Pregnant long-fin zebra danio?

[GooGirl]

I was just looking at my fish and I noticed that one of my long-fin zebra danios looks pregnant. I think the other one is a male, and this is a female. She looks like she might explode, her belly is so big! If she is pregnant, what should I do? And please DON'T tell me to 'just leave her alone', because I want baby fish!!!! I am going to be selling some baby mollies soon, so I can sell these babies, too!

I'm going to try to get a pic of each danio on here, but they move so fast that it's hard to get a good pic!

P.S. I already know that they are egg-layers, not livebearers.

 

[Kiara1125]

They just spawn, but the other fish will eat the eggs and/or fry (if they ever get the chance to hatch). Look on youtube for videos on how to set up a danio spawning/raising tank.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; Kiara is correct. You will have to somehow seperate the adult fish from the eggs. A seperate breeding tank will be needed as I know of no way to do this in a community tank. The zebras will eat their own eggs even in the breeding tank so some method of keeping the spawning zebras from the eggs will be needed. The eggs are non sticky and I have used a home made screen trap in the past.

 

[GooGirl]

I have heard of using marbles so that the eggs fall down in between and the fish can't eat them. I'll try to find a tank for them.... I could put them in the 5g, but that would mean moving some fish and having 6 Mollies in one tank! And one might be pregnant!

 

[Kiara1125]

Allison, I say wait for the danios. You'll get a chance to try and breed them later. Besides, you'd need a nice and and having 6 mollies in one tank isn't bad. Just section off part of the tank and put the possibly pregnant female on that side with java moss. The fry will hide in the moss and you can take out the female.

 

[lauraf]

The danio's not actually pregnant - she's just possibly carrying eggs. They still need to be fertilized by the male...
What you need is a dedicated tank with either a screen like skjl mentioned, or yes, marbles. When the eggs drop and are fertilized, you remove the adults and wait for the fry to hatch, then feed them live infusoria.
You're going to need that dedicated tank for a while, for the fry to grow out. So if you can't set up a separate tank without compromising the health of your existing fish, then don't do it. Either rehome some fish, or save up for another tank and equipment.

 

[skjl47]

The danio's not actually pregnant - she's just possibly carrying eggs. They still need to be fertilized by the male...
What you need is a dedicated tank with either a screen like skjl mentioned, or yes, marbles. When the eggs drop and are fertilized, you remove the adults and wait for the fry to hatch, then feed them live infusoria.
You're going to need that dedicated tank for a while, for the fry to grow out. So if you can't set up a separate tank without compromising the health of your existing fish, then don't do it. Either rehome some fish, or save up for another tank and equipment.

Hello; I agree with these points. Let me add that the fry of zebra danioes are very tiny when first hatched. Even if you could divide a tank it is unlikely that such a divider could keep the tiny fry from getting thru and thus becoming lunch for the fish on the other side. You will also have to modify any filtration that sucks water from the tank into a fifter medium. I usually use sponge filters in a fry growout tank untill the fry get large enough to not be sucked into such a filter. I also will put some sort of fine mesh over the intake of such filters for some time after the fry become free swimming.
I have induced zebras to spawn in tanks as small as 20 gallons but usually use a 30 gallon.
Another good reason to use a seperate breeding tank is the issue of feeding the fry. The initial foods will have to be very fine and will likely cross any barrier to the large fish side and may cause water quality problems with that food and the large foods for the bigger fish.
Good luck

 

[GooGirl]

I've decided to stick with breeding the mollies.

I did a little research and set up my 5.5g as a breeding tank:
2 female mollies
1 male molly
Filter (with a 'panty hose' foot cover)
Heater (78 f)
1 live plant (aponogeton)
Decorations for fry to hide in when they are born.
1/2 tsp non-iodized sea salt per gallon (since apparently mollies like about it this much salt in their water)

Do you think that the salt is OK for the live plant? It hasn't wilted or anything yet, but should I move it to the 10g?

What do you guys think about this tank?