It's only just the start...

[Plastic Mac]

OK so this evening I'm sitting in the dark, in front of my zeb tank as I have been doing for most of each evening for the past five days. Why 5 days?..because that's the when the first sign of spawning I had noticed in my tank started. My alpha male had another trapped in his cave and for the last few days I've just been watching his little tail flitter every so often and the occasional nudge deeper into cave, wondering and hoping.
I wasn't trying to get too excited as I wasn't aware I had any adult females in the tank, in fact I'd posted pics of all the adults on here and was told by quite a few that they were all males. I now realise how much of a hit and miss affair this is
Anyway, I'm sat there this evening thinking the usual thoughts ' I wonder if there are any eggs yet?' while watching the males little tale wiggle back and forth when right in front of me, about an inch form the glass a little 5mm long zebra swims up and stops. I COULDN'T BELIEVE MY EYES!!!!!!!
I literally had to check three or four times that it wasn't some deitrus rolling past like tumble weed ..I'm so chuffed! I can't believe I hadn't seen them before..and again I now understand what everyone really means about the fry being the masters of hiding.
Anyway, I just wanted to share my utter joy and having managed to do it...and I'm now going to go sit back at the tank while having large beer.

And before i forget , I just like to thank everyone here who may have given me advice and general help since I've joined and a special thanks to Rob who made this site possible. I'm sure I would not be sitting her enow writing this had it not been for this site and eveyrones help. So thank you once again.


Oh sorry one last thing...Ha I now get to ask a whole load of new questions!...The fry have lsot their yoke sack, so I'm guessing slightly older than a week. What should I do about feeding them...just carry on feeding what I feed the adults now, which is mainly frozen food like Daphnia, brine shrimp, mussels, shrimp, mysis, cyclops, beafheart etc etc. Or should I start sprinkling fry food into the tank or mabe even try and get them into a fry trpa and feed them in that?

Thanks
Plastic Mac

ps. sorry for any spelling mistakes....I can't wait to get back to the tank so I haven't checked this post for any errors. sorry

[dj_speed_uk]

congrats on your new babies,, how many can you see?

[thebuddy]

you enjoy that beer mate and i hope you see many more little zebras

[Plastic Mac]

Thanks Bud. I hope they'll be a few more too!

Thanks Dj.

I could only see one at the time, it just swam right up to me stopped for a few seconds then dissapeared again. I've now had another long look and can see one investigating round the tank and another just lingering in and out of the shadows in the cave, where the male is. It's like he's building up the courage to take his firsts steps into the world lol. I've no idea how many more might still be in the cave though.
Strange thing is I'm 99% positive the female (LOL I now have a female!! whoo hooo!) is still in the cave...and has been there the whole time. Has she been held prisoner? Or is she just more maternal and the male let her stay and help kinda thing As I was always under the impression she left straight after depositing the eggs.

Anyway, off too look for more babies now thanks.

[madmoroccan]

Well done... I guess now you are part of the ELITE? LOL

I had a similar shock when I found 60 or so baby guppies in my community tank two nights ago... LOL Not quite as good as zeb fry... But I could always take them out and paint black stripes on them?

I take it you cant stop looking at the tank at the moment? And do we get an insight into how you managed it? Water Param.... voodoo ect...

Again congratulations,

Sincerely

Bader

PS. How long have you had the group for?

[Raul-7]

Thanks Bud. I hope they'll be a few more too!

Thanks Dj.

I could only see one at the time, it just swam right up to me stopped for a few seconds then dissapeared again. I've now had another long look and can see one investigating round the tank and another just lingering in and out of the shadows in the cave, where the male is. It's like he's building up the courage to take his firsts steps into the world lol. I've no idea how many more might still be in the cave though.
Strange thing is I'm 99% positive the female (LOL I now have a female!! whoo hooo!) is still in the cave...and has been there the whole time. Has she been held prisoner? Or is she just more maternal and the male let her stay and help kinda thing As I was always under the impression she left straight after depositing the eggs.

Anyway, off too look for more babies now thanks.

Congrats Mate! It's a really exciting and rewarding feeling to know you finally have become a grandfather!

Regarding feeding, I would use carnivore pellets. Use pellets big enough they won't choke on it, no tiny 1mm pellets. I'm not sure, but do the parents actually take care of their young once they hatch. Are they like lions where everyone makes sure the little ones survive or once they hatch is every Zebra for himself? My only concern is that some might not get enough to eat, so you will either have to grossly overfeed and vacuum daily or transfer all the fry into a breeder and then you can monitor their feeding, health, etc.

Given the fact that the fry have lost their yolk salk they would have to be at least 10 to 14 days old. Thus I believe it might be sign that the female is in for another cave-rockin'.

[Plastic Mac]

I was under the impression, the fry would stick with the male and feed along with him (I'm sure I read that in a report somewhere), although for how long they stick with him I do not know...maybe they're already past that stage? Whatever is supposed to happpen the fry seem to be doing their own thing. I've counted three now, but at least one of them is flying round the tank at a rate of knots..I think he's really excited to be here lol!

