Breeding....something

[Characins]

So many questions these days, and I appriciate all the answers!

In a 10 gallon tank, I would like to try to breed either cherry barbs or zebra danios (this will probably be a pretty low budget project).

My questions-

• How do you tell when they are paired?
• Should I seprate the parents when the eggs have been layed?
• How many should I get?
• What kind of parameters, substrate, and decor do they like?

[valerietheangel]

You're going to get much better answers from some of the people on this forum but to kick it off...

Both cherry barbs and zebra danios are egg scatterers, and both will eat their eggs if left to their own devices. One of my fishkeeping books suggest a bare tank with a double layer of large-ish marbles (so the eggs fall between the marbles and are safe from the parents). I would think this could mean more risk for fungus on the eggs etc. but I have no experience with this method so I honestly don't know.

One of the people we know from our local aquarium society breeds killies in 10 gallon aquariums that are 3/4 full of java moss. The java moss provides places for the eggs and fry to hide but you have to dig around in it to see the parents. I think this would work well with cherries or zebras too.

Zebra danios are fairly easy to spawn, when I used to keep them I would see them spawning every couple of weeks. I didn't do anything to preserve the eggs though and never raised any fry.

[Riley]

You should be able to breed those in a ten gallon now problem. Another suggestion would be Galaxy rasboras,White Clouds or Clown Killies. Or you could grow out some Cherry Shrimp in there. Either way just grow out a ton of moss in there and turn em loose.

Remember a good key to breeding fish is to keep em fed really good and keep the water clean.

Dont worry about egg scattering fish, just keep and eye on them. If they spawn and you want the maximum amount of fry, pull the parents. If you want some fry just leave the parents in there and let them colonize.

As far as sex goes just search around on the internet. You should be able to find the info on the internet.

[lauraleellbp]

^^^ As said before, both filling a tank with marbles and/or with java moss are excellent ways to raise fry. Cherry barbs and zebra danios are excellent choices for breeding your first egglayers. It's pretty easy to tell males from females in both species.

Male zebra danios are much thinner than females. Female danios have the same shape as femaly guppies; very broad, especially when filling with eggs and getting ready to spawn.

Cherry barbs are easier still to tell apart. The males are brilliant red, but the females are usually more plain; not as red and more two-toned. There are pics of both males and females now in the fish profiles on the forum so that you can compare. If you go to the profile and look up in the top left corner, you can see a male in comparison to the two females in the picture underneath.

[lauraleellbp]

Here's a pic of a male and female zebra danio so you can compare- male is top:

Here's a better pic of a female:

[Characins]

Thanks for the advice!

I'm torn here...zebras or cherries.....

Which is easier to breed? I know they are both pretty easy but is there an easier?

Which would you choose?

[lauraleellbp]

I actually haven't kept zebras since I was a kid, and I never personally tried spawning them.

I have Cherry barbs now, and for me are worse than guppies in my tanks! They spawn like crazy to the point I have literally thought I'd given my entire school away twice and still enough fry came out of the woodwork afterwards that I still have 5 right now in my main tank... I've even found fry living in my HOB filter and living underneath my undergravel filter!!!

Try one, and if after 3-4 months you don't have any results, try the other? These fish have been domesticated for so long that they usually aren't too picky about water parameters; as long as yours aren't too extreme IMO I think you could be successful with either/or.

Whichever species you choose, get a ratio of 1 male to 2-3 females, though, and make sure you purchase adult females, they should be at least as long as the males if not larger.

[neilfishguy]

Originally Posted by lauraleellbp

Whichever species you choose, get a ratio of 1 male to 2-3 females, though, and make sure you purchase adult females, they should be at least as long as the males if not larger.

Make sure you purchase adult females? No reason for that...its not like they take a long time to raise to breeding age, and if you buy adults, then they might allready be past their prime...

Just buy about 6, no matter the sexes as long as you have a mix, it should be fine. Many people breed both these species in reverse trios, although it is deffinitly better to have normal trios.

Zebras are considered the best first egg layer by many. I think WCMM, but both zebras and cherrys are easy

[jaidexl]

I vacuumed my danio tank once, into a 5gl scrap bucket that sat on the porch. I ended up raising Bucky the bucket fish aka "gravel vac baby" from it.







Some notes about the setup:

-Breeder was an overstocked, cycling tank with wicked parameter fluctuations
-Parent clan was conditioned with Wardley flakes from Petco
-Main tools to get the job done were a gravel vacuum and a 5gl bucket

Conclusion:

-Zebra danios are tough as old nails.

[lauraleellbp]

LOL

Any chance you want some cherry barbs on Monday, Jaide...? (But I still don't want the SAE, no trade! LOL)

[jaidexl]

Na, never really been into cherry barbs.

[lauraleellbp]

Can't blame a gal for tryin' (I was hoping the THIRD time giving them all away might be the charm!) LOL

[jaidexl]

If you have any small, heavy jawed, predatory characins, well that's what I'm after now, maybe a school of Exodons or Roeboides.


Sorry to derail, Characins, I just wanted you to know that Danios can be bred by total accident in some
_ _ _ _ poor conditions.

[Characins]

Thanks for all the help.
I think I will start off with whichever I can find first, in a couple months if they still don't breed I'll get the other.

Should I get 8 of them?

Does it matter or not if they are the long-finned variety?

[lauraleellbp]

8 would be fine in a 20gal tank. Do you have another tank to move the adults to after they've spawned? They will eat fry, otherwise. If you use tons of java fern, some might be able to hide from the adults long enough to grow big.

Regular, long-finned, leopard, albino... choice is all up to you! (I wouldn't mix them, though- just stick to all one variety, unless you are interested in getting into genetics...)