Danios

[Mekachu04]

Danio tagging/marking?

I'm considering breeding danios, but i'm running into a few questions that I'm having some issues finding answers to.

The really big one is finding a humane, semi permanent way of tagging/marking my breeding pairs. Since i know the males, at least, bond for life, i want to keep take of who is paired with who. But when i do, i don't want to separate them from their group for any longer than the actual spawning. Any suggestions?

I don't mind spending money, but i don't want to cause undue stress either. I've looked into fin clipping, and food colouring - but they sound too short term for all the handling they require. And any plastic marine tags I've found are way too big for my fish.

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[henningc]

Danios don't really pair. They are group breeders so there is no pair bond. Just turn them lose and let them go.

Cichlids form pair bonds and will actually kill everyone else in the tank if need be to keep their mate and spawns safe.

Hope this helps. You can always P.M. me if you have other questions.

 

[Kittykat364]

I'm pretty sure that danios (zebras, at least) form pairs for life, and often won't mate with other danios, even if their mate dies.

Be warned, the fry are so small and plentiful that you might suck up a bunch during water changes. I recently relocated my zebras to a bigger tank and now have more than 10 fry swimming around in the tank they used to be in. I didn't even want to breed them, they did it on their own. They are all sticking together. How sweet schooling at a young age.

I would suggest just getting a large school and let them pair off by themselves, and just let them do the rest

 

[Mogurako]

This is from Seriously Fish and it mentions nothing about them forming pairs. Most of your egg scattering fish tend to spawn in large groups with whatever others happen to be ready to spawn.

"An excellent choice for those new to breeding fishes in aquaria. Like many small cyprinids it’s an egg-scattering spawner that exhibits no parental care.

When the fish are in good condition they should spawn often and in a densely-planted, mature aquarium it’s possible that small numbers of fry may start to appear without human intervention.

However if you want to increase the yield of fry a slightly more controlled approach is required.

The adult group can still be conditioned together but one or more smaller, say 30-40 litre, containers should also be set up and half-filled with water.

These should be very dimly lit and the base covered with some kind of mesh of a large enough grade so that the eggs can fall through it but small enough so that the adults cannot reach them.

The widely available plastic ‘grass’-type matting can also be used and works very well; alternatively filling much of the tank with Java moss or other fine-leaved plant can also yield good results.

The water itself should be of slightly acidic to neutral pH with a temperature towards the upper end of the range suggested above.

A small power filter can be added initially and this should be positioned so that the flow is directed down the full length of the tank.

When the adult fish are well-conditioned and the females appear full of eggs one or two pairs should then be introduced to each container.

Spawning can be initiated by adding small amounts of cool water every few hours in such a way that the tank is gradually topped up and feeding small amounts of live and frozen foods.

The pair should spawn the following morning. The easiest and quickest way to tell is simply to look at the female. If the fish have spawned she will be noticeably slimmer.

The adults will eat any eggs they find and are best removed after a couple of days at which point the power filter should be switched for a mature sponge-type unit in order to avoid fry being sucked into the mechanism.

Incubation is temperature-dependant to an extent but usually takes between 24 and 36 hours with the young free-swimming a few days later.

Initial food should be Paramecium or a proprietary dry food of sufficiently small (5-50 micron diameter) grade, introducing Artemia nauplii, microworm, etc., once the fry are large enough to accept them" .

 

[RookieFishOwner]

I have just recently found one of my danios is pregnant, how long until the eggs are laid, and hatch?

 

[Kittykat364]

I'm not sure how long it takes to lay but they to ale something like 24-48 hrs to hatch.

 

[RookieFishOwner]

Thanks for the help, when the eggs are laid how do I take care of them?

 

[Mogurako]

I have just recently found one of my danios is pregnant, how long until the eggs are laid, and hatch?

Thanks for the help, when the eggs are laid how do I take care of them?

My post covered both of these, did you even bother to read it?