Hi
This is not covered in the posts on this forum.
Just wondering if anybody Know if say you have 4 zebs in smallish tank and 1 alpha male 1 alpha female are breeding if the 2 that are not breeding are removed what affect would it have(if any) on the breeding of the alpha pair?.
ie .
Do they need the competition in the tank to breed?.
Any other thoughts.
Thanks Jerry
What will happen !
What will happen !
Caution is a most valuable asset in fish keeping, especially if you are the fish.
I have always left my group alone as I have a fear that removing fish will effect the "balance" I do know that smithrc on here removed a pair from his group and it stopped them spawning they did not resume until the fish were returned to the tank
L number plecos and pleco products worldwide delivery www.rareaquatics.co.uk
My opinion
Hi Jerry,
The point that Jo brought up is valid, but i think that your zebra pair will probably breed better if you choose to take out the non participating pair. Do note that every zebra pair act differently
. Some need a week trapping to get eggs, some just need days or hours and some don't even let you know that the eggs had arrived.
I often realised that in some colony, the male tends to be "loyal" and only wish to breed with the alpha female. However, competition is still needed and you can replace the 2 non-participating zebras with 4 more juvenile zebra from your first batch. (I believe your first batch of 6 month old should be getting close to 1.5" now).
The other smaller female and the BIG MALE will need to be moved into another tank (Please note that you should remove these two, not the working pair so as not to create stress for them). And in my next opinion, you will need to source for another MALE to be the alpha in the new group, the old male is unlikely to breed.
The old male is good for tending to young zebras (he will guide them how to eat and sleep, while not doing any breeding work), and also for visual pleasure (I love to look at BIG zebras - my oldest one should be more than 8 years).
Above is what I will likely try, unless i do not have enough tank space to expand.
However, in the event that they do not start breeding after 3 months, you may want to revert back to old formation. You can assume these 3 months as a rest period for the working male too.
cheers
darry
The point that Jo brought up is valid, but i think that your zebra pair will probably breed better if you choose to take out the non participating pair. Do note that every zebra pair act differently
. Some need a week trapping to get eggs, some just need days or hours and some don't even let you know that the eggs had arrived.I often realised that in some colony, the male tends to be "loyal" and only wish to breed with the alpha female. However, competition is still needed and you can replace the 2 non-participating zebras with 4 more juvenile zebra from your first batch. (I believe your first batch of 6 month old should be getting close to 1.5" now).
The other smaller female and the BIG MALE will need to be moved into another tank (Please note that you should remove these two, not the working pair so as not to create stress for them). And in my next opinion, you will need to source for another MALE to be the alpha in the new group, the old male is unlikely to breed.
The old male is good for tending to young zebras (he will guide them how to eat and sleep, while not doing any breeding work), and also for visual pleasure (I love to look at BIG zebras - my oldest one should be more than 8 years).
Above is what I will likely try, unless i do not have enough tank space to expand.
However, in the event that they do not start breeding after 3 months, you may want to revert back to old formation. You can assume these 3 months as a rest period for the working male too.
cheers
darry
