what a loss...

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chanettt
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what a loss...

Post by chanettt »

a couple day ago, i just notice that one of the adult zeb went into the alpha male's cave. It is a good sign to have more female in the colony after unsure about sex of it since it arrives. So, i left them stay in the cave for two days. Now the alpha male went out and I found out that the other one died inside the cave. It confuses me after look at the body and seem like they had a big fight.
I start thinking that this might be a fight between two male trying to get the same cave. the alpha male trap the other male in the cave until the other one died.
So for your information, provide enough cave for all males and if you are sure that two males are in the same cave please do something instead of ignoring like I did. :cry:
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John
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Post by John »

Sorry for yor loss chanettt :(
Greetings,
John
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Post by kingfisher »

Sorry for your loss, chanettt. Its not always easy to make such decisions.
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smithrc
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Post by smithrc »

you did what I do when we have / had 2 adults "sharing"

on the first occasion it actually resulted in a near death incident... thankfully I managed to step in (after 2 days - like you) and separate them - the alpha had trapped the beta male and we has a beaten stressed beta mate.

the 2nd time resulted in a spawn...

I don't think you could have done a lot more.
sorry for your loss :(
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chanettt
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Post by chanettt »

thank you all. Now I need to provide more caves for them so this disaster won't happen again.
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CDNAqua
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Post by CDNAqua »

Sorry to hear about your loss Chanettt.

What size tank did this happen in and how many caves were present?
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chanettt
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Post by chanettt »

32"x20"x20" with two caves+ plenty of slates, drift wood and many hidding spots.
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CDNAqua
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Post by CDNAqua »

Boy, he was determined eh. even with other places to go hide/take cover he decided to fight it out. stubborn zebs can take a licking at times..
again sorry for your loss and have a Merry Christmas.

Peace


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chanettt
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Post by chanettt »

now what i found out is even more interesting, the truth killer is the youngest male in the group. (the one in the Photo under my name!!) this young agressive one switched the caves with the alpha male before killed another male that is bigger than him. after I clean up the cave and take the body out, they went back to thier own caves.

this little one used to have a fight with the alpha male before as i posted a video clip a couple months ago. i am afraid that by the time this little one has the same size with alpha male, the fight will occure again and more lost will come. :(

any advice?
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CDNAqua
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Post by CDNAqua »

chanettt wrote:now what i found out is even more interesting, the truth killer is the youngest male in the group. (the one in the Photo under my name!!) this young agressive one switched the caves with the alpha male before killed another male that is bigger than him. after I clean up the cave and take the body out, they went back to thier own caves.

this little one used to have a fight with the alpha male before as i posted a video clip a couple months ago. i am afraid that by the time this little one has the same size with alpha male, the fight will occure again and more lost will come. :(

any advice?
. To be creative about it you could divide your tank with egg crate. I use it with an opening/closing slideing away stone for female to pass as I see fit. Egg crate looks awful, but it does the job in a basement set up where you are not displaying. I have used it in my basement tanks for years and years. You could also use something not so ugly to divide.
Howerver if your set on not dividing then i would make sure when adding more caves you ensure there is adequate water/oxygen stimulation to the new additions. This will ensure a some what equal distribution of viable spawn site for all the males.. then it should be up to the female to decide who she wants, which should be the Alpha. Be prepare for a scuffle or two if you change things up drastically. If your tank lay out provides the opportunity to move everthing over then I would add more caves in ever so gently . :)
In the end maybe a larger tank may be in order. I swear by 40 gal breeder tanks for most species of fish. 40 gal breeders have loads of floor space. More tank means more room for more Zebs :D 40 gal Best all round tank for breeding.

wish ya the best on it Channett

peace


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Post by smithrc »

In this position we sold our alpha male...

the 2nd in command then moved up and rather than picking fights all the time, he got on with the plan and we got our first spawn shortly afterwards. ;)

I home things work out - could you devide the group up across 2 tanks?
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