Question about zebras
- Thread starter blue2fyre
- Start date
Any mbuna can hybridize, get the female to male ratio up and your chances of them interbreeding will be alot lower.
I'm with ibr3ak on this one.
I have kept several species of the 'zebra complex' in the same tank for years and have actually rarely ever seen them interact (and when they do it's usually in the form of the alpha male chasing any mbuna in his vicinity, with other zebras being incidental rather than 'specific targets'.
The zebras I keep together (and have coexisted for a number of years) in a 125gal include:
- Red Zebras
- Black-barred Zebras (see avatar)
- Cobalt Blue Zebra.
I also keep another metriaclima mbuna in there (m. msobo).
I've never seen them behave with procreation intent with each other. I've never seen them specifically target one another during bouts of aggression, either. It's almost as if they intentionally ignore each other.
The species have also bred true.
The females of the species are all dis-similar in appearance, except for female msobo's and red zebras which bear a vague resemblence (the females of one species are carrot orange, and the other are yellowish-orange). I only keep one male msobo in this tank and he ignores the female red zebras. The reverse is true in another tank (male red zebra ignores female msobo).
Based on my personal experience, I'd say as long as both genders of each zebra species are represented in the tank, the risk of them inter-mixing isn't any more probable than with any random mbuna species).
With that said, anything can happen.
Has anyone ever had two zebra species interbreed despite having male and females of each in the tank?
I have kept several species of the 'zebra complex' in the same tank for years and have actually rarely ever seen them interact (and when they do it's usually in the form of the alpha male chasing any mbuna in his vicinity, with other zebras being incidental rather than 'specific targets'.
The zebras I keep together (and have coexisted for a number of years) in a 125gal include:
- Red Zebras
- Black-barred Zebras (see avatar)
- Cobalt Blue Zebra.
I also keep another metriaclima mbuna in there (m. msobo).
I've never seen them behave with procreation intent with each other. I've never seen them specifically target one another during bouts of aggression, either. It's almost as if they intentionally ignore each other.
The species have also bred true.
The females of the species are all dis-similar in appearance, except for female msobo's and red zebras which bear a vague resemblence (the females of one species are carrot orange, and the other are yellowish-orange). I only keep one male msobo in this tank and he ignores the female red zebras. The reverse is true in another tank (male red zebra ignores female msobo).
Based on my personal experience, I'd say as long as both genders of each zebra species are represented in the tank, the risk of them inter-mixing isn't any more probable than with any random mbuna species).
With that said, anything can happen.
Has anyone ever had two zebra species interbreed despite having male and females of each in the tank?
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