Sick or Ripe??????

[AndyAps.com]

im gonna sound stupid but here goes...................
I have been observing what i think is a female in my tank for the last couple of weeks. Her abdomen has gradually got noticably more round and swollen. it is an even symetrical swelling and her white has taken on a peachy tinge over the area. as i say the has happened very gradually and she is still very active and feeding/hunting food wheneveer it enters the tank (day or night) she just hangs out infront of a cave untill disturbed but is very quick to reappear. she still has brilliant blue tinge on all her fins wich are erect and has no signs of injuries or illness that are visible.
now .......is it just me pannicking about a possible bacterial infection (i dosed for one this afternoon) or is it possible she is ready to spawn and holding eggs (the eggs givving the colour thru the skin?)
im tired and confussed and have been for weeks.
please help.
P.S i will post a pic 2morrow

[Tom2600]

Hi

I'm sure your zebra is probably fine if eating and acting normally but a photo (if possible) would help people make more informed advice.

I am sure you have heard/read this before but treating a tank with any chemical is definitely a bed idea if you don't know what your treating for.

I would personally opt for increased oxygen, a couple of good water changes and the addition of a piece of polyfilter. The later will remove the treatment and also any additional unwanted chemicals in your tank.

IF your zebra does have an internal (possibly bacterial) problem then off the shelf treatments will rarely work anyway. You would really need antibiotic treatment.

Like I said, my gut feeling is your zeb. if fine but a photo would help.

Cheers

Tom

[Des]

AndyAps.com,

Would rather wait for a photo, then guessing.
I will try and find a photo of a "pregnant" female and post, if I can find one.
Normally a sick fish will be lethargic and not eat normally, so if yours is acting normal, I would say, that it may be getting full with eggs.

Regards,
Des.

[AndyAps.com]

ok here is 2 pics of the zebra in question she/he is still in the same condition and still behaving normally but does ocupy a cave.....does this mean its a male????????????

i have more pics if neccasary.
let me know what you think

[Rob]

Hi Andy

It does look like a female. not much sign on darkening or odontodes on the pectorial fins, plus they are purely crescent shaped.

At a firt guess I would say she is either eggbound or eating all the pies!!!!

As for the cave, if there are no other crevises for her to hide in she may well pick a cave.

Have you seen her round abou tthe cave with a male. How old are the males?

rob

[AndyAps.com]

hi rob, the large female i spoke to you about before looks on closer inspection to be male so my largest male is close to 4inch and i have at least 4 smaller males around about the 2-3inch mark. not sure how old that makes them. i will try and get some pictures later and post them tonight.
thanks.
p.s whats the best way to get the clearest pics of my zebra's, shall i remove them from the tank???? i want to get pics of all 11 from all angles so i can catalogue them.

p.ss does she look in good condition for a female ?????????

[Rob]

Hi Andy.

She does look in excellent condition, good colouration, no tattered fins etc.

The best angle of phot's is 1 from the top, and one from teh side. If possible get a close up of the pectorial fins. It can sometimes be easier to put them in a breeder breifly, although this can stress the fish out a great deal.

rob

[Des]

Hi AndyAps,

Your fish looks like a female, full of eggs.
When I recently had to get some photos for a magazine article,
I had them photographed individually in a very small 1 gallon "aquarium" ,of course using the tank water, Or as Rob has suggested you can use a floating fry brooder.
What are your water parameters. Do you have soft or hard water?
A large water change with RO sometimes triggers a spawn, by lowering the conductivity.

Des.

[AndyAps.com]

Hi des
my water parameters are as follows
Temp 30 degrees
PH 5.9/6
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0
very soft water, around GH60ppm and KH40ppm (will test tommorrow and confirm)
im so happy she is helathy and fulll of eggs, i have been watching her constantly half expecting her to keel over and die.
if i do a change to lower cunductivity do you think she will spawn then?
do i have to mix the ro with tap water or chemicals or just add it straight. I have never used it as my water is so soft to start with.
P.S before you ask, yes nitrate is ZERO i know this is unusual but it is possible.
P.ss which magazine do you write for?
Thanks

[Tom2600]

Hi

Your female looks large but in good health.

Do you use a denitrator? If not, zero nitrate is IME impossible. How are you achieving it?... I would love to achieve the same for my discus.

Looking at your water parameters I personally wouldn't bother too much with RO. If anything at the moment you maybe just verging on too low a pH, and watch the low KH as a pH crash is always a nasty possibility.

From reading all the spawning reports cave size seems to be the critical factor and maybe a relatively sudden change in water conditions, such as a drop in temp etc.

Good luck

Tom

[Des]

Hi AndyAps.com,

Your water parameters are excellent. There is no need to use RO as you have very soft water. We have to use RO in london as the GH is 16. Normally I use 50% tapand 50%RO, but for breeding use more RO
Checking my parameters just after my last brood found the ph to also be 5.9/6.0 but be careful of the potential of a ph crash.
As a trigger ,I would use cooler water at your next water change, enough to reduce the tank temp by 3 to 4degrees F. The heater then can bring the temp back to normal.
It is also fairly important to have a cave about twice the length of the fish and just wide and high for him to squeeze in. Saying that, I have heard of a pair that bred in a community tank in a piece of bogwood.
Regarding magazines, there was one article written about my breeding Sturisomas for Tropical World Magazine Issue 5 (last issue)- a bi-monthly magazine and have co-authored an article based on my breeding zebras for the next issue ( Issue 6 due out imminently).
P.S. I would also like to know how you get your Nitrate to Zero.
The only time I ever got my Nitrate to Zero ,was in a planted tank with a low wattage undergravel heating cable.

Regards,
Des.

[Matrix]

Looks like a small female in gravity !
Hope I am not wrong.
I had a 2 1/4" female with eggs.

Good luck !

[AndyAps.com]

Hi all
ok i use a species only tank which is 20gallons for the zebras. (fewer fish to create nitrate). i aereate water heavily so ammonia and nitirite are oxidised quickly and are then dealt with by very heavy filtration (around 7 times an hour) this is by 1 internal filter creating water movement mainly and by 2 ehiem external filters, one of which is a wet dry filter (deals with ammonia and nitirte quicker) so products are turned to nitirate very quick. i then have java moss and rapid growing floating plants to suck the nitrate out of the water. i also use NO light in my tanks as this encourages plants to use less photosynthesis and use more nutrients from the roots.
i also change 30% every sunday which drops the water by 4oC to 27 and then heater turns back upto 31oC. i also unplug 1 of the heaters so this takes longer (i run 2 300W 1 set at 31 and 1 set at 29 so if the temp drops below 2oC in the night it is quickly brought back in line by 2 hetaers but only 1 activates under normal circumstances.
hope this explains
andy
P.S anyone else got any comments on my female and any ideas how i can get her to spawn?

[Des]

Hi AndyAps.com,

Sounds like a nice set up.
How many Adult MALES have you got?. Post some pics ,if youre not sure.

Regards,
Des.

[AndyAps.com]

I have 11 adults in total des..............i am not sure how many of each sex.......i am in the process of taking pics and catalougeing them.........i will then post the pics so you guys can see if they are male or female...........thanks