zebra help please

[brandi77]

about two weeks ago, i posted about my ob zebra mating with my female ob zebra (orange with black stripy blotches. So I used a seperator to block off the female from the rest of the africans. Well, I noticed that her eggs hatched into fry. You can see alot of black in her mouth moving arround. So today, i am looking at my red Zebra and I notice that her mouth is full of something black. Well she is not sick, they are fry also. It seems that the male ob was getting it on with more than one female lol. Well, I am worried about inbreeding and what the fry will be. So I did some research on Zebras and noticed that there is alot of confusion about them. It seems that many believe that zebras have been inbred so many times that there are not many true red zebras in the hobby. So I am confused. My camera stinks but I am posting pics of the 3 zebras that I have. I dont really have a question lol. I am just very confused now. Any input would be very helpful

 

[Scotty]

When buying fish try and get a male with 2 females. When a male does not have his own female, and he by chance is the more dominant male in the tank, he could quite easily mate with other species similar to him.
It seems as thopugh the species, in the Lake, all originate from a single species. They have become endemic to specific areas within the lake. Ruthless catchers have also resulted in some local species being found in areas far from their actual habitat. They catch them, transport them to another area and then have released them for some unknown reason. A great pity.
We need to try our best to keep the species as pure as is possible.

 

[rhinod56]

When buying fish try and get a male with 2 females. When a male does not have his own female, and he by chance is the more dominant male in the tank, he could quite easily mate with other species similar to him.
It seems as thopugh the species, in the Lake, all originate from a single species. They have become endemic to specific areas within the lake. Ruthless catchers have also resulted in some local species being found in areas far from their actual habitat. They catch them, transport them to another area and then have released them for some unknown reason. A great pity.
We need to try our best to keep the species as pure as is possible.

AMEN!

 

[brandi77]

well, all my fry are free swimming in a 20 gallon now. they seem to be doing well. I only had 3 mutts, cuz the mother decided to start swallowing . But I have about 20 baby obs. Any suggestions on what I should be feeding the fry? And yes, I did not want any mutts. I want to keep them all pure. Should I get rid of the red Zebra so that she doesnt spawn anymore? I would miss her terribly though

 

[jschulst]

Keep the zebra as long as you want, you are not obligated to collect the fry..just let the other tankmates eat them.

 

[KillerKlover]

I just feed my fry crushed fish flake and they seem to like it.

 

[brandi77]

i dont have to worry about any more mating. My male ob zebra died yesterday it was very sad. I also lost my livingstoni. I believe that is was bloat. My water conditions were great. I havent changed thier diet. I dont know what happened. I hope that I dont lose any more fish. My babies are doing great though. They have big pink bellies now . I have been hatching baby brine shrimp for them. Takes alot of time, but it is all worth it. They look great.

 

[Scotty]

What I would suggest you do is try to find a male for your red zebra, actual name being Metriaclima estherae. The male is blue in colour.
If you think your fish died of bloat then your are obviously either feeding them too much and too much protein. Vege eating fish have long digestive systems and too much protein creates the right conditions for bloat to start. I feed mainly spirulena based foods to my mbuna. What you can also do is watch your fish when feeding. If you notice a fish is not eating you can immediately start with medication.
The other reason why fish generally die is because of stress caused by a number of different things. The one being a dominant fish that constantly harrasses the other fish. A good solution to this is to create lots of hiding places and to stocking your tank with quite a number of fish. Water conditions is another.
Sorry to hear about you loss, it is never nice when a fish that has bred for you dies!

 

[willysfish]

In photo #2 what do you call it, I have some I thought they were blueberry's. Am I wrong?

 

[d20monsteroscar20]

Hey congrats on your frys. but I have small question.....I have a female Red zebra that has breeded twice with other males. However those males died and now I have a large male who is Albino. they get along fine but he doesnt show no interest in wanting to mate with her. Is it because he is Albino and she is not or what? I really cant see why they are not mating... the are the same specie just genes deficience. I checked the water temperature and its fine. What should I do next?