I'll wait and see what the general thought is from everyone tomorrow as far as feeding them...for tonight I've put in a cube of daphnia and given a decent sprinkling of fry food. Having said that two of the fry seem to want to stick to the side of the tank glass about two thirds of the way up..maybe they're eating algae?

Given the fact that the fry have lost their yolk salk they would have to be at least 10 to 14 days old. Thus I believe it might be sign that the female is in for another cave-rockin'.

If that is the case I'm gonna buy that male zeb whatever he wants, he deserves it!...

Thanks for the congratulations.

Plastic Mac

[khblock]

I am so happy for you. Congratulations.

[thebuddy]

hmm maybe a new plant? my fish would love plants and what L046 can ignore the pure beuty and flavour of a nice tasty peice of wood

[jerms55555]

Congrats!!! If feels good to finally reach that pinnacle were all after!
As far as the fry are concerned, IMO, it sounds like they are between 5- 13 days old?? And remember it takes anywhere between 3-7 days to hatch! So i think your female is laying more eggs! My female just went back in the cave 2 days ago with fry inside and laid some more eggs! And I recall a few other members here stating the same thing. So if I were you try not to disturb them....if you know what I mean!! What I usually do is grab the little guys and put them in a breeding trap once they leave the cave! They are pretty easy to grab with your hand. Or if they are under a drift wood/ stone just pick it up and they usually hang on and quickly turn it over to grab them. But you can always just leave them alone and feed them Canicore pellets and I started to feed mine decap brine shrimp , just let them soak for a few minutes in water, and I have a little baby syringe in which i shoot it where they are at, just in case! They love it!!
Good Luck!!

PS thebuddy, I have NEVER seen my zebras eating wood!!!

[thebuddy]

Wow, it seems all the fish are breeding around this time think they know this is when they spawn in the wild even though they have never been there?

[Plastic Mac]

Well done... I guess now you are part of the ELITE? LOL

I had a similar shock when I found 60 or so baby guppies in my community tank two nights ago... LOL Not quite as good as zeb fry... But I could always take them out and paint black stripes on them?

I take it you cant stop looking at the tank at the moment? And do we get an insight into how you managed it? Water Param.... voodoo ect...

Again congratulations,

Sincerely

Bader

PS. How long have you had the group for?

Thanks Bader,

I've had the group for approx. 9 months. I picked the first two up middle of last year and obtained the last two (8 in total) back in October. I think, judging by other peoples experience that I've been pretty lucky and not had to wait too long...and yes I guess I am now part of the elite as I get to add my name to the breeding register lol!
You're right, I can't stop looking, I'm not a morning person but this morning I jumped out of bed and spent a half hour checking them out before heading off to work...I was so close to just taking the day off!
As for how I managed it...I haven't checked my water parameters over the last couple of weeks but I'll do tests this weeekend and let you know. Although I have no proof, I do honestly think the UV filter I added about 6 weeks ago has made a huge difference....well that and just giving them lots of fresh food twice a day. I've been really feeding them up over the last two-three weeks...so no doubt thats had an affect too.

Thanks again Bader and congrats on your guppie fry...what are you going to do with all 60 of them?

I am so happy for you. Congratulations.

Thanks very much Kh block.

Congrats!!! If feels good to finally reach that pinnacle were all after!
As far as the fry are concerned, IMO, it sounds like they are between 5- 13 days old?? And remember it takes anywhere between 3-7 days to hatch! So i think your female is laying more eggs! My female just went back in the cave 2 days ago with fry inside and laid some more eggs! And I recall a few other members here stating the same thing. So if I were you try not to disturb them....if you know what I mean!! What I usually do is grab the little guys and put them in a breeding trap once they leave the cave! They are pretty easy to grab with your hand. Or if they are under a drift wood/ stone just pick it up and they usually hang on and quickly turn it over to grab them. But you can always just leave them alone and feed them Canicore pellets and I started to feed mine decap brine shrimp , just let them soak for a few minutes in water, and I have a little baby syringe in which i shoot it where they are at, just in case! They love it!!
Good Luck!!

PS thebuddy, I have NEVER seen my zebras eating wood!!!

Thanks for the advice and congrats Jerms. Now you and a couple of other people have mentioned they're probably spawning again, I really think they are!..hopefully this time I'll get to see some fry still with their yoke sacks.
As for catching them...I'll take your word for it that their not that hard to catch but considering the speed with which they were investigating everything last night I'm not so sure..I'll try and catch them this evening without disturbing the male and female in their cave as it would be nice to know how many I've got...and it'll be easier to get pictures of them too.

Thanks
Plastic Mac

[andrewcoxon]

ah well done mate!

[Plastic Mac]

cheers dude!

[thebuddy]

are UV filters expensive? and i heard they weaken a fishes emune system over time are you worried about negative effects on fry?