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congrats on the spawn!
unfortunately, i only found out they spawned when i decided to move my 2ft tank from the top tier to the bottom tier to solve the problem of having a weak flow from my pump.
when shifting the "thought to be beta" male's cave down.. upon entering the water he kicked 7 eggs out of his cave.. i have already moved the 7 eggs to a breeding box in the tank. anyone knows roughly how many eggs do zebras lay for first spawns?? as i am pretty sure there are still some left in the cave with the male (saw him fanning after the tank has settled down)
im soooooo excited i am lost for words!
now all i can do is cross my fingers =X
i have been waiting for them since December last year... finally after 4mths they did it.
what is the next spawning date going to be?
please advise me!
congrats on the spawn!
Congrats, as discussed you do have a female so now that's confirmed. Wait for Irwin for replies.....
Cannot stop looking at the tank?
Using the torch light every 5 minutes?
Hahaha and you thought you didnt have a female earlier!
I cant say say many for the first spawn as I only had one.
But any zebra spawn is a good spawn.
Four months is not a long wait though.
Blame it on the rain we had!
The eggs should take about 5 to 8 days to hatch.
It depends on the temperature.
I reckon 27C to 32C respectively.
Chances are the 7 eggs is the whole lot.
They stick together in a single "ball".
Make sure you have a good flow of water in the trap.
If any develop fungus prick them and clean the ball.
Otherwise the fungus will spread and kill the good eggs too.
You have taken over daddy's job so do a good one!
Cycle time for my female ranged from 24 to 28 days.
Once they start they should go at it for a few spawns.
So you'll have a few spawns to learn.
Unfortunately my casualty rate was really high for the fry.
75% mortality for mine (16 survivors from 63 fry)...
celticfish
It is a good day to die!!!
I finally uploaded an avatar and Cupid is dead!!!
i have never gotten so excited over any spawns.....
had wild bettas, CRSes.. this is the one with the most "kick"~
@gecko: the female which we suspected was indeed the one. and she spawned with the male whose cave she hung out frequently that time! =) it feels so good to be proven right. thanks man.
@irwin: i found around 4 more eggs in the cave with the torchlight! heh out of the 7 eggs, i just saw one which wriggled in the egg.... i read adding snails/shrimps is good to clear dead eggs.. isit advisable?? any idea what was the cause of such a high mortality??
hmm... dad may have removed a bad egg and "broke" the egg ball into two.
I reckon 11 eggs is a good size for the first.
Or, you have two spawns...
You can put snails and shrimps to try.
But the eggs are really big and they may not clear it in time.
But you have a day or so before the fungus can get to the eggs.
The mortality rate still beats the hell out og me!
Zero visible signs of cause of death.
I just get home and see them motionless...
celticfish
It is a good day to die!!!
I finally uploaded an avatar and Cupid is dead!!!
UPDATE:
in the cave: 7 (not 4)
in the breeder box: 7eggs + one zebra netrite snail and one ramshorn snail, 2 stalks of hornwort and a small clunch of moss.
snail seems to ignore the eggs.. it slithered right past the clunch..
in the clunch. 2 eggs have 2 small bubbles of white on them. is tht fungus?? the eggs are all good with red veins and most i saw wriggled at least once!
i better brace myself for such heartaches...Originally Posted by celticfish
The mortality rate still beats the hell out of me!
Zero visible signs of cause of death.
I just get home and see them motionless...
the fries are in the 2ft??
can it be not enough oxygen? they died without a scar right?
if my male that bred is the second biggest male, will the biggest male disturb him?? or since it bred, it is most probably the strongest male..?
Last edited by Quixotic; 17th Mar 2008 at 08:56. Reason: Merge posts
UPDATE: i just used a tweezer and hold on to the clunch and swung it 1/4 into the dad's cave......
it took about 2mins, but he took them back in =)
its an amazing sight.... i saw the father sucking the egg and bouncing them! as if to stimulate activity of the fries in the eggs..
hahaha....
Best to let dad take care of the eggs.
My sturisoma eggs had very high rates of bad eggs when I remove them too early.
btw I think nerite snails are a little big for me to be comfortable with them.
I don't think they died from lack of oxygen as Death didnt seem to care which it took.
Sometimes the bigger fry will die, and you would think, instead of the smaller ones.
celticfish
It is a good day to die!!!
I finally uploaded an avatar and Cupid is dead!!!
hmmm..... sounds very familiar...
i used to have this problem.. but with Crystal Red Shrimps..
sometimes the stronger CRS shrimplets die for no apparent reason.. even though they were bigger.. that tank.. lacked of plants.. and that was the problem.. nitrate levels..
but with zebras fries.. got to go gentle on water changes.. which doesnt remove enough nitrate maybe?
not sure CRS same as zebras or not..
Last edited by Quixotic; 17th Mar 2008 at 08:56.
the male ate up all the eggs today..
sigh.. can it be cause i keep shining my torch???
Geez... sorry to hear about that.
yeapp.. i think i shall leave them alone all the way next time.. until i see the fries out of the cave looking for food.
Sorry to hear about that....consolation is you have a breeding pair and they will continue.
Btw, did the father move the eggs to a different cave?
I feel that there is not much new to be documented about zebra breeding, better policy is to leave them at it and enjoy the wonderful sight of catching a view of young frys coming out when they are ready.
Cheers
Last edited by celticfish; 16th Mar 2008 at 22:47. Reason: remove immediate quote
hmmm i was suspecting he moved the eggs... i saw other tails waving in other caves.. but when i checked.. nothing.
when i double checked.. the father still thought that he was protecting eggs.. he dashed in and looked like he was searching for the eggs to protect.
i fed them last night.. is it possible for the father to leave the cave to feed and other males enter to have a meal???
i woke up to 2eggs.. and by afternoon all was gone.
another observation: youre right gecko... i saw the female bumping the male quite alot today =)
Last edited by Quixotic; 17th Mar 2008 at 08:57.
Its very tempting to check with light but really should try to avoid...actually this is the first time I heard of zebras eating their own eggs. Even big males tolerate fry with egg sac that wander into their territory and even share hiding places sometimes, so I dont think another male ate the eggs. And when some eggs go bad or a fry is not viable, they get ejected out of the cave, not eaten. So maybe the male panic and or inexperienced, the lights shining into his cave might have spooked him too much.
Just observe when a female enter the cave, maybe stay there for a day and then leave. The male will be fanning alot...that is a good sign that you have a spawn.
Good luck with the next one!
Last edited by Gecko; 16th Mar 2008 at 23:02.
hey guys.. what are the methods to stimulate spawning?
i let the water temperature dropped to 26deg after doing a water change..
should i raise the temp up to 28deg again?
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