Why is the male kicking the babies out?

zebrastorey · Post by **zebrastorey** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 10:22 am

I found 2 out of the cave this morning luckily they were both alive and about half an hour later i saw him actually flick another one out with his tail. I have got them in a fry trap at the moment but why is the male kicking the babies out but not the remaining eggs?

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 2:21 pm

Hi zebrastorey,

This could be happening for a number of reasons. I would say that inexperience is the most likely culprit, he may also consider the fry/eggs that he is kicking out are not viable ie he thinks there's something wrong with them. One of my male zebras had a terrible habit of doing this but luckily he doesn't do it anymore, looks like he has got the hang of things now.

You may want to tip the cave up slightly so that the eggs/fry have a tendency to remain at the back of the cave although I have found that the male can still kick them out if he wants. You may also find that the male may move home if you elevate his cave as my male did, he didn't seem too happy that I messed around with his cave.

Adam

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 7:43 pm

HI Zebrastorey

I'm with Adam on this one.

If you lose the fry within the next 24 hours then the male has probably felt that they are not quite right and has removed them in. At this stage as Adam says your best bet is to very , very gently tilt the cave back. If you have sand substrate, just lift the cave a little ans brush a little sand under the front. We are just talking a mm or so.

If you cave is already tilted back them I would suggest keeping a close eye on the fry.

Hope this helps

rob

zebrastorey · Post by **zebrastorey** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 10:47 pm

I decided to leave the cave alone and just watch, going on what Adam said about if the male wanted them out he would get them out if he really tried i thought i would give him a second chance, and i think he has realised what he should be doing (i hope) as he has at least 2 more in his cave and he hasn't chucked them out yet.
So anyway i have got 3 in the fry trap (was 4 but 1 seemed to have a hole in its yolk sack and died) and just need a few questions ansering please

As the fry trap is floating at the top of the tank do i need to keep the lights off until they are old enough to be able to hide?

And is there anything else i can do to try and keep them alive?

And how long until i have to think about feeding them and what is the best food for them?

And finally if the ones in the cave survive do i try and remove them as soon as they venture out?

cheers and thanks for all you help.

zebrastorey · Post by **zebrastorey** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 6:15 pm

These are the remaining 2 both of them seem quite strong now

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 8:24 pm

zebrastorey wrote: As the fry trap is floating at the top of the tank do i need to keep the lights off until they are old enough to be able to hide?

And is there anything else i can do to try and keep them alive?

And how long until i have to think about feeding them and what is the best food for them?

And finally if the ones in the cave survive do i try and remove them as soon as they venture out?

cheers and thanks for all you help.

If you have a little piece of slate, put it in the trap to allow the fry to shelter under something. Although to be honest at this stage all they really care about is having a wiggle and using their sucker-mouths to stick to the floor of the trap!!!

Make sure the base of the trap is kept clean and that there is a good air-stone in the trap.

You don't have to feed them until their Yolk sac has gone. This tends to be around day 16 from spawning or day 10 from hatching.

As for the ones in the cave, if the substrate in the tank is clean and the sand has no black-spots, then they should be just fine.

congrats again, you have a couple of healthy looking fish there.

rob

zebrastorey · Post by **zebrastorey** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 8:36 pm

Cheers Rob thanks for the help