sexual maturity v age v size

AndyAps.com · Post by **AndyAps.com** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 4:46 pm

hi all. i have 5 zebra's in a 25 gallon tank. i know for a fact 4 of them are at least 2 and a half years old (all females i think-pics later) and 1 is older maybe about 4-5yrs (possible male) the four females are between 2 and half to 3 inch and the male is about 4 inch. would you guys say they should be sexually mature by this? as at the moment i am getting no action (ahem) at all.
the 4 inch male defends his favorite cave but does occasionally move to another but kicks anyone out of his when he comes back. The 4 females have 3 caves between then and the smallest is often left to hide under the rubble thats left. should i remove all caves other than the males??
or should i let things progress naturally?
i have had them for around 18month now and really want to start pushing a breeding project to help the species.
Thanks

AndyAps.com · Post by **AndyAps.com** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 12:49 am

come on........whats up with everyone...........somebody gotta have some views........22 views and no replies???????

NeoCult · Post by **NeoCult** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 12:56 am

not sure what to tell you

the size seems fair enough re breeding, my male is around 4" and the female 3 - 3.5"

as for caves etc i dunno

what worked for me is caves x7 bog wood in a corner 10 zebs not all mature and plenty water changes from 84 down to about 79 once a day

im sure for others its different tho

zebra046 · Post by **zebra046** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 7:09 am

are the females hidding inside the caves and not even trying to go inside the males cave maybe they are males, on my tanks the females rarely stays inside the cave so I took them out and just left enough for the dominant males try doing more water change if you are doing that already stop for a month. Good Luck

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 11:42 am

Hi Andy

I would agree with Zebra046. Remove some of the caves, but make sure there is still a good amount of tank furniture or you WILL get squabbling whilst the new territories are formed. That aside you will probably get a little squabling anyway, keep any eye on the pectorial fins for reddening of the tips as this is usually the first sign.

Keep one cave in the tank for the male, and set it up facing the tank furniture, (slate, rocks etc). It may be an idea to set up a good amount of furniture first, then remove the caves one at a time, this will reduce territorial disputes.

Often a change to the environment territoties can encourage a spawn due to the shift in heirachy. If you have a male and sub-domninant males in the tank, (which it sound like you could if they like the caves alot), then the female will not feel as secure to spawn. (please bear in mind this is from personal experience only).

One quick question, do you only have caves in the tank, i.e. is this the only place for the zebras to shelter and hide. If so it could explain why the "females" attraction to them.

rob

AndyAps.com · Post by **AndyAps.com** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 2:43 pm

hi rob, i think you just hit the nail on the head. the tank is totally empty apart from the four caves and five fish and the filter. there is a little half terracota flower pot which the spare female hides under but other than this nothing. what things should i use to build up the funriture? if i remove the caves will it encourage the females to try gettin into the males cave to spawn?

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 2:59 pm

Certainly can't guarentee it, (or I'd be charging myself out

), but it may well help.

The fish will naturally go to the caves at the moment as there is no other form of furniture. BY Providing the male with the only "Breeding spot" it may well entice them into a little "action" ahhhmmm.

Good luck

rob

AndyAps.com · Post by **AndyAps.com** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 3:20 pm

cheers pal, i will bear that in mind and start to change the tank decor.
will you please pass judgment on the following.
is my tank big enough for 5 zebs? 24"x15"x12"?
the water parameters have been at ph 6 kh2gh4 temp 86 for the last 3 months (my normal tapwater). however i am thinking of bringing the conditions upto PH7 KH5 temp 86 for a while then do a "rainy season" where i put the parameters back to PH6 KH2 by doing heavy water changes. do you think this might work?

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 5:00 pm

I must admit the tank is a little tight, although the fact that it has a 15" width will help.

It is certainly possible, but I suggest alot of tank furniture, just to be on the safe side. If I was you I would try changing one thing at a time, otherwise if you get a trigger, you won't know what it is.

Try the furniture first, let them get used to it, and then try the large Water Change and slight drop in temp.

rob

zebra046 · Post by **zebra046** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 4:07 am

what ever rob say's I would agree, removing one cave at a time and giving female a place to hide prefferably where the food settles, mysuggestion whould be a drift wood with lots of crevices, your tank might be on the small side but if you just watch for left over food and do your regular water change it should be OK if u want to be safe bigger is better with todays Zebra Price you cant afford to loose a single speciment. Good Luck

INXS · Post by **INXS** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 1:29 pm

Andy,
I feel your frustration as it took me a long time to get mine to start - I believe most people that have them spawning waited for a long time so it's not unusual.

The things that worked for me and what I have heard from others also has worked for them is mainly getting a good dry season before doing a rainy season.

Now you have to make sure that you have male and female, that the fish are well conditioned and fat, the caves need to be properly sized and I have heard that driftwood is good for the females to hide in (I have plenty in my tank).

I tried all the little tricks over the years without result and finally this summer I was so busy that the tank got ignored for 2-3 weeks , when I did do a waterchange it was with regular cold tapwater and I did a 70%+ waterchange, next thing they were breeding and haven't stopped.
Good luck

Post by **Barbie** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 4:20 am

OK, everyone else might not see the hilarity but ohmigod, to witness INXS giving someone the patience speech just had me giggling so hard I thought I was going to cry!

I was accused of everything from withholding the REAL information to help him to somehow sabotaging his efforts, hehe. It's nice to see he held out long enough and times are good for the zebbies at his house now though

. You'll get there. It really does require patience. I'd loan you some, but I'm fresh out, just like everybody else with zebras

.

Barbie

AndyAps.com · Post by **AndyAps.com** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 10:16 am

I thought i was gettin there once before, but then i had to move the zeb tank to fit in my 110Gallon stingray tank. I did a 30% water change yesterday and took out all but the males cave and replaced them with lots of bogwood and bits of spare slate. hopefully the females will feel more secure venturng out and about in the tank now they have more cover. my plan is to bring the PH and KH up to 7 and 50 respectivley and mantain this for a few weeks with plenty of food and the powerhead position to absolutley batter the surface. Then keep up the feeding but turn off the power filter and do large water changes daily to bring PH to 5.6/6 and kh to about 15 (Vsoft) and the temp down a touch.