Advice & Thoughts

dave · Post by **dave** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 9:59 pm

Well yesterday I received 7 F1 L46 from just cats, only 1" but was C.O.D. small I know, but they're all doing fine. Looking at my tank bred fry I'd guess they're less than 4 months old.

These were bought to diversify the gene pool that I have, so it is a long term project.

I don't envisage any problem growing the 7 F1's on, also growing 30 of my fry on and starting new groups. I have promised 10 fry to people.

It would be nice to grow these on and breed them with my current adults and the following questions hopefully if I get some answers will help me decide whether this will be possible. I have some none alpha males would hate to waste these genes.

1. What is the age of the oldest that somebody has at the moment?

2. Is anybody breeding from fry they have bred, and if yes at what age do they mature?

3. If so do males and females mature at the same age?

4. Does anybody know how long a group will produce fry, or if nobody has got to this stage, how long has anybody had a group producing fry?

Any answers that you can give will be greatly appreciated, or any other information that you may think relevant.

Now one thought that came to me before writing this. I kept a trio of these in either 1995 or 1996, traded them in 12 months later. If they do live for 10 to 15 years they could still be around today, I hope they are and having a very happy life.

The but being, the advice when breeding anything other than L46's is to buy juveniles from different sources and grow on, sadly with L46's this is not possible, expense and availability.

I just wonder when I see one adult for sale, is it one of my original trio, or another fish that is over 10 years old, or for want of a better expression past it for breeding purposes.

Thanks for reading this

Dave

Caesars · Post by **Caesars** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:10 pm

Hi there,
Zebras mature at 3-4 years of age, with females taking slightly longer than males.

andrewcoxon · Post by **andrewcoxon** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:44 pm

how old until they can be successfully sexed?

Caesars · Post by **Caesars** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 2:40 am

You can post some pictures in the relevant section here when the fish are about 5cm onwards - I would say 2 years old or so. The younger the fish the more confusing the situation..

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 7:40 pm

1. What is the age of the oldest that somebody has at the moment?

I have "heard a Rumour" that there was one that was 13 years old. I have searched the forum however and can no loner substantiate this.

2. Is anybody breeding from fry they have bred, and if yes at what age do they mature?

I know if one individual in the USA that is breeding from their own stock. From talking to them, and looking at my own fry I would say sexual maturity for males would be around 3-3.5 years, and for females, 2.5 - 3 years. The main reason for the males to reach maturity at a later date is the fact that they must also develop a hierarchy.

3. If so do males and females mature at the same age?

See above.

4. Does anybody know how long a group will produce fry, or if nobody has got to this stage, how long has anybody had a group producing fry?

My group has been producing fry for almost 3 years, and I hope they have many more years left. The longest period I know of is just over 4 years, but I do not see any reason why they cannot produce fry for the majority for their adult lives, so I would suggest around 7-10 years. Who knows, I may be completely wrong, but I certainly plan on finding out! Hopefully by then the site will have a few Generations of zebras, and zebra keepers!!!!

Rob

dave · Post by **dave** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 10:33 pm

Thanks for the detailed reply it is appreciated.

Dave

Post by **Barbie** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 9:36 am

A few months ago, Yann posted on PC about an article in a German magazine (I think!) regarding a 15 year old male zebra that was still happily raising clutches of fry. They are definitely a long lived fish and can be productive for most of that life. I've owned my big male for 6 years now and he was adult sized and had been in captivity at least 3 years before that.

Barbie

McEve · Post by **McEve** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 9:31 pm

There is a Norwegian group that has been productive for 10 years.

Definately a fish that has the potential for living long enough to become part of the family

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 4:47 pm

I can vaguely recall another article, again by Yann Fulliquent(sp?) on Planet Catfish about a group of zebras that were collected form the wild at approx a year old and they were still breeding at 15 years old.

If I remember correctly it was discussed here, the thread may have been called "a zebra is not just for christmas" or something along those lines.

You would expect the zebra to be a long lived fish going by the length of time it takes to reach maturity. That said this is not always the case in the animal kingdom.

I will go out on a limb a bit here by saying that I have found that zebras can not be accurately sexed with any accuracy until they are either sexually active or thereabouts. I have had a couple of fish that have totally surprised me.

Adam.

Alistair · Post by **Alistair** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:16 pm

I have a male that i reckon is at least twelve years old, I bought him in 1996 for £30 at about 2.0", though i don't know whether or not he is still able to breed as i have not had the funds to get a female for him yet

(due to mortgage, kids, high maintainence missus etc etc.) though i am working on it

dave · Post by **dave** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:28 pm

Thanks for the great response to this, it has given me a lot to think about.

I have a couple of ideas, when I decide what to do I'll run them by you.

Dave

Tariq · Post by **Tariq** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 9:45 am

the germans have archieved quite a lot in breeding zebras so i tend to visit there site to read also,
and here is a subject of some experienced breeders on sexual maturity,
one of them talking about a female that she bred spawning at about 19 months of age,plus a breeder in holland also saying the same,from who i bhought a mature female,
i think it al depends on how we grow out the fish:
-food
-waterquality(waterchanges)
-tanksize
-etc

here is the article that i am talking about it is in german maybe someone can translate becuase my german is not 100%:

http://www.l46-forum.de/viewtopic.php?t=156

Tariq · Post by **Tariq** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 9:47 am

read the bottom post

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 11:54 am

Hi Tariq,

I ran that last post in the thread through Babel fish and this is what I got.

"Moin, from given cause: L46 girls can already have as in-three-quarter-year old new generation. My first L46 I had clutches of eggs in May 2004. Today a friend, whom 6 months ago ago one my Nachzuchten got, reports to me that a girl of me gelaicht. Thus it cannot be older than 19 months old. With chance it is even younger, since it is keins the Nachzuchten from the first clutch of eggs! Greeting, Indina"

You can make out what's being discussed.

Adam

Tariq · Post by **Tariq** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 5:28 pm

thanks very much adam,
your translatation is quite correct,
so does anybody have any opinions on this??
becuase this is not the first time i heard this??
thanx

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