Page 1 of 2

Zebra project

Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 1:41 pm
by Ouscazz
Some photos of my Zebra project.

The juvenile 1" Zebras will arrive on saturday sept 12'th so I've prepared a small 25gal. tank for them. My idea is to keep them in this tank for about six months. In the meantime I'll prepare and aquascape a larger 75gal. tank for them. This small tank will help me keep track on the small ones and also to test if the set up is working well.

Photo of tank, just filled up with water and circulation.

Image

Aquascaping...
Image
Lots of hide outs, all visible from the front of the tank, with or without torch. The large root in the back of the tank is sawed off at the back = no zebras behind the root.


Opinions on my aquascaping are very welcome.

Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 3:51 pm
by coralite
I like your tank! it looks you like you and I had the same idea for sloping our sand except that you used wood where I used stones. You must also be an aquascaper?

Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 6:56 pm
by Joby
Nice looking tank :)

Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 4:45 pm
by Ouscazz
coralite;
Thanks a lot! Yes I put my pride in aquascaping, it's so much fun.

Joby;
Thanks man!

:)

Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 6:12 pm
by Zinfin
I like how you've given them places to hide but you'll still be able to see them. Good thinking.

What's the plan for filtration, water movement, air bubbles, etc?

Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 9:53 pm
by Ouscazz
Thanks Zinfin!

Filtration and circulation in this temporary 25gal (100L) tank are provided by a Fluval 304 external filter which will turn the water over +10 times per hour. The pump outlet is placed right at the surface for maximum aeriation of the water. No additional air bubbles.

Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 2:53 pm
by Ouscazz
7 zebras arrived early saturday morning.. I was quite shocked about the size of the small ones, yes SMALL ones... none were any longer than 20mm, infants so to speak.. I had some serious second thoughts about the purchase for a couple of minutes, but went through with it..

Anyhow, the infants had been travelling the whole night and I was a bit concerned about how they would react to this long journey. I also had to rethink my whole plan about the introduction, no chance they would live more than a couple of days in my 100 liter tank. Fast thinking... I placed the small ones in a floating fry trap inside the already prepared main tank. The pump outlet is directed straight towards the short side of the fry trap, making sure the water is streaming through it all the time. A couple of small pieces of bog wood is placed inside the cage, for the zebras to hide under. I think I need to keep them in the cage for 2-3 months before I introduce them to their new home.

The zebras has been in there for 78 hrs now and all of them seems to be allright. They feed when the lights are out and all food presented has been eaten every morning so far.

l

Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 6:18 pm
by civicr
well done i think you did the right thing with the fry trap and puting them into a established mature tank,

hope to get pics soon best of luck

Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 7:58 pm
by Joby
Glad they arrived safely as they were so young :?

Hope they can grow nice and big and go into the main tank soon :)

Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 8:33 pm
by Ouscazz
I think they will be ok. I just have to be extremely careful...

The first picky..

Image

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 2:01 am
by Zinfin
They do look small. I'm curious. How big did they tell you they would be? Did you order them from outside of the country?

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 8:26 am
by Ouscazz
I was told they were supposed to be 20 mm and in my imagination that would probably be 20-25 mm. In fact they are actually no more than 15-18 mm. That's about 4 weeks difference in growth... IMO frys that small shouldn't be moved at all and I would not have ordered them if I knew they were this tiny, but now they are here and my mission is to do all I can to make them grow strong. My zebs are captive bred in Sweden.

Well, well... they do feed well. Yesterday evening when I put out the light I gave them lots of food. And they had eaten it all when I checked on them this morning.

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 9:33 pm
by Joby
Good grief they do look tiny :o

Great to hear they like their food though :)

Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 4:12 pm
by Ouscazz
Update;

Didn't like the fry trap I used, so I converted a small pet box into a zeb fry trap..

Top view. Water is been led from the filter/pump outlet straight into the trap via 2 air hoses.
Image

Front view.
Image

Baby Zebs sure like the streaming water from the hose..
Image[/

Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 8:50 pm
by Joby
Great fry trap :D