine to keep the water quality up and hopefully help with hatch rate, etc.

After changing water to the rest of the other tanks in the fishroom, I noticed that the female escaped from the cave2 and only the male remained.

Phewww...A couple of hours later, she was back in the cave with him. I'll continue to keep an eye on the new pair and hopefully will have some good news.

Eventually, the plan is to keep the pairs in their own tanks to give them privacy and minimize the distractions...from my water change routine.

[MsGardeness]

Very good news! How long til the eggs in cave #1 hatch? Are there eggs in #2 yet?

[Romulous]

where is the Yippee icon !!!!! great work John !!!

[magic zebra]

That is awesome news, John! Keep us posted!

[tobalman]

Great job on keep us update the information regarding your zebra, I think you will needed to add more tank to grow them out soon too.

[Jkhuu]

Thanks all !!! Keeping the adult zebras at a ground-level tank does make it hard to peak into caves...LOL. At the next opportune time, think I'll move the adults to the middle and top rack of a three tier stand. And use the ground level tank for grow-out and some endlers.

Tonight, pair2 is still at it. Male from pair1 is deep inside the cave, tending to the egg(s). Well see in a few days...

[jlloydb]

let us know if raising the tank to a higher viewing level affects your success. i was considering to put my zebs under my desk in hopes of following your success .lol.

[CanadaPleco]

I wouldn't move them, especially considering the role they are on now.

[Romulous]

I would tend to agree ....... if it ain't broke don't fix it ...... even if it is a little awkward to check things out it is working well for you right now. When they stop would be time enough to play bud !
Bill

[Jkhuu]

True. I guess I didn't explain it well. The move will probably not happen until next time I change things around in the fish room. Probably won't happen for a number of months yet...2nd daughter is also on the way :)

James - I'll keep u posted but personally don't think it would make a difference. We'll see..I could be wrong.

Bill - LOL. It ain't broke now, but I have a feeling that my back and neck will be broke from crawling at that level and would be easier for me to peek into caves at eye-level :)

Thanks though and think u guys are right. Don't want to interrupt them unless really really necessary.

[Romulous]

get a mechanics dolly for the fish room bud you can lay on it and roll through the fish room all day LMAO

[Bwhiskered]

The plecos are liking the late spring rains. I have some chewing on the females and shacking up but not as many results as I would like.

[Jkhuu]

Update: June 11, 2010

According to Peter's (Zebrapl3co) timeline, I checked and got a glimpse of a few wigglers. Exactly a week after the eggs were laid.
As for 2nd pair. Well, they are still trying/learning.

Btw Charlie. Let it rain. Let it rain :)

[Romulous]

very good news John ........ And this weekends weather should be awesome for the breeding instincts I would think ..... Hot muggy and then a thunderstorm ..... some nice pressure changes !

[Zebrapl3co]

Heh, and the cycle is almost exactly the same as well. :D mines are just getting their stripes. Looks like you have a constant breeder pair. That is good, some zebra pair don't breed regularly. Then there are the stupid ones that eat their eggs :(.

[Jkhuu]

Hey Peter. That's great news. I'll have a better look tonight to see what size the fry's are. I hope the pair ends up breeding regularly. I know it's the same male, but again missed the opportunity to ID the female before she went back to the group.

[nightowl1350]

Congrats on the find. hope there are many more.

[Jkhuu]

Congrats on the find. hope there are many more.

Thanks !! From this batch, I removed 3 from the cave and later found another roaming around in the tank.
I am going to try and fatten up the female and see if the next batch is larger :)

[Romulous]

Sweet starting to sounds like it is becoming fairly regular .... you gotta like that bro
B!

[Jkhuu]

The breeding continues after atleast 4 months break (July time-frame). Around 2 weeks ago, i noticed the male not coming out for food. He usually does come out, like the rest of the tank-mates.
I checked on him in the cave just to be sure everything is OK and see that he at the end of the cave guarding something. Couldn't see the eggs or fry as the tank is still awkwardly low...(Didn't get a chance to move it higher yet).
So last night, I was feeding/siphoning and noticed a lonely fry wandering in the corner of the tank. Probably approx. 10-12 days and just about absorb the egg sac.
Another look into the cave and I saw the male had the female trapped inside. He/they must have kicked this little guy out so they can continue their business.
I'll put back the fry saver and try to check for others tonight. Thought I share the news.

Cheers !!

[CanadaPleco]

Congrats bud! Your becoming a zebra making machine.

[Romulous]

Awesome news man congrats .... By the way the four that are here are doing great as well!!!

[Jkhuu]

thanks gents ! We'll see how it goes. Haven't disturb them yet. Don't really want to interrupt their routine.

Bill, happy to hear that they are doing well :)

[Romulous]

That's right John .... If it ain't broke don't fix it lol

[markenyvonne]

very nice hopefully they make another spawn soon

[Jkhuu]

very nice hopefully they make another spawn soon
Thanks. Was just telling Rich. Male is sitting on some eggs. Not sure the numbers but figures crossed. Will see in several days.

[Jkhuu]

Here's an update: After not seeing the male come out for food several days in a row got me curious. I took the flash light to the cave and see him protecting some eggs. Not exactly sure of the number but it was enough for me to catch a glimpse of it. This is good as the last few cavings resulted in the female escaping. I suspect that I have the wrong size cave for them. I am going to see if i can get something a bit smaller for the next time around. We'll see how it works out.
My apologize in advance if i am putting everybody to sleep with these updates. I am using this also as a way of logging the breeding activities :)

Cheers !!

