Zebra Danio Reproduction

[theotheragentm]

I have a tank that I added some Zebra Danios to recently. They are doing well, but I had a question about reproduction. Is there any special setup to allow them to mate? I read that they female will lay eggs and they will lie on the bottom of the tank. Does she pick a spot to lay them or do they just fall? The reason I ask is because I have other fish, which would probably want to make a snack out of these fish eggs. Also, the adults swim at the surface of the water. Do the fry do that as well, because that would probably make them a snack for any number of livebearers I have or the Gouramis.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[zenkatydid]

danios will eat their own eggs. very easy to mate, very difficult to save the eggs. i have heard that breeders use marbles as substrate to allow the eggs to fall through to safety. and yes, they just scatter them everywhere.

[gu2high]

You don't need do anything for them to mate. Eggs will stay in gravel for 2-3 days then hatch to fry. Fry will also stay in gravel for 1-2 days before they swim up to become snack.
Fry is small, but can be seen by your eyes. Eggs is a tiny round dot with half black and you need try hard using eyes to see them.

If you have gravel, not all egg/fry will be eaten if you collect them in time. If you find danios are searching gravel, you know there are fry/egg in it. The best way to collect fry/egg in a community tank is vacuum the gravel every 2-3 days and save the water in a bucket. Then you can find fry/egg in the water easily and net them to a breeding net to raise them. Use grinded small particle foods or first-bite to feed them. They grow very fast, much faster than livebearers.

[theotheragentm]

Okay, thanks. I do have sand in my tank, but I have rocks that the eggs can fall between. The only concern I have is that the fry from my livebearers and my shrimp can get into these cracks. Will they be eating the eggs as well?

[gu2high]

They will eat eggs and fry definitely. That is the reason you need vaccum gravel to save fry and eggs every 2-3 days - depends on situation, if you don't get any, then you don't need to and wait until you see female has fat belly and they are searching gravel.

You will still get enough - more than you need I think. I have one female and I have collected more than 50 fry within a month before I gave up.

Don't put danios fry with livebearer fry in the same breeding net, as livebearer fry is much bigger than danios fry and they will eat them. Wait 3-4 weeks, then you can put them together but this is not a good idea. You will find danios fry grow much faster than livebearers because danios fry grab food faster than livebearers and the later may not get enough food or may be stressed.

[theotheragentm]

Great. Thanks. It sounds like soon I will be overrun with Danios soon, not just livebearers.