Ok this is the 3rd clutch of eggss from the same male and I think from the same female....since July 22....Now i currently have 12 zebras all together in one tank and i want to take out the others and try to start another breeding colony...My first inclination was to take the pair out only but i dont want to disturb what i have going on?....
Now my questions....
Do you think by taking out the others i will mess up the breeding pair??
Do i take all of them out or just try to get a a 1/3 ratio.?
Does the male normally breed with one female or does he breed with other females??? I dont want to get a female he is breeding with!!!
Also whats the normal span from the day she lays eggs to the time she is ready to lay another clutch??
Thanks
Another batch!!!
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jerms55555
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In my experience the spawns often comes close together, whereas they normally take a break after that. I had the same idea as you, as I noticed there were only 4 fish involved in the spawning process, so I separated out the others and added a few more to the new group, leaving the ones that spawned to themselves.
After this I've had one more spawn in the original group, but it was the beta male, and not the alpha that had the lady visitor this time. This indicates to me that there's been a shift in the hierarchy, and I also believe it has slowed them down.
I know there are breeders that have more than one male in the same tank breeding at the same time, so I wonder if it might not be a better idea to move the whole group to a larger tank instead of separating them. I don't have any experience with how this would affect the hierarchy, but in hindsight I know I wouldn't have split my group up, as this definately did affect the hierachy in a way that might have made them start all over again, regrouping themselves.
I think I will have to wait as long as I did before the first spawn happened all over again until I get the them going again now.
oh yes, and about the time it takes before a lady is ready again. That seems to differ from fish to fish. I have one that takes forever before she's willing to spawn again, but when she does she lays very large batches, whereas another lady is ready much more often, but lay smaller batches. So I guess there's no hard rule there - like it is with ladies of some other species as well I guess
After this I've had one more spawn in the original group, but it was the beta male, and not the alpha that had the lady visitor this time. This indicates to me that there's been a shift in the hierarchy, and I also believe it has slowed them down.
I know there are breeders that have more than one male in the same tank breeding at the same time, so I wonder if it might not be a better idea to move the whole group to a larger tank instead of separating them. I don't have any experience with how this would affect the hierarchy, but in hindsight I know I wouldn't have split my group up, as this definately did affect the hierachy in a way that might have made them start all over again, regrouping themselves.
I think I will have to wait as long as I did before the first spawn happened all over again until I get the them going again now.
oh yes, and about the time it takes before a lady is ready again. That seems to differ from fish to fish. I have one that takes forever before she's willing to spawn again, but when she does she lays very large batches, whereas another lady is ready much more often, but lay smaller batches. So I guess there's no hard rule there - like it is with ladies of some other species as well I guess
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jerms55555
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Shell im not doing anything!!! I just take the eggs after 2 weeks and seal up the cave again wait a day for the seal to clear up and drop the cave in....and in about 2 days the male and female are in there again!!! So nothing really...Im getting kind of scared that my male might lose wieght!!!
Thanks mceve, so I guess I will leave them all in there for now....Whats wierd is that I know i have a few larger males in the tank!! But they fight with each other while the other male gets the loving!!!
I guess hes a lover not a fighter!!! I have some smaller F1s in there as well, probably around 2.5 inches that I will try to get out...hopefully this wont break them up!!!
Thanks mceve, so I guess I will leave them all in there for now....Whats wierd is that I know i have a few larger males in the tank!! But they fight with each other while the other male gets the loving!!!
I guess hes a lover not a fighter!!! I have some smaller F1s in there as well, probably around 2.5 inches that I will try to get out...hopefully this wont break them up!!!jerms,
this is what I was talking about when they like each other they tend to breed regularly with the same female but in my case it would take a female 4-5 weeks to breed again, but most of my records date back 3 years ago and I haven't done any recordings of data for some time now.
for now just keep them in the same tank until you are comftable that you have enough fry to play around, after that you can move a trio or the breeding pair in another tank and let the other fish sort them selves out or do it the other way around leaving the trio in the original tank. with fish that are almost impossible to come by its better not to put all you're eggs in one basket.
another thing you might want to do is to note the tail markings of the fish that are in the breeding in the cave to be sure you have the exact fish, taking pictures would be a lot easier when you are dealing with a larger group of fish and some times it's difficult to identify them with just the tails but you can also identify the markings of the pelvic fins
this is what I was talking about when they like each other they tend to breed regularly with the same female but in my case it would take a female 4-5 weeks to breed again, but most of my records date back 3 years ago and I haven't done any recordings of data for some time now.
for now just keep them in the same tank until you are comftable that you have enough fry to play around, after that you can move a trio or the breeding pair in another tank and let the other fish sort them selves out or do it the other way around leaving the trio in the original tank. with fish that are almost impossible to come by its better not to put all you're eggs in one basket.
another thing you might want to do is to note the tail markings of the fish that are in the breeding in the cave to be sure you have the exact fish, taking pictures would be a lot easier when you are dealing with a larger group of fish and some times it's difficult to identify them with just the tails but you can also identify the markings of the pelvic fins
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jerms55555
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That sounds like a great idea zebra046...My worries were also about keeping my eggs in one basket!!! Alright well off to raising some fry..
BTW I noticed you said that you took out a pair and had them spawn in a small eclipse tank....did you get the same water and gravel form the tank that they were in?? and how long did it take for them to spawn again?
BTW I noticed you said that you took out a pair and had them spawn in a small eclipse tank....did you get the same water and gravel form the tank that they were in?? and how long did it take for them to spawn again?
Jerms
I don't want to recommend what I am doing but if someone wants to know what are the limitations of the fish I would say this would be it.
I used new water and had it sitting for about a month with a fish in it to cycle then added a maxi jet 600 for aeration then I attached the same sponge that maxi jet used to the strainer to prevent some of the food from getting sucked in the filter, the fish eats off some of the pellets on the sponge it only took 2 weeks for the fish to start breeding again the draw back is I can't over feed the small tank w/c I loved to do before lights out and its very hard to clean the bare tank, the best addvice I can give is cover all three side with dark background to make the transition easy.
I don't want to recommend what I am doing but if someone wants to know what are the limitations of the fish I would say this would be it.
I used new water and had it sitting for about a month with a fish in it to cycle then added a maxi jet 600 for aeration then I attached the same sponge that maxi jet used to the strainer to prevent some of the food from getting sucked in the filter, the fish eats off some of the pellets on the sponge it only took 2 weeks for the fish to start breeding again the draw back is I can't over feed the small tank w/c I loved to do before lights out and its very hard to clean the bare tank, the best addvice I can give is cover all three side with dark background to make the transition easy.
