# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Catfishes >  celticfish's Hypancistrus zebra pleco (L046) thread 03 - And the meek shall rise...

## celticfish

So I come home yesterday night and turned on the lights of the tank.
After the usual inspection I noticed a blob in the centre of the tank.
I would have recognized it as an eggs but it was oval in shape and almost looks like a booger in water.
I go about putting my stuff away happy I have no dead zebras and starting thinking what could that blob be...
WAIT A MINUTE! It suddenly dawns on me.... 
Took out my torch and headed for the tank.
A little eye squinting confirmed my suspicion that the booger blob was a wriggler with a tail!  :Jump for joy:  :Jump for joy:  :Jump for joy: 

So I check out bruiser's and the next largest male's caves.
No can do.. they were all empty.
Scanned the rest and came up empty too.
Round two of inspection, big guys empty and I wondered who it could have been.
Could all the wrigglers have been kicked out already?!?
I have mentally given them a 3 to 6 month recovery period from the Great Blight.
It has been all routine with the obvious daily headcount parade as I only expected some breeding interest at the year end.
They are definitely not getting any "eye-balling" or "talk" from me about "doing it" early!

Jackpot! A "small" male from a recent acquisition was covering an eggball.
No wonder I missed it totally.
I had been looking at the big guys all this time I hardly noticed them at it sometime last week.
The male could have been a suspect female for that matter!
So there goes my theory that the females love males with nice and developed pectoral odontodes!  :Flame: 

Needless to say I didn't get much sleep and dad was harassed by me with the torch!  :Grin: 
Final count, 9 wrigglers and 3 dead ones for a total of 12 eggs.
Pretty okay for a "first-timer" (fertile male).
Mum was from the original lot which survived the Great Blight.



So here are the pictures... (can't ever get enough of them!)






All the siblings with a Sturisoma fry (two days older)

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## johannes

hey bro, nice one, eh... congrats.. :Grin: 

any picture of the tank?
thanks... :Smile:

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## Savant

Nice one... (goes on to shine torch at his L46 zebra caves)...

What size is the father fish this time round?

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## SCOPE

Another successfully breeding...congrates

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## celticfish

Johannes,
Tank setup is simple like the previous two feet Fiveplan tank - "barracks style".
Like this picture




Savant,
The male is 73 mm TL and 55 mm SL.
Caught me totally by surprise.

SCOPE,
Thanks!

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## fireblade

wow congrats!!
hope to see the development of the fries soon!!

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## eeeeemo

wow that is a rather small male! i agree with your stand. females pick males with the best growth of pectoral odontodes!

congrats on their speedy recovery~ =)

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## Gecko

Congrats! indeed the "hairless meek" has risen...

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## weiquan

a simple classic setup. Congras to the spawn!!  :Wink:

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## genes

Congrats man! You're the man next to Gecko that have so much success in breeding and raising L46!  :Well done:  Do show us the development of the fries!

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## bossteck

Well done! Congrats man!

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## zyblack

Very nice! Congratulations for another successful spawn!  :Smile:

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## johannes

thanks for the pic... simple set up...

make me envious... :Grin:

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## StanChung

Woo hoo! Congrats! 21 days later another spawn?

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## celticfish

Thanks guys!

genes,
You forgot another "sifu" (Master), Mr. "Moustacho Man"! kekeke

StanChung,
If all goes well it should be about 26 to 28 days from what the last pair did.
I believe if they delay longer than a few days from the above timing it could end as a one-of event.
The female is still a suspect at the moment.
Hopefully the culprite will hang-out around his cave soon.



I'm contemplating a name for this guy and had thought of Omega.
But I'm now inclining to christian him "Botak" (bald head).  :Laughing: 
You will know what I mean when you see it.
I'll try to load up some pictures of it.

Meanwhile here are some pictures of the fry.
I couldn't choose which ones so you guys get to see the lot.
Now the beady little black eyes don't look quite so beady from the verticle of the fish.
You can see the pupils developing though the base is still black.
The stripes are already starting to form and the tail is getting bluky.
As the development continues the yoke sac gets absorbed and starts to look more elongated than the initial roundness.
(Note: the pictures look better this time as I had some time to think! The white balance was set to flourescent causing the bluish tinge. The colours more natural now. *phew*)












Believe it or not the whole group of nine are together.

