How old?

[McEve]

I've seen this being an issue, so I thought it might be interesting to see what people think are the minimum age at which one should sell/ship/buy fry.

If you're the seller, how old would the fry be before you'd feel comfortable selling them, and if you're the buyer, how old should they be before you risk spending money on buying and shipping, knowing they are fragile when it comes to acclimatizing even as adults?

Any ethical thoughts concerning separating the fry from their siblings at an early age?

As a buyer, would it matter if you knew the fish was old enough to know that they won't have any disfigurement or developmental issues, which sometimes can't be seen until the fish is up to a year old? Knowing the gender, is that imortant?

Would be interesting to hear what you think, maybe we could even get some guidelines from a discussion concerning this issue

[alga]

McEve, I think you and I discussed this before back in January and no one seemed to want to talk

It would probably also matter shipping versus local pick up.

I personally have had people come by and pick up from me at one inch. For me, they need to be a solid inch and have "wide" bodies, basically not a long thin one inch fish. I have also shipped fish that were a little larger than this and everything went fine. I also make sure the fry are feeding on dry food and include some when I ship them out. I find them to be quite resilient at this size and make the change to new tanks well.

I'm sure others have ideas on the subject and what I wrote is what I have done and what worked for me....

[jerms55555]

I personally have not shipped any of my fry. They have all been from local pick-up! But I would agree with alga on it being at least 1" and nicley round! I hope i wont have to ship any out but if i do i probably will do so at the 1.25- 1.5" mark just to be on the safe side!

[madmoroccan]

Can anyone give some tips on acclimatisation... this would be beneficial to buyers.

[Mindy]

I think I would be happier waiting until they were around 1.5" - 2". My reasoning is on several levels. One being the welfare of the fish. The longer I raise it, the more I can make sure it's getting a good, strong start, making sure it grows big and stocky, which will hopefully give it a better chance of surviving its transition better and therefore reduce the risk of all our efforts to proliferate this fish going to waste (which would be the case if many of them died after moving them, whether local pick up or shipping).

In my area, the shops and wholesalers aren't interested in them until they're at least 1.5". Not that I've been looking into it, but in a discussion with the owner of my local LFS, he just happened to mention it and I thought it useful information to store away in my head for a later date should I need it.

There's also the issue of cost (which has become another issue on this forum which I don't intend to divert onto fully in this post). We spend plenty of time and money raising and breeding and growing on our Zebs. If we are going to sell any of them, it would de-value the fish (not to mention make it seem like we breed them at a loss as if for charity, which I personally cannot afford to do) to sell them too small and too cheaply. They are a precious fish, IMO, and the way they are being handled at the moment, whether people like how much they cost or not, at least conveys the value and seriousness of keeping this fish. That's my two cents worth anyway.

[Raul-7]

Can anyone give some tips on acclimatisation... this would be beneficial to buyers.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/artic ... 11&aid=841

This is the article that got me started on drip acclimation; it's actually less of a hassle than the usual bag method.

[McEve]

Can anyone give some tips on acclimatisation... this would be beneficial to buyers.

Try not to hijack the thread.

I sit and watch my groups, and can see that the little ones are bickering, one curious one encourage the next to follow suit to the food out in the open and many other socialation behaviour. I feel a Zebra needs to "learn" how to be a Zebra too, in order not to end up like the psychotic Zebra I once had that killed everything in sight.

Personally I wouldn't sell them at the earliest 6 months old. Especially as I have noted that you don't know what the fish will end up looking before it reaches a certain age. Snubnoses sometimes don't show up as what they are until they are a few months old, then you get a disgruntled buyer on your hands.

Or would the buyer not care if they know they take a risk and get the fish cheaper at 4 months than one year old?

[Plastic Mac]

I'm not sure when I would sell them as I haven't crossed that bridge yet.

It certainly wouldn't be any less than 6 months, preferably a year...I'll have to see how big they are in 6 months, they seem to be growing quite quick at the moment.

I sit and watch my groups, and can see that the little ones are bickering, one curious one encourage the next to follow suit to the food out in the open and many other socialation behaviour. I feel a Zebra needs to "learn" how to be a Zebra too, in order not to end up like the psychotic Zebra I once had that killed everything in sight.

I'm not sure how much of what they do is just plain instinct or a question of learning it form other zebra's. Bit I would agree that leaving them within a group of adults and fry would probably lead to a more balanced zebra.

Plastic

[dave]

Well I have had 16 F1's delivered this year, group of 7 and a group of 9.

Judging by the size, well when comparing to my young, these where only 3 to 4 months old, all an inch or less.

One delivery took 1 and a half hours, the other 3 hours.

All the fish are doing well, no losses.

Personally I wouldn't advocate selling at this size. I was a bit nervous about buying but it was cash on delivery and due to the shortage of this fish I took the chance, they were being sold whether I bought or not.

As for acclimatisation, and the implied sensitivity of these fish, in my experience I think this is a little exagerated. Two of my original Zebras came overnight and settled in straight away. 8 I collected from Wildwoods, 6 hour journey and settled in straight away.

Dave

[dave]

Hi again

Just been doing an overhaul of the tank in which I placed the 7 F1's mentioned above.

Now they have grown out a bit 2 of them are stub noses, when bought they looked fine, as mentioned I guessed they were no more than 12 weeks old when bought.

So while I stated before these fish will travel at an early age, spotting deformities is a bit more problematical.

Don't get me wrong I place no blame with the person who sold them to me, but as demand for these fish seems to be growing more young fish are likely to be offered for sale, so you are taking a chance.

In addition if they are your first zebras you have nothing to compare them to.

Following on from this I wouldn't advocate releasing them until at least 6 months old. Even at 6 months the defomity in some instances may only noticable when compared to young of a similar age.

This is just something to think about before buying or selling young fish.

Also putting a post on the stub nose thread.

Dave

[McEve]

Now they have grown out a bit 2 of them are stub noses, when bought they looked fine, as mentioned I guessed they were no more than 12 weeks old when bought.

So while I stated before these fish will travel at an early age, spotting deformities is a bit more problematical.

My point excactly, and glad somebody else can confirm it. I have a snubnose that looked perfectly normal until it was 6 months old. now, at a year and a bit there's no doubt it's a snub...

I kinda like Rob's rule that he has for himself, 15 months no sooner - but realize that will be difficult for some people. Not everybody has the room to house 20+ boisterous teens

[n00dl3]

I have been looking to zebras in the US for a couple of months now and in contact with a few breeders. Most breeders whom willing to ship the fish won't ship them until 1.25-1.5 inches. I ran into a couple of breeders that is willing to sell their fry at 3 months old (don't know how big is that).

Personally, I won't buy the fish until it's at least 6 months old or 1.25-1.5 inches. Just because I think they bigger they are the most stable they'll be. And less stress during the travel. that is my 2 cents...

I got 5 zebs coming in two weeks!

n00dl3

[McEve]

Most breeders whom willing to ship the fish won't ship them until 1.25-1.5 inches.

that's 3.1 - 3.8 cm. They would be about 6 months old. Good to see that most breeders reckons this is a minimum