Descisions, descisions, descisions...

Plastic Mac · Post by **Plastic Mac** » Thu May 04, 2006 7:39 pm

OK here's a shot of my tank....neither of these are very good pictures, but hey, they give you the idea.
Size: 36x12x15
Filter: Eheim Pro 2224 external with spray bar
UV: Vecton 8w
Powerheads: 2 upside down aquaclear 30's with cartridge removed.
Air pump: yup
Lighting: minimal single spot waterproof leds

edited to add: oh yeah it's got some heating too.

and here's about the best pic I can get of the fry at the moment.

Anyway, the tank has 8 adults in it and 5 fry...that I know of. The female is in the left hand cave again at this point. The question is I already knew the tank was maxed out fish wise with the 8 adults...so with the fry getting bigger and potentially more arriving I need to make a descision. I have another tank, exactly the same dimensions right below the one in the picture. I'm now stuck as to whether I should set it up and move the fry and any other potential fry into the other tank to let them grow out or whether I should remove the adults which aren't breeding and try and get a second colony going.
What causing me the problems is first and foremost I'm still not sure which is the female(s) in my tank. She always seem the enter and leave the cave at night and it's quite deep so I can't see into it much. I've put all but one of the caves at angles intentionally so I can't see into them and put them off.
Plus if I set it up for the fry, then each time they spawn I'm going to have to take most of the decor out to get hold of them, therefore freaking out the adults...not something I really want to do anymore than I have to.
Could there also be a potential issue if I remove the 'spare' adults from the tank somehow putting off the ones which spawn...any experiences of that?

So, any ideas which way I should go...for the fry or spare adults?:D

Thanks

Plastic Mac

Btw, I picked up off ebay the other day an Eheim Pro II 2026 practically brand new for £45! Whoohoo! and he only lived 2 miles away, I had it 2 hours after the auction finished. Superb.

McEve · Post by **McEve** » Fri May 05, 2006 3:30 pm

Seems to me it's going to be at least 6 more months beforeyou need to worry about the extra bio load

and why aren't your pic in the comp??

Plastic Mac · Post by **Plastic Mac** » Fri May 05, 2006 3:42 pm

6 months...ok well that gives me a bit of time to play with, perhaps I'll be able to find out which ones the females are by then.

As for the comp, I'll try and get a better picture this evening and enter

Thanks for the reply.

Plastic Mac

Dale90g · Post by **Dale90g** » Sun May 07, 2006 4:10 am

Nice pics and setup for the zebras Plactic. The little ones look great too. Think McEve is right about the bioload, filters should be enough to handle what you have, as long as you still do your regular water changes.

Some food for thought, I did choose to take the my fry out, as I want to keep them well fed. I feed the adults frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp - not good for fry. I also shutdown the outside filter when feeding the fry in their own tank. The food sits on the bottom and they have a much easier time finding it. Not sure what you feed yours, mine are getting bbs and microworms. I'll try to grind up a carnivore pellet one day again. I also feel somewhat better about the fry being safer - adults seem to leave them alone.

On your q about which to move, and that is if you choose to move them. Moving just the fry makes more sense, imo. You'll stir up the tank in doing so, but I just did a thorough cleanup of my breeder tanks. And the adult male in one I think is holding a new clutch (he's tail wagging). The male in the other manged to keep one young'en with him. His cave was the only ornament that didn't come out of the tank. But it would have been more stressful on the fish to catch them. I imagine that in the wild, when it rains, rocks and tree limbs wash things around from time to time, so the fish would have to adjust to things changing. But I don't know how many times they would expect to be caught and let go. If you do setup the new tank, I would use water from the adult tank to get it going.

So why do you not angle the cave so you can see in, cause they might be put off? You shouldn't worry about that, did it for mine, and if my ugly face doesn't put mine off, you shouldn't have to worry. Only thing is I may be losing some. Don't know for sure. I am trying to keep from flashing this latest new clutch. And maybe I'll try to reposition one of the caves, so I can't see in at some point. Just to see if there is a difference.

Keep us updated and good luck.