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## trident

that's a small fortune there,
congrats,

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## SCOPE

Thanks for sharing these great pictures...amazing

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## genes

They look so cute with their yoke sags close up! Looks so soft and cuddly.  :Laughing:

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## fireblade

wah so fast colour come out liao!!
breed [email protected]!!! :>

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## Crazy Dragon

Congratulation. There look so cute. Well done.

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## barmby

Congratulations! Alot of hard work ahead.

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## sgbetta

So cool to see the babies...Congrat to you.... :Smile:

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## noname777

Amazing...congrats!

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## celticfish

Thanks guys!

Barmby,
You can say that again!  :Exasperated: 
Hopefully the mortality rate is better this time.


UPDATE:
Introducing the Zebra in question.
The newly christianed "Botak"!!  :Laughing:  (botak is bald or "no hair" in Malay)
It's quite obvious the pectoral odontodal growth is more lush on his right.
From the top view, his typical "spade" shaped male head is under-developed too.
Just when you think you have it figured out a spanner get thrown your way!  :Flame:

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## barmby

celticfish, i recommend to keep still water in a reservoir for your zebura water change only, if you have space to house the reservoir. this will eliminate the water variable.

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## celticfish

barmby,
Had that thought too but it may be an issue due to space.
I suspect there has to be a better answer to our "new water" syndrome.


UPDATE:

There's a break in the photos as I had to go for a short trip.
I was given a shock on returning too.
Headcount became 8 and after frantic searching and eye-squinting I found the ninth bugger.
Happily hangin' with the "big boys"...  :Laughing: 
There seems to be a little labrat in every group that some how manages to escape the breeding trap.

Here you can the the "whites" of the eye forming.
Fry are 4 days old.



This one shows the elongation of the yoke sack from below.



This picture is very bad but I just like the look of the guy.
Fry are 9 days old from the picture below onwards.



This picture shows some odontodal growth on the pectorals.
The "spikes" on the front snout/head area is from the sucker mouth and "nostril".



This is my favourite picture to date... Mohawk zebra babies!!  :Laughing: 
I was quite shocked to see the odontodal growth around the body at this age.
Even around the ridge of the eye socket! 



The labrat2 in question.
I don't know if its coincidence but the large fish is daddy.

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## fireblade

wah they looks better without the york sag!!  :Smile: 
btw, what will you be feeding them? BBS?

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## celticfish

Actually the yoke sack is still not completely absorbed yet in the pictures.
You can still see the yellow tinge.
And the stomach formation is still not pronounced with the typical silver-grey around the abdominal area.
At this point, love and fresh water...  :Laughing: 
Sorry couldn't resist that.
They have yet to convert to food.
But they should be due anytime now... *fingers crossed*

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## fireblade

oh I see...
what do you plan to feed them?
heard that they are not algea eater..

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## Jamie24

very nice! good luck with the raising of the fry...

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## Savant

Hi Jamie...

Welcome to AQ. You are from the zebrapleco forum arent you?

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## Jamie24

yea i am, and plecofanatics  :Smile: 

very nice to see some great pictures of the development of the fry. i can relate to your succes as i am currently breeding L260 and have 12 fry at roughly 38 days old and the parents are in the cave now spawning again!

how many L046 tanks do you have?

do you have pics of all of them? and any other pics of the adult fish?

(sorry to threadjack from celticfish's success)


well done, Jamie

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## Savant

I have only 1 tank of L46s.... hope it grows in time to come... 

The pics here are pics of celticfish's L46s.... I dont take pictures of mine because they are pretty shy and retreat into the rockwork fairly quickly when i get too near...

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## celticfish

Welcome to AQ Jamie24!  :Smile: 

I have some pictures of the adults but have not sorted them yet...  :Embarassed: 
But if you check in my gallery you can see a confirm female that bred the last round before my great blight.
My first pair in my zebra thread one have gone to zebra heaven.  :Crying: 
Most of them are in recovery mode, as far as I'm concerned.
So this spawn caught me by surprise.
The female in question for this spawn is still a suspect at the moment.
They are all within 2 x 4ft and 2 x 2ft tanks.
The adults are all in a 4ft while the rest are grow-out.  :Grin: 



fireblade,
Hikari canivore tablets at this point.
And the young have a tendency for veggie matter.
This I've notice with fish up to 2+".
Try adding some leafy plants and you will find holes in them.



