Danios may be spawning... and eating??

So, I was told by someone else on this forum that some of my Danios look like they might be ready to spawn. Then I saw them doing this:





They were swimming pretty crazily near the bottom of the tank and was told by some others that the Danios are spawning eggs but then they are immediately being eaten.

I'm still relatively new to fishkeeping (I've only had these Danios and Oto Cats for a year). And I'm beyond new to this.

What...should I be doing? Should I do something to help the eggs survive?

 

So, I was told by someone else on this forum that some of my Danios look like they might be ready to spawn. Then I saw them doing this:

View attachment 709687View attachment 709690

They were swimming pretty crazily near the bottom of the tank and was told by some others that the Danios are spawning eggs but then they are immediately being eaten.

I'm still relatively new to fishkeeping (I've only had these Danios and Oto Cats for a year). And I'm beyond new to this.

What...should I be doing? Should I do something to help the eggs survive?

Looks like they are spawning. And there might be another possibility where they just see something that looks like food. So what I think is happening is 2-3 Zebra Danios were swimming around and one Zebra Danio dropped some eggs near that plant. What’s happening is they think food is coming out of the plant itself. I don’t know what to do in this situation. I’d rather wait and see if they stop or really, just wait until they just get tired or bored. I have one question, we’re they doing this yesterday and during this day..? When did they start doing it?

 

Looks like they are spawning. And there might be another possibility where they just see something that looks like food. So what I think is happening is 2-3 Zebra Danios were swimming around and one Zebra Danio dropped some eggs near that plant. What’s happening is they think food is coming out of the plant itself. I don’t know what to do in this situation. I’d rather wait and see if they stop or really, just wait until they just get tired or bored. I have one question, we’re they doing this yesterday and during this day..? When did they start doing it?

Thanks for your response. I'm embarrassed to say I've had these Danios for a year and I've seen them do something like this on and off for months. I never thought too much of it. Thought it was just them playing around in the morning. For that reason it makes me think if there ever were fry that survived, they were probably eaten before I could notice them.

This time, I think they started doing it today or yesterday. They usually stop after about an hour. They've more or less settled already.

 

Thanks for your response. I'm embarrassed to say I've had these Danios for a year and I've seen them do something like this on and off for months. I never thought too much of it. Thought it was just them playing around in the morning. For that reason it makes me think if there ever were fry that survived, they were probably eaten before I could notice them.

This time, I think they started doing it today or yesterday. They usually stop after about an hour. They've more or less settled already.

Okay. Are you doing anything at all to make them stop? Or they just stop on they’re own. Because if your doing something.. Like startle them alittle, that might be another possibility where they’re trying to hide. But I just recommend you watching over every morning to see if anything changes!

 

Okay. Are you doing anything at all to make them stop? Or they just stop on they’re own. Because if your doing something.. Like startle them alittle, that might be another possibility where they’re trying to hide. But I just recommend you watching over every morning to see if anything changes!

Believe they're stopping on their own. I left the tank, went away for an hour or two, and when I came back up, they were calmer in general.

 

Believe they're stopping on their own. I left the tank, went away for an hour or two, and when I came back up, they were calmer in general.

Hmm.. I really don’t know what they’re doing.. They could be just scared of you every time you open the lights.. I don’t know honestly.. But just monitor them one or twice to see if atleast one Danio or 2 goes away and does they’re own thing..

 

Hmm.. I really don’t know what they’re doing.. They could be just scared of you every time you open the lights.. I don’t know honestly.. But just monitor them one or twice to see if atleast one Danio or 2 goes away and does they’re own thing..

Hmm. The lights are on a timer. They turn on whether I'm there or not.

 

Hmm. The lights are on a timer. They turn on whether I'm there or not.

Okay.. I don’t know if you should do this.. But removing the plant might help to be honest. But I’m not that sure..

 

Danios will eat their own eggs. If you want any of the eggs to hatch you may have to move the adults to another tank with something like marbles in the bottom so the eggs can fall through and move the adults out once spawning is done.

 

or.....If you had some thick clumps of some type of moss or a spawning mop in your tank some of the eggs may fall in it and might be missed by the adults but even then I feel sure the danios would eat the fry as soon as they came out of the moss.

 

or.....If you had some thick clumps of some type of moss or a spawning mop in your tank some of the eggs may fall in it and might be missed by the adults but even then I feel sure the danios would eat the fry as soon as they came out of the moss.

Yeah. I was just learning about spawning mops. It's certainly tricky. I feel bad not doing anything but I also don't have another tank set up for spawning right now. Hadn't even crossed my mind.

 

I've considered setting up a nano planted tank to just keep some shrimp. Could that be a place to raise fry? Nano might be too small, right? (5 gallons)

 

Back when I had danios and a gravel substrate I ended up with danio eggs in the mulm I siphoned out of my gravel. I would leave it setting in a container for a few days and danio fry would start hatching out in the container. I would transfer the tiny creatures over to their own little 5 gallon tank as they hatched out.

I've considered setting up a nano planted tank to just keep some shrimp. Could that be a place to raise fry? Nano might be too small, right? (5 gallons)

A 5 gallon tank would work.

 

Back when I had danios and a gravel substrate I ended up with danio eggs in the mulm I siphoned out of my gravel. I would leave it setting in a container for a few days and danio fry would start hatching out in the container. I would transfer the tiny creatures over to their own little 5 gallon tank as they hatched out.

A 5 gallon tank would work.

Would shrimp (ghost or amano) bother the fry in any way?

 

Would shrimp (ghost or amano) bother the fry in any way?

I honestly don't know.

 

They are spawning. They are just dropping eggs. It’s a natural thing nothing to worry about.
There are possibly dozens of ways of getting the eggs to a safe place or removing the adults etc.

I like moving spawning mops to buckets on the floor with an air stone. Then to a green water tank . Then to another grow out tank etc etc.
Raising the fry is a long journey for fish that are cheap. You commit a tank to fry for months. You will need dozens of water changes at a cost of time water and prime. Not to mention food. You will need to keep at the job every day for a couple of months. At the end you will have young fish of no great value.

Its a ton of fun I highly recommend doing it if you have the time and the tank / tanks. This species will not make you rich but will be very satisfying to have dozens of your own offspring.

Great video by the way

 

They are spawning. They are just dropping eggs. It’s a natural thing nothing to worry about.
There are possibly dozens of ways of getting the eggs to a safe place or removing the adults etc.

I like moving spawning mops to buckets on the floor with an air stone. Then to a green water tank . Then to another grow out tank etc etc.
Raising the fry is a long journey for fish that are cheap. You commit a tank to fry for months. You will need dozens of water changes at a cost of time water and prime. Not to mention food. You will need to keep at the job every day for a couple of months. At the end you will have young fish of no great value.

Its a ton of fun I highly recommend doing it if you have the time and the tank / tanks. This species will not make you rich but will be very satisfying to have dozens of your own offspring.

Great video by the way

Thanks, that's really valuable insight. I'd love to do it someday but I'm probably not equipped to do it successfully right now. For the moment, I'll let nature do its thing I suppose.