Zebra & leopard danio

[Wayne487]

Will they breed together? I have a female leopard and she's definitely carrying eggs but the only males I have are zebra, will they interbreed?

 

[Fishfur]

Yes, they can breed with each other. Fry are said to be attractive but likely not fertile themselves, if you get any eggs hatching and fry surviving. They are egg scatterers that eat both their eggs and fry. A thick moss bed or layer of marbles is good, makes it harder for them to find the eggs once they are laid, and floating plants or moss are good hiding places for fry.

 

[Wayne487]

Yes, they can breed with each other. Fry are said to be attractive but likely not fertile themselves, if you get any eggs hatching and fry surviving. They are egg scatterers that eat both their eggs and fry. A thick moss bed or layer of marbles is good, makes it harder for them to find the eggs once they are laid, and floating plants or moss are good hiding places for fry.

Oh right, is it worth moving the female and the male I want to breed into a separate tank? (They're in a community tank at the minute)

 

[Fishfur]

If you really want fry, you will likely get more in a separate tank, so you can remove the parents after they spawn. A big water change early in the morning with water ten degrees cooler can help to stimulate spawning.

Feeding live foods for a few weeks beforehand helps condition them to breed. Frozen is ok too, bloodworm, daphnia, brine shrimp, etc.

 

[Wayne487]

If you really want fry, you will likely get more in a separate tank, so you can remove the parents after they spawn. A big water change early in the morning with water ten degrees cooler can help to stimulate spawning.

Feeding live foods for a few weeks beforehand helps condition them to breed. Frozen is ok too, bloodworm, daphnia, brine shrimp, etc.

Well she's already pretty swollen with eggs so is it too late to start feeding bloodworm? And wouldn't a water change so much cooler send them into shock?

 

[Fishfur]

No, when they are in the wild, they spawn after the rains.. when the water is much fresher and can be a lot cooler. You are not changing all the water, only about 40%, and it won't shock them. They are cool water fish, not true tropical fish.

You can start feeding bloodworms now. If you miss this spawn, there will be another, they tend to keep it up once they start, and now he's mated that male will not be interested in other females, if there are any. Females are not faithful, but the males tend to be.

 

[Wayne487]

No, when they are in the wild, they spawn after the rains.. when the water is much fresher and can be a lot cooler. You are not changing all the water, only about 40%, and it won't shock them. They are cool water fish, not true tropical fish.

You can start feeding bloodworms now. If you miss this spawn, there will be another, they tend to keep it up once they start, and now he's mated that male will not be interested in other females, if there are any. Females are not faithful, but the males tend to be.

Well as far as I'm aware they haven't paired or he hasn't shown much interest (that I've seen) but I'd like him to be the father as he's a long finned zebra and such great colours so figured it could produce some nice offspring

 

[Fishfur]

Ah, sorry, I misunderstood. If he has only this female though, he will probably breed with her. Leopards are quite pretty with the long fins, for sure. You won't get all long fins, you'll get a percentage, even if both parents have long fins, some fry will be short fins, though they carry the gene for long fins.

 

[Wayne487]

Ah, sorry, I misunderstood. If he has only this female though, he will probably breed with her. Leopards are quite pretty with the long fins, for sure. You won't get all long fins, you'll get a percentage, even if both parents have long fins, some fry will be short fins, though they carry the gene for long fins.

im not sure on the sex of the rest of the danios to be quite honest im not sure on how to sex them, the only fish i can sex is live bearers to be honest lol. someone told me that the females arent as bright as the males but thats not always easy to see.

I'd lov a mixture of both as im sure each one will look different. thats what im looking forward to most with my guppy fry who are just starting to get colours now

 

[Fishfur]

Danios that are full grown are not too hard to sex. Females are larger, rounder in the belly, generally fuller looking, even if not full of eggs.
Males are much more slender, torpedo shape, no round belly. Colour does not vary much, if at all, between sexes.

