I guess maybe I should get too busy more often...

Post by **Barbie** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 4:10 pm

Both of my zebra groups are on the end of a month long dry cycle to try to stimulate them to spawn. I've been adding RO Right for 2 weeks now to harden the water and everything. Imagine my shock when I got out my flashlight last night and replaced the batteries, only to find that my alpha male has fry almost ready to leave the cave! I'm going to add more decor to his tank and allow them to stay in the tank with him. He's the fish that's had the most problem with snub nosed fry, so it will be interesting to see if it helps any. Right after I do a few RO changes to get the TDS back below 500 where it is right now, that is

.

I guess it just goes to show that maybe all I needed to do is get too busy to take the best care of them after all

.

Barbie

nesolb · Post by **nesolb** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 6:09 pm

Congrats barbie, maybe the 'leave them to get on with it' approach actually works then!!!!!!

McEve · Post by **McEve** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 6:33 pm

Congrats !!

We've seen that a few times, forget them for a while and they do what we wanted them to all along

NetsuaiAngel · Post by **NetsuaiAngel** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 9:28 pm

Wahoo!

More baby zebras in the world!

- Angela

CDNAqua · Post by **CDNAqua** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 8:01 am

Hi,

Interesting Barbie... Ready to come out and you added ro right for the last 2 weeks incressing tds....

So the fry are what 10 - 14 days ya figure?
What do you think the TDS was at time of unseen spawn?

..

Barbie wrote:Both of my zebra groups are on the end of a month long dry cycle to try to stimulate them to spawn. I've been adding RO Right for 2 weeks now to harden the water and everything. Imagine my shock when I got out my flashlight last night and replaced the batteries, only to find that my alpha male has fry almost ready to leave the cave! I'm going to add more decor to his tank and allow them to stay in the tank with him. He's the fish that's had the most problem with snub nosed fry, so it will be interesting to see if it helps any. Right after I do a few RO changes to get the TDS back below 500 where it is right now, that is .

I guess it just goes to show that maybe all I needed to do is get too busy to take the best care of them after all .

Barbie

peace

Troy

blueblue · Post by **blueblue** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 8:08 am

congratulations!! zebra always brings us surprises and wonder!!

madmoroccan · Post by **madmoroccan** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 1:04 pm

Congratulations Barbie!

Well done... can you name one Lucky?

Post by **Barbie** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 1:12 pm

I'd done a dry/rainy season a month previous to this, also. I let the TDS get up to 500, then did daily RO water changes to pull the TDS down to 120 or so, over a weeks time. I also added a teeny bit of Acid Buffer to the RO barrel to cause a little fluctuation. The other tank did not have a spawn with this treatment, but it obviously worked for the big male. I've been struggling with problems stimulating them since our tap water got so soft a year and a half ago. It's nice to see there might be a light at the end of the tunnel

.

Barbie

Post by **Barbie** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 7:33 pm

I had 5 fry from this spawn and the male has been back on eggs for 4 days now. A nice sized spawn, so hopefully more of them will make it this time. This is in a 20 gallon tank with the one big dominant male from my main tank, his favorite female and one juvenile female. Both females are spawning. I did nothing to trigger the second spawn, just regular weekly changes. He spawned within a week of the first batch leaving the cave.

Barbie

KenW · Post by **KenW** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 2:06 am

Hi Barbie.

Glad to hear they've done it again. Isn't it amazing that when we put so much effort into them they do nothing and when we leave them alone with just regular maintenance they surprise us. Great job Barbie at doing nothing.

Ken

Post by **Barbie** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 5:18 am

Well yeah, it's not exactly easy for me to just go back to doing routine maintenance but I knew it had worked well the first go round, once they started to spawn they just kept at it. Hopefully that will continue to happen here. I've got one more young female to add to his tank but I'm going to wait to do that until they show signs of not spawning again I think

.

Barbie

24/7 · Post by **24/7** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 11:04 pm

Nice to see and read of real success stories of breeding these little gems

Nice
24/7
John

Post by **Barbie** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 9:07 am

Five days after a regular tap water change the male is on eggs again. A pretty good egg mass again this time. There were 10 fry surviving from the last spawn. I'm still not sure if the females are switching off or not as the spawns seem very close together for just one female to manage, good diet or not. Tank temp is 83 degrees. I'm leaving the fry with the trio at this point to see if that reduces the numbers of injured nosies.

Barbie

Post by **Barbie** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 6:39 pm

Just thought everyone might like a picture of the only view I ever see fry from

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On a side note, any guesses on the sex of the fish under the rock with them?

Barbie

McEve · Post by **McEve** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 6:46 pm

All females!!

Beautiful Barbie

Oh, the big one? male.....

I guess maybe I should get too busy more often...

I guess maybe I should get too busy more often...

Re: I guess maybe I should get too busy more often...

Nice To Hear