Plecoceramics USA

Plecoceramics USA Plecoceramics: Professional Pleco Breeding, Farm-Tested Fish Food & Functional Ceramic Aquarium Decor. Serving the USA and Europe.
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09/06/2026

This is the eyed stage - one of the clearest signs of healthy development.

Why can several zebra plecos share a space beneath a rock, yet compete over a single cave?For Hypancistrus zebra, shelte...
09/06/2026

Why can several zebra plecos share a space beneath a rock, yet compete over a single cave?

For Hypancistrus zebra, shelters serve different roles.

In a study of breeding groups, several females could peacefully share a rocky shelter. Mature males occupied and defended individual shelters, usually breeding caves. Disputes also occurred outside spawning periods most often over the smaller of the two caves offered.

For breeders, there is an important detail here: an available cave is not necessarily a desirable cave.. Counting shelters alone does not tell you how the fish have divided up the space.

That is why we use both rock shelters and ceramic breeding caves on our farm. When selecting a cave, we consider its shape and fit for the male. Then we observe what the fish actually chooses.

The practical takeaway: look beyond the number of shelters and watch who actually uses them.

Have you seen zebras compete over one cave while neighbouring caves remain empty?

One tablet. Apparently, that was enough to call a meeting. šŸ˜„Our Snow White Ancistrus didnā€™t need much convincing.This is...
09/05/2026

One tablet. Apparently, that was enough to call a meeting. šŸ˜„

Our Snow White Ancistrus didnā€™t need much convincing.

This is one of our 100% Spirulina Tablets, tested where it matters most - on our own farm.

Want to see what theyā€™re eating? Check the pinned comment below. šŸ‘‡

How do you raise your pleco fry?Do you leave them in the main tank with the adults or move them into separate breeder bo...
09/05/2026

How do you raise your pleco fry?

Do you leave them in the main tank with the adults or move them into separate breeder boxes?

On our farm, we separate the fry and raise them in boxes like this until they reach around 2 cm.

Thereā€™s a practical reason for it.

At this size, keeping them separately gives us much more control over feeding and observation. We can see how the fry are developing, make sure food is reaching them, and react quickly if something doesnā€™t look right.

And most importantly- our losses at this stage are minimal.

Once they reach around 2 cm, we move them into separate grow-out tanks.

Itā€™s a simple system, but when you raise fry in numbers, small differences in survival become very big differences over time.

Now weā€™re curious about your experience:

Do you raise fry separately or leave them with the adults?
And roughly what survival rate do you usually get?

09/04/2026

You see one surface.
A pleco sees two. šŸ‘€

To us, this piece of ceramic takes up space.

To these young L136, it creates something underneath: another place to hide.

Lift it ā€” and there they are.

Itā€™s a simple reminder that with bottom-dwelling fish, tank size isnā€™t the whole story.

How you structure that space matters too.

Sometimes the most useful part of the tankā€¦

is the part you canā€™t see.

L136 at Plecoceramics.

How big should a breeding cave actually be? šŸ‘€Bigger isnā€™t necessarily better.For breeding plecos, a cave isnā€™t simply a ...
09/04/2026

How big should a breeding cave actually be? šŸ‘€

Bigger isnā€™t necessarily better.

For breeding plecos, a cave isnā€™t simply a shelter the fish needs to fit inside.

Its internal space matters.

The species matters.
The size of the fish matters.
And the way the male positions himself inside matters.

Thatā€™s why we donā€™t believe in one ā€œuniversalā€ breeding cave for every pleco.

On our farm, different fish need different spaces ā€” and that experience is exactly why we developed our breeding caves in three sizes.

The goal isnā€™t to give the fish the biggest cave.
Itā€™s to give it the right one.

L236 Super White.

09/04/2026

We didnā€™t invent aquarium test strips.

We just thought they could make a little more sense.

Plecoceramics 7-in-1 Aquarium Test Strips.

Available in a bottle or an affordable refill pouch.

To most people, itā€™s just a stone.To us, itā€™s part of the system.For growing plecos, a simple flat stone already has an ...
09/03/2026

To most people, itā€™s just a stone.
To us, itā€™s part of the system.

For growing plecos, a simple flat stone already has an important role.

Shelter.
A way to break up open space.

But on our farm, we give it one more job:

a feeding surface.

Our food tablets can be crushed, mixed with a little water, and turned into a paste that can be spread directly onto the stone.

And suddenly, the stone becomes a table.

Instead of food being concentrated in one small spot, an entire surface becomes available to the group.

More fish can feed at the same time ā€” and we can easily observe how the whole group is feeding.

When you raise hundreds of juveniles, details like this stop being small.

They become part of the way you work.

The stone didnā€™t change.

Our understanding of what it could do did.

The same foods we use this way on our farm are available from Plecoceramics.

There are mistakes you still remember 15 years later.Around 2010ā€“2011, I found several adult Hypancistrus zebra in Franc...
09/02/2026

There are mistakes you still remember 15 years later.

Around 2010ā€“2011, I found several adult Hypancistrus zebra in France for breeding.

Back then, finding good adult zebras wasnā€™t easy. They were very expensive, and getting live fish safely across several countries was an adventure in itself.

But almost everything went perfectly.

France ā†’ Poland ā†’ Chernivtsi, Ukraine.

Several transfers, an international border, temporary holding. The fish arrived in excellent condition.

Only the easiest part remained: Chernivtsi ā†’ Kharkiv.

It was winter. Around āˆ’15Ā°C (5Ā°F).

We packed the fish carefully in an insulated box. I even paid for a full passenger seat on the bus just for that box.

The driver was told several times: there are live, very valuable fish inside. The box must stay in the warm passenger cabin for the entire journey. Do not move it anywhere else.

It seemed we had thought of everything.

I arrived in Kharkiv to meet the bus.

The driver stepped out.

Opened the luggage compartment.

And pulled out our box.

I think I already knew at that moment.

When I opened it, every fish was dead.

They had made it through France, Poland, an international border, several transfers and temporary holding.

And died during the final few hundred kilometers inside Ukraine.

I have never forgotten that story.

Today, most of our shipments look almost effortless from the outside: we pack the fish, hand them over, and the next day they arrive with the customer.

But behind that apparent simplicity are years of experience.

And some lessons were very expensive.

With live fish, a logistics chain is only as reliable as its weakest link.

You can get 99% of the journey exactly right. But if something goes wrong in the final 1%, the other 99% no longer matter.

Maybe thatā€™s why, even today, every successful arrival means a little more to me than just another box delivered.

I still remember one that never made it.

Yurii Badanin.
Co-founder,

09/01/2026

Did reporting us actually protect the fish?

Our page was restricted after complaints about plecos being handled for just a few seconds during routine work on our farm.

The result: our reach collapsed, sales dropped, and the people behind a real breeding farm in Ukraine are paying the price.

We breed rare plecos, including CITES-listed species. Our fish are healthy and professionally cared for.

Before you report what you donā€™t understand ā€” take a moment to understand what youā€™re seeing.

Watch the video. šŸ‘†

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Bethlehem, PA
18017

Telephone

+16104774171

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