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Ok 3.30am im doing web stuff and notice one of my sub adult zebs eating and hanging around near my big males cave, next thing is it tried to dive in and after a fight for a bit both are in the cave and i cant see em as im sure i had a tank of males i dont think this is a breeding thing but i could be worng, as ive seen 2 of my males fight and this was kinda different, is this possibly a breeding attempt? i cant see them both in the cave but i know they are there, once ive seen the large males tail n thats it, any advice would be appreciated

update i can now see the males tail just and hes kinda shaking?? and moving a bit

Maybe there was a female in all those males lol unless hes just trying to get the other one out lol

arghhhhh i dunno

its this fish (middle)



in with this one (biggest)

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thanks

for now both tails can be seen. she? is trying to get right back in again and hes kinda not letting her, spoke too soon shes back in again lol

Neo,
you're time has come to celibrate you are now officially an owner of a breeding female and the hunt is over,, when all said and done if eggs will result in this cohabitation, maybe you need to add her to the guaranteed female Pictures same with her mate. Good Luck patience do pay off

Thanks dude, later when the tanks lights go on im gonna try and see if she is still in there, not gonn aus a torch(flashlight) or bother them but id like to know, i thought she was too small to breed and didnt think it was a her but now you have both confirmed it i guess she is lol, funny thing is ive always seen this one hanging aroung the big one even on the top of his cave before now, this was the 1st time she made it in lol

is there a safe way for me to find out if she is still in with the male?

hmm i guess nothings happened seems hes in the cave alone now

Neo wrote:is there a safe way for me to find out if she is still in with the male?

Can't say for sure but I've heard red lights work as the fish can't see red. So either a red led, available off ebay, or the red lights a lot of digital camera's use for focusing in dim light would also work.
I've a red focus light on mine and the fish have never seemed to be bothered by it at all...

Ps. Nice one on the spawn or almost spawning....i always thought it strange you not having at least one female in your group. If there's no spawn this time then they're probably just practising for the future.

First - Congrats neo!

The male is supposed to be left alone in the cave once the spawning is done, so him being alone means one of two things. Either nothing came of it - OR he's now guarding a clutch of eggs.

Please please please do NOT start experimenting with lights in the cave. I did, amongst other things with an IR camera. Most fish aren't supposed to see this spectrum, wouldn't you know Zebras are one of those that can.

Freaked the male out to the degree that he since haven't spawned.

Patience neo, sit on your hand, don't move, don't touch, don't torch, don't put anything in his cave, just wait and see what happens.

Speaking from experience - burnt myself badly on being curious!

Neo wrote:is there a safe way for me to find out if she is still in with the male?

NO

Thanks McEve thing is hes right in the cave at the back now where before he was kinda "mid caved" lol if that makes sense so maybe just maybe there is eggs, how long before i will know? and is it possible for all that to have happened with them in a few hours?

staying in the back of the cave is good

Some take 4 hours to get their business done, others takes days and days.


If he stays in the back, and if he doesn't come out to eat, then chases are very good that you do indeed have a clutch of eggs in there.

BTW, not to bring your hopes up, but sometimes the male leaves for 15 seconds during feeding time, just enough time to grab a bite, then zooms back in again. If yours does this, and you happen to have a camera or flash ready, then it doesn't hurt the eggs if you shine on them

steady now! NOT while the male is in there ok? Auntie McEves orders

lol yeah hes right in the back and there is no way im gonna risk annoying him just incase, i'll keep you informed and if they did spawn it was pretty quick lol good thing is the male has raised fry before so there will be no chomping the eggs i hope lol