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It is a difficult descision whether or not to remove the fry. It can be a bit of gamble. If th male has done well up till now, there is no reason to think that he cannot rear them himself. Where I have found te problem lies is sometimes with substrate in the tank. Remember the two end tanks in my living room, bot identical set-ups. yet all the fry in the LHS side tank die if left to "Roamfree". Thereofre I remove tham at about 10 days old, beofre they start venturing outwith the males cave.

There are two ways I have found work. One, remove the came, fry, male and all, and place it in a reasonable sized breeder. PLace some slate also in teh breeder. Eventually the fry wander out from the cave.

The other way is a little more stressful for the fish, but is alot quicker. Lift the cave out of the water, and pour the remaining water into your fry trap. As the water level in the trap reduces the fry usually try and follow the water. You may not get them all, but I always think it's good to leave some with the proud dad anyway, (unless of course youhave the same probblem as myself where they do not survive.

Goos luck, and congrats again!!!

rob

Cheers Rob, I want to move the fry to the trap as if they get loose in my tank i will never be able to catch them without stripping the tank down. The prob im having is i can't even get the dad out the cave never mind the fry, arggg this is frustrating cause i don't want to stress them any more than they need to be.

Pop out tomorrow and get yourself a good sized fry trap. Hang it from the side of the tank and place the cave, male fry and all in it. That way, dad gets to bring up his young and you get to see the fry. Eventually the fry will move away from the cave, then you can catch them and place them in another fry trap alone.

Good thinking the prob is trying to find a shop with a good sized trap the one i have is fairly small at 5.5" by 3.5" but ill go up to Govan and hopefully they will have a bigger one.

I let you know tomorrow how i get on.

Ok i have finally managed to get the fry into a fry trap and return the male to the main tank, i have 9 little zebies (not bad for the first time), i haven't seen any of them eating since they came out 2 days ago but i wont worry just yet. I will keep adding the food and clearing it after several hrs.

And yes i will post up pics of them, im having probs with my isp at moment and had to post this from work, but as soon as im back online at home ill post them up.

What sort of food do you feed fry? Did you use RO water?

well ive been trying tetra liquifry which is just powdered flakes i think, and tetra prima mini granuals. I have heard to try baby brine shrimp but i cant find any. I dont use RO water as i dont need it our water up here is pretty good.

Damn your scottish water!!! send some down!!! lol

hahah yea no probs (i sense the start of a business venture here hehe)

Hi Jo,

Some LFs's stock frozen blister packs of newly hatched brine shrimp which is just as good as the fresh stuff.
Zm foods available mail order , direct from ZM foods, on the net are also excellent. ZM100 is ok for newly free swimming zebra fry, then graduating to the larger sizes.

Regards,
Des.

What is the site for that ZM foods Des?