UPDATE:
Would you believe it? 
Labrat2 escaped again!!  :Exasperated: 
I have half a mind to just leave it in the main tank to starve!
If you've tried catching Zebra fry you will know what I mean...  :Exasperated:  :Exasperated:  :Exasperated:

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## Jamie24

:Laughing:  lol, thanks, question and comments were actually aimed at celticfish 

will look forward to the pics celticfish!  :Wink: 

here's some of mine...
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=46162

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## celticfish

Seems my fish are getting more loving than their keeper! 

*Update*
*Botak's* fry are doing well and hitting the 5 month range.
Of the 10 surviving wrigglers one died from bloat.
Seems to be a pretty common problem for baby zebras.

A new Alpha (*Lupo* - the sneaky wolf) has emerged from my Taiwan batch from last year.
Surprising part is the fish came in two parts 5 pieces on 25 August 2008 and 10 pieces 5 September 2008 and action happened in 3 months!
First shot out - 23 November 2008
Second shot out - 8 December 2008 (  :Shocked:  I'm sure its another female as the cycle time is short.)
Third shot out - 14 February 2008 (nice third anniversary prezzie for me in AQ!  :Grin:  )

Egg count-
First - 18 with 2 wrigglers (dad ate the wrigglers!)
Second - 23 with 7 wrigglers (dad ate them again!)
Third - ?? 

At a crossroad now with his wonderful track record...


In the same tank another Alpha (*Adamnan* - "Adam the little" his looks remind me of *Adam*).
This is one of five fish from the famed 100 pcs of L046 circa 2006 which I obtained 29 June 2008.
He had me very worried with his first two "dud" spawns and talk of sterile fish from hormone use in a certain country.
But he's third time lucky, redeemed his record and earned a name from me!  :Grin: 
First shot out - 12 December 2008
Second shot out - 21 December 2008
Third shot out - 7 January 2009

Eggcount:
First shot - dud, 18 shells
Second shot - dud, 15 shells
Third shot - 17 eggs with one ejected egg and two deformed wrigglers and 14 surviving wrigglers!  :Jump for joy: 

I'm at atotal loss on the female fish ID for these two fellas...

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## Edmundo

> Seems my fish are getting more loving than their keeper! 
> 
> *Update*
> *Botak's* fry are doing well and hitting the 5 month range.
> Of the 10 surviving wrigglers one died from bloat.
> Seems to be a pretty common problem for baby zebras.
> 
> A new Alpha (*Lupo* - the sneaky wolf) has emerged from my Taiwan batch from last year.
> Surprising part is the fish came in two parts 5 pieces on 25 August 2008 and 10 pieces 5 September 2008 and action happened in 3 months!
> ...


Congras Irwin. Not sure if this kind of habit is good but for breeding certain fishes, continuous cannibalization of own babies will turn out to be a bad behaviour of parents developing into a "habit". Not sure if zebras react the same manner as this is my first heard. Nonetheless i believe with your experience you should be able to handle him.

cheers

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## fireblade

will like to check with you 

you have so many adult fishes inside, once they breed, do you remove the eggs and hatch articfically or you wait till the babies are out then you remove the babies? also the babies are great suckers too, how do you remove them? if you remove the eggs, do you remove the whole cave?

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## celticfish

will need to figure out what to do with this guy...

As mentioned before, if you take the eggball out then you have to take over dad's role.
That means 24 by 7 mouthing of the eggball and removing fugused eggs.
I don't really want to do that and would leave it to them as much as I can.
To remove the eggs you can just "flush" the water out of the cave into a tub (yes, the whole cave).
After a few flushes even wrigglers come loose.

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## drakeho

Not easy to be a part time pleco father .... Try and tested ..  :Knockout:

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## Wackytpt

You were a L46 peeping tom before being a part time L46 father... haha

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## dauntless

he celticfish how big is that fish tank. and what kind of filtering do you ,ve on it.

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## celticfish

The tank size is 4ft x 2ft x 13".
Filtration is now reduced to a Eheim compact 300 powering a HMF, a 700 lph powerhead and an air stone.

Tragedy in zebra town...
One feller got trapped and his a** wiped.
Black stripes on his left side got 3/4 erased, right side 1/2 and tail gone...
Tried to nurse it the past three days but to no avial.
It officially booked in to zebra heaven last evening.  :Crying: 

This part comes "part and parcel" with zebra breeding.  :Exasperated: 
So for the faint hearted do consider if you can take such loss before you try your hand in it.

