My Zebra Journey begins today

[Paul Minett]

thanks to North Boy my Zebra journey began today. they have settled in nicely showing reasonable colour and exploring the tank and foraging for food. now to see how long I can keep them going.

[Paul Minett]

they are settling in well grazing all over the tank and accepting food. very happy so far.

[Grubs]

Great to see... can you post some details of your tank?  water params? size? full tank pic? - lots of voyeurs when you are in zebra-land. :p

[Shrimpelina]

They look great Paul, can't wait to hear how they are doing in a few weeks :-)  

[Paul Minett]

parameters are ph7 tds 28 gh kh 0 using pretty much pure rain water. the tank is a little small about 30L will upload a pic tomorrow

 

this is an older pic the plants have grown a lot more

[fishmosy]

Are they red rillis in with the zebs? 

[Paul Minett]

yes red rilli and red cherry they were the original inhabitants while the tank cycled initially. I never took them out they were rejects from the main colony expected them to die off as the parameters were changed to suit the zebs but they are doing really well surprisingly.

 

[Paul Minett]

so far so good interestingly they are accepting the foods offered from other posts this seems to have been an issue for others finding foods they will eat mine seem to follow the lead of the cherry in the tank and eat what they are, they had the weekly feed of peas last night and are still all over the remains this morning what foods have they accepted regularly for other people that have tried them?

[Paul Minett]

add rolled oats to the foods accepted they are a very interesting shrimp very active really enjoying them

 

[NoGi]

Good work mate, keep us updated. These seem to be the hardest natives to get breeding atm.

[Paul Minett]

first week has now past all still looking happy no losses I have saw in the jungle they are a very active and interesting shrimp. they display some similarities to there cousins but seem to roam more freely around the tank  than other crystals I have kept. they are accepting all foods so far as well as grazing the biofilm and algae around the tank. I am really enjoying keeping them.

[NoGi]

That's great progress. It's a shame we don't see more of these little guys being bred in tanks.

[Paul Minett]

hopefully soon, the secret will be found eventually if they breed in the wild and in ponds the secret to having them live happily in a tank will be there we just have to find it, it was achieved with their cousin by all accounts it was very challenging for the first few generations the same as these guys it was achieved so I have no doubt these will work out as well.

 

[NoGi]

Best of luck mate, getting me interested in setting up a tank for them too now lol

[Paul Minett]

they are a very cool little shrimp they just have the added challenge of requiring a very well setup and maintained tank it seems to put all the skills we have learnt to the test. most of our fresh caught natives are similar they need clean stable water a healthy biosphere and nutritious  food if you have the space and a little time highly recommend them I am loving the challenge so far.

[Paul Minett]

ok guys for everyone keeping Zebs be very careful using planaria treatments I used Internal Parasite clear to remove an outbreak that had somehow occurred in every shrimp tank and unfortunately wiped out nearly all the zebs there is a couple left I'm leaning more towards a nitrite spike being the main culprit as it seems to have killed off some of the snails in the tank. now to wait for another lot and restart.

[revolutionhope]

[emoji24]

[inverted]

Oh noooooo.... That sucks.

i had something similar in one of my tanks with no planeria. It killed all the planeria the snails and all the other worms living in the substrate.

i had an ammonia spike and lost nearly everything. It also unbalanced the tank and I had algae break out everywhere. I now only half dose and only once when I see planaria. That stops them for a few months.

these zebras sure are challenging!

[NoGi]

Oh no, that really sucks. I've never used that product myself, only ever tried no planaria and planaria zero in the past.

[Paul Minett]

I have used it before no issues also the other tanks were fine the cherry in with the zebs weren't effected, but as we know the zebs are more delicate with conditions. I don't think it was the product but most likely the nitrite spike from the dead planaria and snails

[fishmosy]

Yep, doesn't take much nitrate to boost TDS and zebs like their TDS super low.