Ok, I have 3 Glofish and one of them has been getting fat. She almost looks like she has a potbelly... I think I've seen them breeding, but I'm not sure. Can anyone tell me if she sounds like she's gonna lay eggs? And if so what do I do?! I *have an empty tank to separate her if I need to. Thanks everyone!
Help! Is my GloFish goin to lay eggs?
- Thread starter mLindsey97
- Start date
There are two species of Glofish now. Zebra Danios and Skirted Tetras. Both are egg layers and of the types that are relatively easy to spawn. Please note, I said relatively. ;-)
Bearing in mind that Glofish are encumbered by patents, and only accidental or educational spawning is permitted, so tell your fish to stop breeding.
Healthy danio and tetra females are fat and rounded. When full of eggs, significantly so.
Here is my write up on zebra danio breeding.
Zebra Danios are a breeze to spawn and raise.
You'll need a spawning tank. 2.5 gallons works. Bigger can be cumbersome actually.
The bottom of the tank needs something to keep the adults from eating the eggs. That can be marbles or glass craft stones, java moss or other thick mat of plants such as guppy grass, a plastic breeding mat, or hanks of nylon yarn. You'll want to boil yarn first to make sure it's color fast or to get the dye out. Nylon won't run.
Next you need a male and female danio. If they are adult and fit, the female will be plump to distorted looking while the male is slender and sleek. A good variety of foods in the weeks prior to spawning will insure health and vigor. Live foods are still best, but some frozen foods with a variety of flake works.
Put the adults in the spawning tank some evening. If they are really ready to go they will spawn the next morning after the lights come on, or the sun comes out. Eggs will be visible if you have good eyesight. Take the adults out a couple of hours later.
I can only manage that on the weekends so I put the fish in the spawning tank during the week and take the adults out Saturday.
Next is the hard part. Waiting. ;-)
Depending on the water temperature eggs will start to hatch in 24 - 48 hours and some will probably hatch out all during the next week. Babies are visible but small. To me they look like tiny slivers of glass that jerk around for a few days. After several days, a week say, they will be large enough to see well. A small spawn from two females will be several dozens of eggs.
What to feed? Tiny stuff. Live freshly hatched brine shrimp is wonderful. If you aren't comfortable and don't have a good hatching setup, they're a pain. Fortunately there are very good, fine dry foods that work well for this size fry.
I use three in particular.
Hikari First Bites, Golden Pearls, and Ken's Premium Growth meal in the 00# size. Golden Pearls is an enginered food. It is available from Ken's Fish.
Another great food is Cyclop-Eeze.
http://www.cyclop-eeze.com/
After a couple of weeks, crushed flake food is all that is needed. I like to keep supplementing flake with the really fine meals.
Water cleanliness is important. A healthy sponge filter will help you put off tank siphoning for a while, but not indefinitely. Just be careful and consider siphoning through a net to catch fry that get sucked up.
Bearing in mind that Glofish are encumbered by patents, and only accidental or educational spawning is permitted, so tell your fish to stop breeding.
Healthy danio and tetra females are fat and rounded. When full of eggs, significantly so.
Here is my write up on zebra danio breeding.
Zebra Danios are a breeze to spawn and raise.
You'll need a spawning tank. 2.5 gallons works. Bigger can be cumbersome actually.
The bottom of the tank needs something to keep the adults from eating the eggs. That can be marbles or glass craft stones, java moss or other thick mat of plants such as guppy grass, a plastic breeding mat, or hanks of nylon yarn. You'll want to boil yarn first to make sure it's color fast or to get the dye out. Nylon won't run.
Next you need a male and female danio. If they are adult and fit, the female will be plump to distorted looking while the male is slender and sleek. A good variety of foods in the weeks prior to spawning will insure health and vigor. Live foods are still best, but some frozen foods with a variety of flake works.
Put the adults in the spawning tank some evening. If they are really ready to go they will spawn the next morning after the lights come on, or the sun comes out. Eggs will be visible if you have good eyesight. Take the adults out a couple of hours later.
I can only manage that on the weekends so I put the fish in the spawning tank during the week and take the adults out Saturday.
Next is the hard part. Waiting. ;-)
Depending on the water temperature eggs will start to hatch in 24 - 48 hours and some will probably hatch out all during the next week. Babies are visible but small. To me they look like tiny slivers of glass that jerk around for a few days. After several days, a week say, they will be large enough to see well. A small spawn from two females will be several dozens of eggs.
What to feed? Tiny stuff. Live freshly hatched brine shrimp is wonderful. If you aren't comfortable and don't have a good hatching setup, they're a pain. Fortunately there are very good, fine dry foods that work well for this size fry.
I use three in particular.
Hikari First Bites, Golden Pearls, and Ken's Premium Growth meal in the 00# size. Golden Pearls is an enginered food. It is available from Ken's Fish.
Another great food is Cyclop-Eeze.
http://www.cyclop-eeze.com/
After a couple of weeks, crushed flake food is all that is needed. I like to keep supplementing flake with the really fine meals.
Water cleanliness is important. A healthy sponge filter will help you put off tank siphoning for a while, but not indefinitely. Just be careful and consider siphoning through a net to catch fry that get sucked up.
^ great advice.
Id like to add that what I've used to separate the fish from the eggs is a knitting grate (you can buy it at Walmart or any craft store. It's like a white plastic grid) and put that about two inches from the bottom with another 2 inches for the fish to swim in. I have 9 danio glofish and when the females look fat I just put them all in the breeding tank. About once every 3 weeks or less. Then you'll see thm kinda wiggle together, vigorously even. That's when I see the eggs drop. That simple.
When I first started letting them spawn I was only a week into keeping fish. I lost all the babies. My current egg hatching tank didn't have a cycled filter (again because I'm new and not sitting on any cycled media) but I currently have 6 baby glofish growing up and looking healthy. They're about 2 and a half weeks old and I can see their color. I have glofish of every color but I think every baby is pink.
Id like to add that what I've used to separate the fish from the eggs is a knitting grate (you can buy it at Walmart or any craft store. It's like a white plastic grid) and put that about two inches from the bottom with another 2 inches for the fish to swim in. I have 9 danio glofish and when the females look fat I just put them all in the breeding tank. About once every 3 weeks or less. Then you'll see thm kinda wiggle together, vigorously even. That's when I see the eggs drop. That simple.
When I first started letting them spawn I was only a week into keeping fish. I lost all the babies. My current egg hatching tank didn't have a cycled filter (again because I'm new and not sitting on any cycled media) but I currently have 6 baby glofish growing up and looking healthy. They're about 2 and a half weeks old and I can see their color. I have glofish of every color but I think every baby is pink.