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Zebra L46 tank 60 gal cube

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plantbrain

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Well, I've decided against doing the reef and took it down.
I managed to nab 10 Zebra plecos that are F1's and about 1 year old.
No, I will not breed them for another 1-3 years. But I love them and always have.
I like rare plecos in general.

I have another 60 cube that's an African biotope.
So I will do the opposite with the SA Zebra tank.

Black flourite sand I already have, which will look better than white colors or tan sands.
I think I will use Riccia on wood hollowed branches(for the caves for them to hide in).
Trying to come up with a 3 D form for the cube but I'm thinking of 2 large hills with a valley in the middle.
The hills will be made from the wood(most likely manzanita, perhaps I will go collect and see what's around near some of the rivers as well.

I might use Xmas moss, narrow Java fern etc, I have Bolbitus, Anubias and Fissidens in the AF tank.
I will use more current in this tank as well.

Should be fun.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
That sounds really nice Tom. When you say hills made from wood, do you mean you will have substrate banked up using the wood to hold it in place, or just the form of the wood creating a hill like structure?

What other plants are you thinking? Actually, what is their natural habitat like?
 
Natural habit is sand, dark, 30 meters deep, good current.
No plants at that depth obviously.

I'll have the wood making a hill like ref structure, but much different than the African 60 Cube.
That has a nice root and white sand in it.

The goal here is to combine lots of small caves for breeding.
But........to make it look good too.

Maximize breeding, fish cave/hotels and also have it look good, natural etc.
I might use clay and fire it also, then apply wood with glue after.
Has to look natural though.

I need some hollow logs, considering buying some didergedoo's and cut them up and use a touch and some blasting the edges that are sawed to roughen them up to look nicer.
Drilling a 4-8 cm bore through 10-20 cm is tough!
Even softer wood is hard.


Regards,
Tom Barr
 
Large bamboo poles.I'm sure you can get them up to about a couple of inches diameter.You could make a motel,then disguise the front with rock,roots etc.You could try that foam stuff that folks use in paludariums to build up false walls,weirs and waterfalls.I believe you can also stick your substrate onto it while it dries.
 
Shame on you Tom ;)

Plecostomus fans/keeper/owners never use the word 'Pleco'. I think it is supposed to be a bad luck thing. lol.

I can because I don't have any now.

You should just call them Plecs.

Never was suspicious and I used to call them plecos all the time. It never caused me any problems apart from a CO2 overdose that killed the first group and my son pouring washing up liquid in which killed the second group. ;) :lol:

They were only pitbulls though and not Zebs

AC
 
Hi Tom,

i recently ordered some Zeb caves from Germany, and they only took about 4 days to arrive (to the UK). You could always blend them in with the substrate and wood scape. Mine love them. But my Zeb tank is a little bit more clinical, bare tank with caves and slate.

Regards,

Dan.

http://www.zuchthoehlen.eu/
 
Really looking forward to this tank, Tom.
An African tank you say? Speaking of which, did you ever actually venture to the Okavango this year?
 
I'm heading to OZ next year, so Africa will wait another year.
Went to Portugal this year. Lots of Brits there :lol:

Anyways, I solved the hollow log ssue, got a nice drill hammer, and some larger bits.
I found some nice softer bald Cypress from a friend in FL where I use to live.
I cannot drill in most of the woods here, too dang hard to bore 10-14cm depth and looked strange.
Piling a stack together of bamboo etc did not do it for me.

I'd been toying with some rock scapes and had a good idea, but found a simiar wood substitute.
The Cypress is pretty soft some I can drill into it really well and put many holes along the bottom.
Next I take a torch and roast the out hole edges, then pressure blast with water to remove the char.

This gives a very nice weathered look that's natural.
Hides saw marks, drill holes etc.

I can easily punch a dozen holes into the wood piece I have coming.
I was going to head up north and collect some wood, but gas and time are not really good for me at the moment.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
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