Zebras too OLD????

[jerms55555]

OK i was thinking.........OMG I think its rainy cats and dogs!!!!
I thinking why is so many people selling adult zebras right now and actual breeding pairs?? Recently on Aquabid a breeding pair went for $780 from a fish store, right....who was actually breeding them because 3 days later they put up 3 small babies for sale....Now if they were making money why did they sell them??
So my question is, do zebras get too old to breed??? I also bought 4 zebras from a breedding colony and I asked why are you selling them, and his response was that he was tired of breeding them??? Was it that or was it that they just stopped?? And of course he would not have told me that they stopped, that would have decreased the value of them....

I did some research on this topic here and found this link, back in 2004...
http://www.zebrapleco.com/forum/viewtop ... t=breeding

I found this too by one of our members her:
http://www.scotcat.com/articles/article28.htm ( look towards the bottom, where he states his last statements....look at #1)

So has anyone had an old adult breed?

[McEve]

I'm sure they could be too old, especially the females. But I know of a group that has produced babies for 6 or 7 years, last I heard they were still spawning.

The problem would rather be, how do you identify a 9-10 years old Zebra? I'm guessing they would be on a downhill by that age.. It might also depend on when they started spawning?

And, it's also an individual thing, not all spawn from what I've been able to find out...

Maybe, and mind you, this is pure speculation, the four individuals from the breeding colony where fish that were not participating in the spawning. I agree it was a strange reply being tired of breeding them

[Rob]

Hi Jerms

I woudl have thought the reason that these people sell breeding, or adult fish at this stage is becuase they know they can ge t a premium for them at present. It is a "Quick-buck", as opposed to waiting 1 - 2 yeasr to sell fry. I think there are also alot of peole out there who buy the fish not reaslising the amount of work involved.

As for the fish getting too old, this is definately a concern, as to date, there have not been enough captive spawns t identify what the most prodcutive ages if the fish is.

As Mceve says however, not all females will spawn, and not all males will be interested in breeding. I am a firm believer however, that give the fish the best possible environmenta and you obviously increase your chances!!!

rob

[Lied]

How old can zebras actually get?

[Adam]

I remeber the longevity of zebras being discussed before and I managed to find the thread:

http://www.zebrapleco.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=194

Looks like no one managed to find the German article that was mentioned in the thread, perhaps someone will find it this time around.

Adam

[LyreTail]

Baench Aquarium Atlas Vol 4 pg 288 mentions that they get 15 CM long? Must be typo - I have had mine for 3 or 4 years and they are probably only 8 cm long. I think 10 CM would be about max from everything else I have read. The Baensch Photo altas Vol 1 to 5 mentions pond breeding them in Florida. ( good news if true) The Baensch atlas series also notes a stripe difference between males and females that I never knew about before. The vertical black stripe behind the head that ends the horizontal stripes is broken in the males and solid and thicker in females. Very obvious difference if true. I doubt it though. Probably just genetic mutations

[McEve]

The Baensch atlas series also notes a stripe difference between males and females that I never knew about before. The vertical black stripe behind the head that ends the horizontal stripes is broken in the males and solid and thicker in females. Very obvious difference if true. I doubt it though. Probably just genetic mutations

Probably just as well to lay this one dead before everybody is running over to the tank and checking their fishs' stripes

It's not true.

[LyreTail]

Yes - after checking mine - it is not true at all.