juwanil

I just noticed today that one of my zebra danios bellys has gotten quite big. I am pretty sure that she is pregnant. i dont really have another tank to put her in for her to lay her eggs so my question is what should i do to help protect the eggs/fry once they are laid and hatch. I have a 30 gallon tank with 8 zebras in it and that is all. help me.

TFA101

WELCOME TO FISHLORE


If you can get your hands on something called Java moss (plant) your danios will spawn in it, and the fry (which are very miniscule) will be able to take cover in their for the first while of their live, otherwise, a mass of green yarn (rinse first) will act as a substitute. When first born, danios are equipped with their own food supply, their egg sac. They will feed off of this for the first 2-4 days of their lives. Once you notice they have been fully absorbed, you can begin using commercial fry food, in liquid, or powdered form. I haven't had personal experience with these guys, but many others have, and they should all be willing to share some advice.

Chief_waterchanger

I have bred Danio Kerri in the past, and I used a spare tank, but since you said you don't have access to that I would do this:

TFA had a good idea with java moss and/or the yarn breeder mops. (You can tie handfuls of yarn around a cork for a nice floating breeding mop, but you could spread it along the bottom fairly thick for the eggs to fall into and hope the adults don't go in and eat them.

Being egglayers you have to have a fertile male with the female when her eggs begin coming out or they will not be fertilized. I would cover the bottom with marbles or some other substrate so that the eggs may fall down between the substrate pieces, where part of them will get out of reach of the adults.

Danio fry, when hatched, sadly, are tiny. The Danio Kerri fry I spawned on two occasions, once in a 10g and once in a plastic tote were small enough that I, with 20/20 or better vision could barely notice them without really focusing on the tank.

So even when freeswimming the adults may eat them anyway, but that is just a keep your fingers crossed kinda thing.

(You can get a plastic tote that would hold 10-50 gallons of water and put the adults in there with VERY shallow water (about 4-8 inches of water) and marbles or some such for 1 day, then put the adults back in their home-tank. Raise the tote's water level to about 50% of the tote's height and wait about another 5 days to see if you notice fry. )

You wouldn't necessarily need a heater or filter in the plastic tote if you keep it in a house that is kept at 70 degrees farenheit and above. When you notice freeswimming fry then you can do a VERY careful waterchange with air-tubing. I would even do the change into a bucket so you can check for fry that may have been sucked up in the process.

I hope that helps.