Zebs or King Tigers?

[Mark Woodhouse]

I have been seriously considering biting the bullet and shelling out on some Zebra's but have never kept them before although i have had a lot of different L numbers over the many years and I'm not convinced myself they are worth the asking price for a fish that hides away for most of the time (although fish like that always seem worth it when they do make an appearance!)
I picked up a tiny inch long L066 King Tiger Plec last week and the little fella is stunning to look at so i'm also leaning towards getting a few more of them instead (the cheaper option!)
I'm thinking they should be ok if they have enough caves to call home, opinions or experience gratefully received!

[Tony Vaughan]

[Mark Woodhouse]

Thanks as always Tony.
A supposedly breeding group of Zeb's went for £670 on ebay the other day, absolutely mental prices, like you, it was about '95 that my local shop had half a dozen in and i remember thinking how nice they looked but couldn't believe the 'hefty' price tag of 24.99 each!!!
I was thinking they would do better in a set-up of their own but i'm only running the one tank these days so i really want something nice in with the Altums.
As i said before, my King Tiger is a stunning little fish and i have been looking on Aquarium Classifieds again and someone about an hour away from me has loads of babies and they're only a tenner each so i might get a little colony going in with my Altums, they should be a bit less stressful (and i wont be having any sleepless night worrying that the fish are all going to die!)

[Tony Vaughan]

YVW Mark

To be honest if you buy a group then you should be able to get a few nice adults or if you are lucky enough maybe a few pairs. I hope to get some similar plecs from my Mate in Holland when I go over in Oct so maybe we will be able to chat and pick up some tips from each other

Best Regards...............Tony

[Mark Woodhouse]

Well as usual, things have gone in a different direction to what was planned!
My friend who buys tons of different Cory's for his breeding projects asked me if i wanted to take another trip with him to pick some more up from somewhere he had found so i said yes and thought i better take some money with me in case there was something i fancied!
There was nothing at all i needed until i came to the last tank and in there were some Chocolate Zebra's at £16 so i got a couple to put in with my King Tiger.
I'll see how i get on with them and maybe purchase more if they are ok.
My poor King Tiger has just been behind the filter tube one day, the next behind the heater, and i haven't seen him eat yet and it's been just over a week. I'm not sure if it's because he is so small and the tank is 10 times the size he was in but i haven't seen him on the floor once yet.
I'm tempted to catch him and put him in a floating breeding net so i can see if he's feeding ok, my friend is having my 9 Brochis so there wont be any competition for the food on the floor when they have gone.
I read that the problem a lot of people had with the Zebra's was making sure they had enough to eat when they were kept with other fish as opposed to a spieces only set-up and considering the Chocolate Zebra's and the King Tiger are very very similiar, i'm thinking the same for them now.

[Tony Vaughan]

Hi Mark,

Have you added the Chocolate Zebras to the tank with the Altums and the King Tiger Plec

Best Regards..................Tony

[Mark Woodhouse]

Yep!

[Tony Vaughan]

Hi Mark,

Can you advise what q-tine is taking place

Best Regards...................Tony

[Mark Woodhouse]

Hello Tony,
no qt whatsover, i know something 'could' go wrong but i'm risking it.
So what do you think about my little King Tiger, put him in a net so i can keep an eye on his feeding?
I've ordered another slate corner cave this morning so i will phisically put him in it when it arrives and sink it to the bottom so he gets the idea of what is meant to happen instead of staying behind the pipes and never seeming to get any food!

[Tony Vaughan]

Hi Mark,

Risking it will come back to bite you some day............hopefully not anytime soon.

The reason the plec may be hiding is if he thinks the Altums are large enough to be predatory he might behave with safety in mind and might only come out at night or after lights out. Catching him and putting him in a net will only cause unnecessary stress IMO. Therefore I think it is better to turn off lights early (before you go to bed) put some food in the tank and see if it tempts him out (with the use of a torch).

If you have an open plan tank then that could also why he feels unsafe. You could pick up a few slate caves (or terracotta) and you should be able to get them easily enough on ebay or from a locally catfish club.

IMO plecs can be fussy feeders so he will not feed unless he is accustomed to the food presented or loves it. Try and feed him what he wants and hope for the best

If you need further advice then I can recommend as a great place to learn about plecs all shapes and sizes.

HTH.

Best Regards...............Tony

[Mark Woodhouse]

Thanks for the info as always Tony.
I have been using Planetcatfish and Scotcat ever since i started buying Plecs that cost a lot more than the standard BN, they are my 1st port of call when i need any info on a Plec i've never had before but have my eye on!
You are right about the open plan tank, all it has is a single root in the middle.
The slate caves i'm having made for me, i'm having corner ones done so they don't stick out like a sore thumb like the slate boxes or pipes do IMO! They can stack on each other and they are out of the way. I have one in at the minute and 1 of the Chocolate Zebra's is in it, the other one is on the root all the time and my poor King Tiger is still behind the heater. I had the cave in there before i bought the other Plecs but he still didn't go in it but hopefully when i have 4 in there, he will find 1 and make it 'his'!
Once the caves are in, (i'm having another couple made over the next few weeks) i will be doing my video on youtube as i promised, so you can see my Altums as well,
Thanks, Mark.

[Tony Vaughan]

Hi Mark,

I have not used Scotcat but I know a lot of people like it which is a good sign. The reason I recommended PCF is that I have met many people from the site as well as meeting Jools on a few occasions - A Great Bloke

K - don't want to pee on your parade but just take this as a comment and not as a criticism. If you have corner caves made (I'm sure they will be very nice) but won't that mean the catfish will hide more (in the corners) e.g. If you have hiding places in the open then a plec will often move from place to place out of the light and once they find somewhere comfy they will settle until they need to move again (be the move for territorial reasons or foraging for food). If you have the caves in the corner then will the fish not go from corner to corner and no where else

Personally I would prefer to have the caves in the front facing the front where you will easily be able to see them. I bought one in Holland that has about 6 caves in one. If you want to have a more natural looking tank then you can always cover the caves with some Java Moss

JMO...............

Best Regards.................Tony

[Mark Woodhouse]

Hi Tony.
Don't worry about offending me, i value different opinions and am always happy to listen to others without taking offence!
The cave situation is perfect as i can see straight in to them from where i sit so i can see the Plec's even when they are hiding.The Chocolate Zebra's are out on the gravel bottom looking for food anyway as soon as the tank lights go out so i can still see them fine with the room lights on, both of them are eating the food that the greedy fat Brochis sometimes miss so i've no concerns about them, i just need a few more caves so my King Tiger can come down from the top of the tank behind the heater and join in with the feedings. He is no smaller than the Chocolate Zebra's so he must just be a bit more shy than them, the Altums ignore all other fish apart from each other!

[Tony Vaughan]

Glad to hear it Dude, a like minded person

It's good that you can see into the caves - I thought they would sit in the corners and therefore have a 45 degree angle to the corners thus preventing a view so my mistake

Sounds to me like you got all angles covers (pardon the pun) so all I can say is that I'm looking forward to seeing the results on YT.

As the Altums grow they "should" become territorial but lets cross that when we come to it

Best Regards..............Tony