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## StanChung

That's a pity. Happens-sorry to hear that. [I know how it hurts...I have non left!]

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## barmby

celticfish, tell me..  :Sad:  my method worked again. quarantine the fish in a small tank. drop a heater and air stone, up 32 deg C and add aqumedi blackwater. twice, my fishes recovered. first, was a apisto. another is a L134.

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## Jervis

Trapped? Care to elaborate a little more? Sounds like a disaster  :Exasperated:

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## khtee

hi bro celticfish ,

HMF is seldom use in aquarium for filtration. Care to share why you decided to use this filteration and is it a good options compare to external canister?

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## celticfish

Stanchung,

You can say that again...
I'm starting to get detached enough from such incidents though...  :Opps: 


barmby,

These guys are quite though.
I've seen such scraps countless times to date.
One fish got all his black lines erased on the left side.
It recovered over some time and promptly got the lines on its right side erased! 
Survived both beat ups only to succumb to the "great blight".  :Exasperated: 


Jervis,

These "fights" usually happen when one male gets trapped by another in a cave.
Since there is only one way in and one way out...  :Knockout: 
Sub-adult males are usually in greatest danger from the alpha males.
Or, when you add males into an existing group.
Such incidents, almost, always occur.
At best, someone gets its black stripes "erased" and, at worst, you just read an account!  :Evil: 


khtee,

They are quite popular with aquarist in Europe.
I'll try to do a DIY thread on this.
With the recent price increase from Eheim (unwarranted IMHO) I'm ready to share this knowledge with everyone.
I just need some time to sort pictures out for it.
Please be a little patient and give me some time on this, okay?  :Grin:

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## khtee

> khtee,
> 
> They are quite popular with aquarist in Europe.
> I'll try to do a DIY thread on this.
> With the recent price increase from Eheim (unwarranted IMHO) I'm ready to share this knowledge with everyone.
> I just need some time to sort pictures out for it.
> Please be a little patient and give me some time on this, okay?


I am looking forward for this with joy  :Smile:  Have long to have this HFM setup but no idea on the equipment available in Singapore LFS. Thanks bro!

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## illumnae

i've tried out the HMF in both my pleco tanks on recommendation and help from celticfish. It's very effective

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## celticfish

Here's a picture of an unusual patterned fry.
Some days before this picture it was like a "ghost" zebra (phrase coined from a zebra article) and had lost its black stripes.
But before I had a chance to take pictures its pattern coloured up and it now looks like this...
I wonder if its a disease or something that made it loose its colour initially...  :Opps: 
The rest of the fry in the tank are okay though.

Definitely will take more precautions with this guys than my previous T-bar!
Hopefully this fella can survive to adulthood.
It would be interesting to see how the pattern morphs over time.
Estimated length is about 1.25".

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## johannes

damn swee! :Grin:

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## rage

Bro Celticfish, Nice looking zebra pattern you got there.  :Jump for joy:  . Looking forward for some pics on the HMF soon. Cheers. :Roll Eyes:

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## Captain Telecredible

Looks quite alike to L98 Peruvian Zebra :Smile:

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## Champ-BKK

Wow nice pattern  :Grin:

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## celticfish

Here are two more picture I got when I remove it to a tank with smaller tank mates.
Trying to give it the best chance to survive!  :Grin: 

One shot from the left side and the other the right side.
The left side seemd to be just missing portions of the black stripe.
But the right side is a little more interesting with "new" vertical stripes connecting the usual horizontal stripes.

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## eeeeemo

very interesting patterns.
haha when i first saw the pics i thought it was dead sia... i was thinking wah, damn sad..
then i started reading .. nice~~

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## celticfish

That's exactly what I thought when I first caught a glimpse of it in the tank.
Only after it zipped under the driftwood when I went closer to the tank did I give a sigh of relief!


Update on its pattern.
The black stripes are now a little bolder and quite consistent from the last time I took pictures of it.
Its finnage is healing now that its the "bigger guy" in its new tank.
And its lost its "ghost" look too...

Left side.



Right side.



Top view.
You can see that the signature M on the snout is also broken.



Front view.
I think its trying to scratch something here...  :Grin:

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## ranmasatome

wah.. i hope this one makes it... beautiful specimen... can send to competition..sure win prize one.. then when you take it back..it'll be dead..so better dont go competition and enjoy on your own. :Smile:

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## blueblue

It's an interesting specimen, add oil!! ^_^

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