Zebra Danios Breeding (i Think)

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bbbls108

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hi all my danios are chasing each other all over the tank. this morning i noticed two off them twisting and swimming very close together over rocks and in the java moss my swordtails where very close to them and it look like they where eating something from around them.i have moved my swordtails and have left the danios to it. Does it look like they are laying eggs,if so a few questions 1.should i put some anti fungal in? 2.should i move the adults if so when? and 3.how long until the eggs hatch? i only have three danios left had six a couple of years ago( three decided to jump and fried underlights :hyper: ) many thanks for your time reading and any help.bbbls108
 
Danios are known as the guppies of the egg layers. The constantly breed as much as every day, but they almost always eat all their eggs. If you've had danios for a while chances are they've already been breeding. I think that it was good to move the swordtails, they would probly eat the eggs too while the danios are spawning. If any eggs make it and sink under the gravel, there's a good chance they will hatch, but to make sure the parents don't eat them id suggest a lot of bottom plants to hide them. Also remove any fish (including the parents) to prevent the little ones from being eaten.
Hope i helped!!!!
Alaina B)
 
thank you very much for advice i have java moss, java ferns and vallis and hornwort we will have to wait and see, i will let you know if i get little ones. :good: sue
 
Basically unless you remove the parents and any other fish which could posibly eat the fry and eggs (which is basically most fish), you are highly unlikely to be able to successfully breed and rear any danio fry at all- the fry are very vunerable for a long time.
Ideally you need;
a. A cycled/established tank of at least 10-15gals, sub-tropical temps (19-23 dgrees) are best for breeding danio's in my experience.
b. Some nice healthy plants with small and dense leaves to help create a densely planted area in the tank.
c. Excellent water quality and lots of water changes and good food for the adult danio's (frozen foods like bloodworms, daphinia, krill etc are great) and liquid fry food for the fry like Liquifry.
d. Fine sand substrate is best since its easier to keep clean and see the fry on.

When the adults have finished spawning you should remove them from the tank- its up to you really when exactly you do it though. Dense planting is good as its helps protect the eggs from other fish including the parents after they have finished spawning. They may spawn many times so you may want to leave them there for a couple of days during their spawning. I can't remember exactly how long it took for me for the eggs to hatch, i think it was around a week before i noticed any fry in the tank.
The fry are really tiny! They are much smaller and thinner than newborn guppy fry and are practically see-through, and tend to swim around the bottom to middle section of the tank- you'll need to keep on looking everyday very hard to see them. Liquid fry foods are best since the fry are so tiny (most dried foods are too large for the fry), you need to stir the fry food up a bit in the water otherwise it'll just sink in a big glob to the bottom of the tank.
For me i got around 100-150 fry for a single pair of pearl danio's, and it took around a year for the fry to be fully grown. Most of the fry will end up dying when tiny (its quite normal for them to do so apparently) , so you don't need to worry too much about the amount of fry you'll end up having to raise- out of the 100+ fry i had 25 of them grow to adulthood in the end.
 
hi tokis -phoneik many thanks for your time and advice.i will keep watching just in case we get any fry. last week i spotted a very small thing stuck to the glass half way down i thought it was a bit of hornwort stuck there but it wasnt green and it didnt look like normal fry.very thin and long going into a point at the end, i showed my other half and it was gone.lets keeps fingers crossed you never know.i will let you know if i see any fry. many thanks sue
 
hi tokis -phoneik many thanks for your time and advice.i will keep watching just in case we get any fry. last week i spotted a very small thing stuck to the glass half way down i thought it was a bit of hornwort stuck there but it wasnt green and it didnt look like normal fry.very thin and long going into a point at the end, i showed my other half and it was gone.lets keeps fingers crossed you never know.i will let you know if i see any fry. many thanks sue

Glad to help :good: . But i'm just saying that in a community tank, its just highly unlikely that you'll be able to successfully raise any fry in it- any fry which are born will be eaten up within days with the fish you have in your tank. Fry won't stick themselves to the glass, they swim around the tank liike the adults, the critter you saw is most likely a type of harmless invertebrate.
If you want to breed them successfully, the best thing is to have a separate tank that the adults can spawn in and the fry can grow up in with no adult fish to eat them- the fry are very vunerable for many months.
 
Oh danios will breed no matter what you do. If there is a male and a female, expect some fry to appear. Now whether or not they survive is a different matter.
I've scooped out dozens of their tiny babies before, but now only 3 have survived. If you do gravel vacs or anything like that, Make sure to check the water before you dump it. Scoop it out a cup at a time and inspect it closely. You'll probably find some fry in there. You could then get a breeders net and put the babies you find into it :)
 
If you have another tank avaliable I would put fairly large gravel as a substrate. Put the Danios in and leave then for 24 hours. If there are any eggs they will hatch within a couple of days and you will notice a few tiny black lines of the glass. They are the fry!!
(Don't forget about new tank syndrome if you are setting up a new tank)

This method is tried and tested by me!! I got over 50 fry from just 4 danios.
 
my old friend was very lucky and had white cloud mountain mionnow and zebra danio babies at the same time. i went in to have a look and they are tiny little creatures on the side of the glass. it takes at maximum i think 2days for the eggs to hatch. he had hundreds in this tank he had to het the babies out one by one (dont know why he didnt just remove the parents.)
i think light helps the eggs hatch
hope this hellped
 
many thanks for everyones advice. i will try and catch the adults 2morrow and put them into one of my other tanks.(if i can catch them little beggers).i have removed all the swordtails so the tank will be empty.Just eggs if iam lucky,i have be removing the dirt from my sand by moving my net over the sand and catch the dirty as it moves up from the sand.i will let you all know if i see little fry.BIG THANK YOU sue
 
the first 2 days of the frys being born they do stick themselves to the glass and that thing you found
on the glass sounded like a fry to me
 
hi black mollie i found the little thing on the glass lask week and the weekend i noticed the danios swimming very close to each other and around my plants and rocks.as i mention previous i have moved all my swordtails and the danios are the only fish left in my tank.
they have been still at it and i will try and catch them tomorrow.and we will just have to wait and see.its a same if the little thing was a baby danio unfortunately my swordtails where in with them (breakfast for them). i will keep you posted if i see any fry many thanks black mollie bye for now sue
 
hi just let you all know that i removed the three adults danios after a couple of days and this morning i found a little thing on the glass again so i put a breeding net into the tank and caught the little one and now i have caught about twenty so far.I will be feeding them on liquidfry no1 my local pet shop dosent have any.my lovely sister is going to get some for today.many many thanks for everyone's advice.(i cant believe how small there are)sue
 

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