[Romulous]

Congrats John!!! I never tire of hearing how they are doing man !

[CanadaPleco]

NEVER tire of hearing about zebras spawning!

[2wheelsx2]

Pics would be even better! :p

[Jkhuu]

Thanks all. Good thing Rich asked me how they were tonight. I went and check and saw one tiny fry at the cave entrance. Must have some how got move by the male's fanning action. Having hungry Cherry shrimps in the same tank, I decided to setup the fry saver and moved the whole cave, including the male into the fry saver. Good thing the cave had a removable top. I used a turkey baster and place it back towards the end of the cave. Hopefully the male will continue to take care of it.
But hey, a pic before it went back to the cave. Blurry, but it shows a tiny little thing attached to egg sac.

Cheers !!

[CanadaPleco]

so you removed the lid? how many did you count? I know you did :)

[Jkhuu]

so you removed the lid? how many did you count? I know you did :)

Lol...I was tempted, but didn't want to risk of having the male crushing any of them. Just opened a small slit and go out of there.

[markenyvonne]

hoi


congrats with the new spawn
looks to me that the male has it under control
female can lay eggs every six weeks,[maybe even faster,but i havent seen that here]
i usually see them getting bigger and fatter
and then i know she filled with eggs,your spawns are pretty small,so maybe its difficult to see
males probably need to wait six weeks ,eating themself fatter for another 20 days in the cave

but its nice to hear that you have good results

[Jkhuu]

hoi


congrats with the new spawn
looks to me that the male has it under control
female can lay eggs every six weeks,[maybe even faster,but i havent seen that here]
i usually see them getting bigger and fatter
and then i know she filled with eggs,your spawns are pretty small,so maybe its difficult to see
males probably need to wait six weeks ,eating themself fatter for another 20 days in the cave

but its nice to hear that you have good results

Thank you ! This is one of the 2 good males I have. Both are extremely good at taking care of the fry. The females are a bit immature still so yielding batches of under 10. IMO, I think the older ones 10-15 yrs old or more would yield bigger batches of fry. The other ones in the colony are on standby and probably won't breed as long as the alpha pair is in the same tank. Maybe I'll leave the pair in the tank and move the others to a different tank as well as introducing smaller size caves. We'll see how that works out.

[bjntyson]

Nice to see more people breeding zebras

[markenyvonne]

i think its a good plan to split them
its very likely that you have a second pair that can breath
but the dominant male will not allow it

[Jkhuu]

i think its a good plan to split them
its very likely that you have a second pair that can breath
but the dominant male will not allow it

I think so. If the plan works, I'll slowly move them out. One pair at a time :)

Update Mar 3, 2011:

I went to check on them tonight and found one little guy outside the cave. Might not be the same little guy, but its happened twice now. If its the same one, its very adventurous.
Again, I picked him up with a turkey baster and put him back into the cave. 10 mins later, he's out again.
I had to remove the lid to see what was happening and to make sure the rest of them are ok. Maybe he was running away from the male :)
Cute little things. They were all surface swimming back and forth in this area that the male had created..all 5 of them. The male had wedged himself between the 2 walls to keep them inside. It was quite amazing to see.
Anyhow, I had to take a couple of quick shots to share.

Cheers,

[CanadaPleco]

Cute little buggers!!!!

[jones02]

interested in the fry! lol i love zebras

[Jkhuu]

interested in the fry! lol i love zebras

lol..if i had to keep 1 type of pleco, these would be it. Mainly due to size, beauty and their behaviours. I am still fascinated by the way they behave in this video

i took few couple of yrs ago.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15688897@N08/3252814715/in/set-72157613354365880/

[Zebrapl3co]

Hey John, congrats again. I haven't been around here for a while. It's good to see you that your zebs are breeding. So I guess it's roughly once every 3 months?

[Jkhuu]

Hey John, congrats again. I haven't been around here for a while. It's good to see you that your zebs are breeding. So I guess it's roughly once every 3 months?

Thanks Peter..Its been awhile. I think its around 3-4 months, but some difficulties in between. I suspect the cave is a bit big, the female can make an easy escape. Will be adding some more caves just a tad smaller. Also, possibly she not all that ready. Sometimes, it'll be 2 fry, etc. Any thoughts on that ?

Interesting observation also. There's this little guy that kept on getting kicked out. Well, I ended up leaving him outside the cave. I could see a big difference in size between the one living outside vs the others living inside the cave being taken cared of by the male. Maybe they are warmer, more active inside. They grew faster and the egg sacs are almost completely absorbed.

See pics..

[CanadaPleco]

they are so cute! How many were there this time?

[Romulous]

John I wonder if the one that is getting out is also eating micro food that is always present in the tank and that is why the yolk sac is not being absorbed as quick whereas the ones in the cave with the dad are not getting that food source ? Just a thought not sure if it is a good one or a bad one but a thought nonetheless LOL

[Jkhuu]

John I wonder if the one that is getting out is also eating micro food that is always present in the tank and that is why the yolk sac is not being absorbed as quick whereas the ones in the cave with the dad are not getting that food source ? Just a thought not sure if it is a good one or a bad one but a thought nonetheless LOL

Hey Bill,

My understanding is that they don't start to eat anything until their yok sac are almost depleted. Then I could be wrong on that. Interesting theory you have there. One thing I am not sure of is why his growth rate is not keeping up to the others. I'll continue to track it to see if he catches up.

[markenyvonne]

congrats with the youngsters
i think there should be micre food in the cave to
as well as it is everywhere in the tank
i love the video its great