SmithRC's Zeb update...

eklikewhoa · Post by **eklikewhoa** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 12:07 am

Sorry for the loss smithrc.............

those fry of yours have some interesting patterns on their tails though!

smithrc · Post by **smithrc** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 9:51 am

I was being un-realistic expecting all of my first spawn to survive!

The 8 we have left are all looking nice and healthy and are diving about in the trap like ants

Fingers crossed we'll end up with at least 2 or 3 that make it to a good size

tirzo13 · Post by **tirzo13** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 11:44 am

thanks for the updates and the great pictures.
i'm betting you will have all the rest survive, they look so healthy and plump.
what are you feeding them, what are your water parameters at?

smithrc · Post by **smithrc** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 10:56 pm

tirzo13 wrote:thanks for the updates and the great pictures.
i'm betting you will have all the rest survive, they look so healthy and plump.
what are you feeding them, what are your water parameters at?

Hope you didnt put any money on that

While I've been away we have lost 2 more. (it was right at the begining of the week) Since then Lorna has upped the water change schedule... we're now changing more water and doing it daily. (we were doing 10% every 2 days... we're now doing about 12% every day)

Since then we havent lost any more.

I'll get some piccys, but over the last week they seem to have grown loads (but then so has our son

- it was only a week away but he's got loads bigger

)

discusbabe · Post by **discusbabe** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 6:45 am

Sorry to hear you've lost two more!

Hope the rest carry on growing well!

Oh and yes I know what you mean about the kids growing so quickly! Often our son gets up and has had a growth spurt over night and it's like looking at a different child!

davo · Post by **davo** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 7:58 am

smithrc

thanks for the update, sorry to hear two more have died.
all the best for the others.

smithrc · Post by **smithrc** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 1:01 pm

down to 5 now

Its not just as simple as getting them spawning

tmh0324 · Post by **tmh0324** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 1:14 pm

smithrc wrote: Its not just as simple as getting them spawning

Gosh...smith...you got to be kidding...getting them spawning is easy?...

I want to cry now...

Think another way, you still have 5, and that is good~~~~

smithrc · Post by **smithrc** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 3:53 pm

after a year trying to get them to spawn, I though I was past the hardest big

As you say - We still have 5 - but I'm getting a bit despondent...

Plastic Mac · Post by **Plastic Mac** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 4:06 pm

Sorry Smithrc I haven't been in this thread for a while and sorry to hear about your losses also.

Have you though about possibly moving them to a no substrate tank?

smithrc · Post by **smithrc** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 10:55 pm

they fry are in a breeding trap so that i can ensure they are getting enough food...

i clear the un eated food out every morning and bunt in a little of a different food.... but still they go skinny and die

the 5 we have left do look nice and fat now though.... fingers crossed

smithrc · Post by **smithrc** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 12:36 am

right... We are down to just 3 fry now

just over a week ago the water level was topped up a little too hight and it was above the top of the breeding trap. only 2 worked this out and made a break for it.... spotted them the first night and then found them both the next night - dead

well tonight was a good night...

I was getting a little jealous reading Andrew Coxons thread

so decided to try and help ours on their way to a 2nd spawn...

So I swapped out a cave in our tank as our zebs didnt seem to be getting it on since I swapped the caves about.... the male came out and dived straight back into his old one (the one i was putting back in....

As I lifted the cave up in the tank - out pops a clutch of eggs

They are still really light yellow/green so only just laied too

Spawn number 2!
(now in a 2nd breeding trap)

Post by **TwoTankAmin** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 2:13 am

I hesitate to offer advice since I am a lot newer to this all than you are. I have had pretty good luck with my zebras aside from losing two of the breeders over the past year. I have gotten a fair amount of fry and have actually done things quite differently from most seem to relate here.

I have not lost many fry except to accidents or mishandling. I do not use a breeder trap nor pull eggs. I did have my #3 male spawn once- and he managed to knock wigglers out of the cave- I rescued 2 to a trap, one got out and the second grew to the relasing point.

I have found the fry to be fairly hardy and almost all of my losses have resulted from a filter mishap and from netting injuries.

I would be a bit concerned over having so many of yours wasting like that. My gut instinct is to look to one of to possible likely reasons. The first is a genetic defect- it could be that the particular pair were not a good genetic match and may be producing fish with some sort of problem that is not evident involving their digestive system. Second would be to some sort of parasite or worm similar to what causes wasting in larger fish. I have always left as many fry as possible in the breeding tank with the parents and never seen them fail to find food and grow. In fact they grow faster than the ones I spread out into growout tanks.

I don't know if my water change regimin has any effect as I only do a weekly 40-50% on the breeder tank and on the growouts may do 2x33% if I get to it but mostly its 1x50% weekly. I do try to suck up any build up of uneaten food or fish waste when I see them.

I keep my growout tanks at about 84 degrees F (about 29C) and the breeder tank at 86F (30C).

I really sympathize with your plight and wish I had some bang on idea for your situation.

discusbabe · Post by **discusbabe** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 11:30 am

Sorry to hear you have lost more fry!

Congrats on the 2nd spawn though! Fantastic news! Fingers crossed for them!

smithrc · Post by **smithrc** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 11:54 am

Think I'll be trying a different regime this time round too...

But I dont know what to alter first!

In theory my water changes (approx 10% a day) should be fine. the temp is at approx 29ºC...

we started loosing the fry in the main tank last time so collected them up...
the 2 that got out of the breeding trap only lasted 2 days in the main tank so it seems that something dosnt suit the fry in the main tank... It could well be the schoal of pygmy corys - it would make sense that they are eating the same smaller food that the fry would eat... that along with the MTSnails makes a great clean up crew... possibly not what I need in with hungry fry.

I might set up a small grow tank for them, linked to the adults tank so using the same water...