My young red zebra is holding again, need advice.

[vanpudin]

Hi. Earlier this month i started a thread about if my zebra was holding or was it sick. today i just discovered my zebra is holding again. The fry from the 1st batch early this month are in a 20g were the mom released them. Mom is still in the 55g now with the other cichlids.
My question is can i put mom back in small tank with fry, or will she kill them. Mom is only 2-2.5 long herself, not a big fish. I want all the babies to survive. Mom only had 8 fry i was aware of. 1 died since then. I know of a fish emporium that will give me up to 1/3 credit for what they sell them for.
I do have a 3rd tank which is a 29g, but i did not want to set it up unless i have to.
If if had to i could put current fry in 29g and moma in 20g.
Thanks for any replies. Ill try to get a pick of my current fry.

[kay-bee]

Her maternal instincts have likely disappeared by now. She'll probably attempt to harm or even consume them.

[vanpudin]

Here's a few pics of babies followed by pic of 55g tank with moma on bottom. On 2 pics of babies, their coloration is diff. because of lighting and flash. The male zebra is right above her. Hopefuly he's the dad and not one of my ice blues.

[vanpudin]

Yesterday i noticed alot of gravel moved under my rock ornament in the tank. Now i know why.
I guess if she is going to continue to have babies, i should set up a 3rd tank. 1 for adult cichlids, 1 for female while holding, and 1 for previous fry. Or i could take my chances and leave her in their, but fry may be eaten.
I live in a small townhome, so i dont have alot of room for fish tanks. I guess on the positive side, i could at least get a few bucks for these fish or store credit. Its not like i have a common convicts were it seems like u can't give them away and they breed like bunnys.

[cschilly]

I can't wait til my zebras start having kids :)

[Pittbull]

hello vanpudin first great job at raising the first batch well if mom is holding she wouldnt try to consume her previous batch because her mouth is full, but when she releases them the juvies may try to eat her new batch i would throw a crap load of rock in the juvie tank and see what makes it if you want a 100% survival rate then a separate tank is needed, good luck buddy..

[vanpudin]

Thanks pittbull for the response. I didnt really want to setup my other tank again intill i moved into a bigger house. then again the extra tank is already on its own stand just not set up to go. I could just i could fill the tank up with some water of my other two tanks and with some new water and i'll be ready to go. Well i wonder if this zebra reproduces once a month if it would be enough to pay for some gas money by selling the fry when their big enough at the local fish emporium.
If i'm not mistaken red zebras sell for between $4.99-12.99 at most fish stores when big enough. I might get a 1/3 of that at the local fish emporium.

[Pittbull]

cool van yeah if the your LFS will give you money instead of store credit that would be cool for gas money at least a few gallons each brood, good luck with that aye..later buddy..

[vanpudin]

Thanks pittbull, yea because of her size she may only produce 8-10 fry. She produced 8 that i'm aware of the 1st time.

[Pittbull]

and as she gets older and bigger she will produce even more buddy she is still small right but yep soon she will spit out 50 or so.

[vanpudin]

Well the fry from first batch has moved from 20g to 29g. Moma holding is in 20g tank alone. we will see what happens in a 1-2 weeks.

[Pittbull]

cool deal hope all is good to go aye..

[FishNet]

Vanpudin,

A technique that I use in your situation is to place a divider in the fry tank. I then place the holding female on one side, until she releases the fry. At that point I remove her. (Be sure that she hasn't taken back some of the fry into her mouth again before you remove her)

If the first group of fry is not too large, you can then remove the divider and allow the both batches to co-mingle.

I hope that helps.

Good Luck!