 

[Wayne487]

Danios that are full grown are not too hard to sex. Females are larger, rounder in the belly, generally fuller looking, even if not full of eggs. Males are much more slender, torpedo shape, no round belly. Colour does not vary much, if at all, between sexes.

Oh I'll have to have a look later then, thanks. Don't think I've seen any that could be males but haven't looked that closely and I guess whoever told me about the colour was wrong then thanks for clearing that up

 

[Fishfur]

If they all look the same, you may only have one sex. It happens, the younger ones are harder to sort out, though even half grown, if you see a bunch of them, the boys are always more slender looking and have a straighter underline than the girls do.

 

[Wayne487]

If they all look the same, you may only have one sex. It happens, the younger ones are harder to sort out, though even half grown, if you see a bunch of them, the boys are always more slender looking and have a straighter underline than the girls do.

I've had them around 2-3months now and were a fair size when bought so should be almost if not already adults so ill definitely check later on

I have a 25L tall hex would that be ok for them to breed in? Only thing is I'm not sure if my filters move the water in the bottom around so as not to cause a dead spot, is there a way I can check? Would food colouring be harmful to fish/BB/filters so I can see how the water flows

 

[Fishfur]

Are you seeing issues that might suggest dead spots ? Best way to handle them is add a small internal pump, I like Koralia nano pumps myself. Use them to give my fan shrimp a good current to feed in. Can aim them in any direction, bounce the flow off a tank side and down, whatever you like. Food colour probably would not hurt but stirring up the substrate a bit would do the same basic thing.

Best breeding situation for them is a longer, shallower tank, with either a good mass of mosses or a layer of marbles on the bottom. Stops them eating many of the eggs, gives fry a place to hide when first hatched. But they can breed almost anywhere. Survival of fry is much higher if they are not with the parents until they get big enough not to be snacks.

 

[Wayne487]

Are you seeing issues that might suggest dead spots ? Best way to handle them is add a small internal pump, I like Koralia nano pumps myself. Use them to give my fan shrimp a good current to feed in. Can aim them in any direction, bounce the flow off a tank side and down, whatever you like. Food colour probably would not hurt but stirring up the substrate a bit would do the same basic thing. Best breeding situation for them is a longer, shallower tank, with either a good mass of mosses or a layer of marbles on the bottom. Stops them eating many of the eggs, gives fry a place to hide when first hatched. But they can breed almost anywhere. Survival of fry is much higher if they are not with the parents until they get big enough not to be snacks.

Well I'm not sure if there are or not but my filters are all HOB filters and wasn't sure if the current was making it down into the bottom as its a tall tank, I might just be paranoid but don't want the eggs to be sat in a dead spot under the marbles, I guess I could swap some fish around to get a long tank to breed in rather than a tall one but would rather not disturb any other fish

 

[Fishfur]

Maybe wait and see a bit. Eggs hatch quite soon, a day or two later I believe. I have yet to see any fry, I don't try to save them if there are any, but I have seen them spawning on the tank bottom, so I know they lay eggs now and then at least. Circulation is not an issue thanks to the pump for the shrimp. Wish you luck !

 

[Wayne487]

Maybe wait and see a bit. Eggs hatch quite soon, a day or two later I believe. I have yet to see any fry, I don't try to save them if there are any, but I have seen them spawning on the tank bottom, so I know they lay eggs now and then at least. Circulation is not an issue thanks to the pump for the shrimp. Wish you luck !

Yeah I'll have a look into an underwater filter tomorrow if I can pick up a cheap one other wise I'll have to try and make do with what I already have. Would putting a normal filter in work if I put it low in the tank or is there risk of it breaking?

 

[Fishfur]

You could also just add an airstone to any dead spots, it will help turn them over.

 

[Wayne487]

You could also just add an airstone to any dead spots, it will help turn them over.

Thanks for all the help I've put them in a separate tank but I'm still waiting for her to spawn, not sure how long it normally takes but I'm trying to be patient lol