Dead Zebra

Bill · Post by **Bill** » 22 Jul 2003, 01:41

Hi,

I had a zebra cat die today and was wondering if they are hardy or if other people have had any problems with them.

I first put one in my 125g tank about 2 months ago and within a week he was dead. I thought it was just a bad fish because it is very seldom that I ever have a fish die.

So about 6 weeks ago I bought another one and put him in a quarantine tank for 2 weeks and then I had him in a 125g planted tank for a month until this morning.

He or she always appreared to be doing well, is it possible that it was out competed for food by regular cats and s. algae eaters?

Thanks,
Bill

Post by **Silurus** » 22 Jul 2003, 02:08

Did you test the water before or after the zebras died?

Bill · Post by **Bill** » 22 Jul 2003, 02:17

Hi,

I guess I should have added that. Yes I did, the only thing that is a little high is NO3 5ppm and that is because I add fert. to bring it up tp 5ppm.
I also do a 30% water change each week.

Thanks,
Bill

Post by **Silurus** » 22 Jul 2003, 02:21

Zebras need oxygen-rich water, so what kind of filtration/aeration are you providing?

Bill · Post by **Bill** » 22 Jul 2003, 02:35

Hi,

I really over filter and I would think the areation is fine although I try not to move the surface water to much.

Filters - 1-Eheim 2028 / 2 -Marineland 400's / 2 -HOT magnums

Bill

Yann · Post by **Yann** » 22 Jul 2003, 06:39

Hi!

What did you feed them?
How was their general apperance: any sunken eyes, red marks, swollen stomach, stomach curving inside so you could see the "bones"???

What were the other tankmates?

At whta TÂ° did you keep them?
Cheers
Yann

Bill · Post by **Bill** » 22 Jul 2003, 07:00

Hi,

I would drop in some algae wafers at night.

During the day I would feed reg. food but I never seen him eat any food during the day.

The only thing I saw was that he appeared thin right before death.

Tankmates - o cats / s.algae eaters / Syndontis mult. & pet.

Temp. 80 degrees

Thanks for your help, the only thing that I could think of was maybe he didn't get enough to eat.

Bill

doctorzeb · Post by **doctorzeb** » 22 Jul 2003, 09:38

Bill

From what I understand, Zebras find it really difficult to acclimatise from the wild, and a large percentage of them just...."Give Up". I've lost a couple where they just refused to eat. I found the best thing was lots of cover fro them to hide, and feed frozen gamma rad bloodworm.

SPrinkle it into the tank so that even if the Zebra doesn't move, it still has a chance of sucking som eup as they go by. Have the filtration really high to ensure that excess food doesn't pollute the water

What other fish are in the tank?

Good luck

Rob

Yann · Post by **Yann** » 22 Jul 2003, 10:57

Hi Bill!

Your tankmates seems to be tough guys, that are rather hard to compete with, especially for food.
Your H. z. possibly die because they were not able to have enough food for them, and they were surely totally stressed by the intense activity these were having...

Cheers
Yann

Bill · Post by **Bill** » 23 Jul 2003, 02:08

Hi,

I would like to thank everybody for all of your help, I know it's next to impossible to have someone tell you why a fish died over the web.

Imformation like the following is what I was trying to find.

>From what I understand, Zebras find it really difficult to acclimatise from the wild, and a large percentage of them just...."Give Up". I've lost a couple where they just refused to eat. I found the best thing was lots of cover fro them to hide, and feed frozen gamma rad bloodworm<

I will try again and pay close attention to make sure it gets enough food. I guess I assumed that if the little o cats where getting enough food then surely the zebra would.

Thanks,
Bill

Caol_ila · Post by **Caol_ila** » 23 Jul 2003, 02:15

Hi!

Imho you should look for another more durable pleco that can fight its way to the food...even if you have to give up the black/white color as a consequence. Everything else would be just wasting fish...or set up a tank solely for the zebra or maybe a pair
BTW what are o cats anyway?

Bill · Post by **Bill** » 23 Jul 2003, 03:12

Hi,

I don't know a lot about catfish and it seems that I have not posted the correct information.

The fish that I have been referring to is (Otocinclus sp. Zebra )

What I call a o cat is (Otocinclus sp) the pain commontype brown variety.

Bill

König Löwe · Post by **König Löwe** » 23 Jul 2003, 08:51

When you say zebra to catfish-people, they probably think of <A HREF="http://www.planetcatfish.com/ilibrary/l ... pancistrus zebra</I></A>, not Otocinlus, and I bet everyone here has been talking about that fish. Make sure you identify the fish a bit more detailed in the future. Myself, I've never heard of o cats

doctorzeb · Post by **doctorzeb** » 23 Jul 2003, 10:36

Bill

The info I gave was about hypancistrus zebra. Sorry. I've never kept the other, but if he is a shy fish, then I would still go by the "ensure that he gets enough food" rule.

Good luck, and i hope you get something sorted out.

rob

tiny_clanger · Post by **tiny_clanger** » 24 Jul 2003, 19:31

Otos are very sensitive to PH shock, and will often just die, without obvious cause. They are also schooling fish, so yours was probably very stressed and lonely.

You need at least 4-5 in a tank, and introduce them slowly over 2-3 hours.

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