Is it hard to breed zebra danios?

Zebra danio what to do to MAKE them breed? any thing to do with zebra danios will help?

• hey so i have been trying to breed my zebra danios for like 3 weeks and i have used a hard netting to have the eggs fall though but they will not breed. :( its made me really sad. i would like to know what will make them want to breed. i am going to try to prep them for mating. what is a good food for them to eat before they will mate. or will make them want to mate? also what is a good size tank to mate them in? i really need help! and what temp would be good for them to have them want to breed? any help would be nice. thank you

• Answer:

  All Danio's are kinda similar. Zebras are one of the easiest fish to breed providing you meet certain requirements. Condition the zebras with the best food possible (white worms, or tubifex ) for a week or so. Then you will need a separate tank, Preferably 5-10 gallons. The tank should have marbles on the bottom and the water level kept low or the fish will eat the eggs as soon as they are laid. Put several conditioned Danios in the tank to make sure you have both male and female. Watch for the spawning activity. Once the eggs are laid they fall in between the marbles and the parents cannot eat them. Once a few hours have passed remove the fish. The eggs should hatch in a day or so and if after a couple of days you see no fry you may try again after the fish are rested and reconditioned. Raising the fry can be difficult. Once they are free swimming you should feed them with finely ground flakes, paramecium, inforusia or commercial liqui-fry. Zebras are quite interesting when it comes to breeding. They are one of the few fish who select a mate for life. Once a pair has formed, it is rare for the male to mate with any other females. Spawning results in 200-300 eggs laid by the female on plants or free falling, and subsequently fertilized by the males. Interestingly enough, the ease with which these fish are bred is a contributing factor for their widespread use in scientific research. They are very popular and particularly valuable to the field of neuroscience. They are also often used in high school and college classroom study of embryo growth. Danios are the aquatic equivalent of bunnies--if you take the right precautions. Eggs are fertilized externally, so the wrapping you saw was probably courtship or such. Females drop eggs on the substrate, and males follow behind fertilizing them. Without large substrate that allows the eggs to fall down where the adults cannot reach, they will be eaten. Most of the times they may have spawned without your knowledge and then consumed all the eggs. You need either a) large gravel/rocks b) marbles. After you see fry sticking to the sides of your tank (they look like 3mm black lines) you have to pull out all the adults. Sad to say but eggs and fry are also good conditioning food for the adults.