Above: a picture of a nice young premium quality True Zebra Plecostomus in one of our aquariums, when one of us snapped this picture.

Comments: This is a Premium Pet Fish, and we never see Premium Fish like this in any of the live fish stores or in the online fish stores that we visit.

Premium Pet Fish are more energetic, hardier, and have brighter colors with a beautiful metallic sheen.

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Origin: The ancestors of these True Zebra Plecostomus lived in Xingu River in the Eastern Amazon River Basin in Brazil, where it's very abundant, hiding among the rocks.

These Plecos are now being raised for us on a famous fish farm.

Maximum Size: This Pleco can grow to be about 3" long or maybe a very large one at 3.5" long , including its tail.

Behaviors: These Catfish are not aggressive but can be ornery to each other.

They will usually move around pretty actively during the day, but some of them seem to hide during the day and become more active at night.

When there's food to be eaten, they become very active looking for it.

Compatibility: Recommended tank mates include any very mild fish that will not hog all the food.

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Temperature: They live well from about 80 to 84 degrees F., but they're probably most comfortable at about 82 degrees F.

Click here to learn about aquarium temperature, aquarium thermometers, and aquarium heaters.

Feeding: feed Premium Fish Food Flakes and perhaps some small Pellet Food. From the shape of their teeth it is known that they do not eat much algae.

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Water Conditions: This Plecostomus seems to be tolerant of a wide range of water conditions.

Probably a pH of about 6.0 to 7.2 with moderate hardness is best.

Most water in the US has a higher pH and is harder but seems to be OK, so it's probably best NOT to adjust the pH or the hardness of the water.

Here in our facilities the water is hard and the pH is usually about 7.8.

We ship them in this water.

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Aquarium Size: It is probably best to house these fish in at least a 40-gallon aquarium, but a bigger aquarium is always better.

Allow at least 5-gallons of water for each Zebra Plecostomus over 2.5" long.

Decor: These Catfish do not need gravel, and a layer of gravel more than 1/4" thick will usually fill with bits of uneaten food that will contaminate the water.

Click here for more about aquarium gravel. Pieces of aquarium-safe driftwood are also nice.

Live Plants are beautiful and improve the water quality.

Aquarium Filter: Bio-Wheel Filters are highly recommended.

A Penguin 350B Filter in an aquarium with 40 to 60-gallons of water is OK with a few of these fish.

The Penguin 350B Filter pumps about 350-gallons of water and hour and will turn the water over 350/40 = 8+ turns per hour, and that is plenty of re-circulation to stir and aerate the water to match their environment in the Xingu River, where they originated.

Zebra Plecostomus also need lots of small partial water changes.

Probably a 20% water change at least twice a week is needed.

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The addition of Lava Rocks will keep nitrates in the ideal range, which is very important for this fish.

Click here to learn more about using Lava Rocks in aquariums.

Life Span: These Plecostomus can live for several years, probably many years provided they are fed the appropriate food and kept in a large aquarium with excellent filtration and high water flow of freshened water.

Gender: As they mature, females presumably become plumper and have rounder heads than males.

Breeding: These Plecostomus have been successfully bred many times in the aquarium hobby.

Popularity: This Plecostomus is expensive but still relatively common and popular.

Names: The generic name is Hypancistrus zebra, L046.

Variations: This Plecostomus lives across a wide range and their pattern of markings varies geographically.

We hope you've enjoyed reading these comments.