A question about breeding

[Eric Herbst]

Hi Greg,

Are you breeding pairs or groups of fish?  When breeding groups of 
fish, sex ratios of 3:2, 2:1 or even 3:1 (females:males) can help reduce 
the stress (too much "attention" from the males) on the females.  
Breeding pairs of fish is particularly stressful on the female. Two things 
you may want to try to reduce some of this stress are: 1) Pairing 
females with males of equal or smaller size. 2) Providing some sort of 
refuge (e.g. faux aquatic plants) for the female in the breeding tank.  

As Christian Lawrence pointed out, taking fish off the system for 
breeding can subject them to changes in water conditions/stress.  We 
recently came out with a new, larger version of our 4-piece breeder 
tank (tank, insert, removable divider, and lid).  Like the previous 
version, the insert can be placed in our 3.0-L tank allowing for the 
breeding of fish on the system.  The new version also allows for two 
inserts to be placed in our 10-L tanks.  The removable divider can be 
used to separate males and females until you are ready for the fish to 
spawn and can help reduce the stress (on the female) of being chased 
by the male for hours prior to spawning, when crossing pairs.  We also 
include a plastic plant that provides refuge and spawning substrate 
with our breeder tanks.  

I hope this is of some help.

Eric

><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< 
Aquatic Habitats (A Division of Aquatic Eco-Systems, Inc.)
Tel: 407 886 7575
Fax:  407 886 1223
Email: erich at aquaticeco.com
www.aquatichabitats.com





-----Original Message-----
From: owner-zbrafish at hgmp.mrc.ac.uk
[mailto:owner-zbrafish at hgmp.mrc.ac.uk] On Behalf Of "Greg Dutton"
Sent: Friday, December 05, 2003 12:41 PM To: zbrafish at net.bio.net
Subject: A question about breeding


Hi all, I've got a question for you.  Lately we've been noticing that
females we set up for breeding sometimes die the day after they lay
eggs.  This doesn't happen all the time, but often enough that it's
become a concern for us.  It's always the females that die, and it's
always the day after they lay eggs.  We wait for one week between
setting fish up to breed.   If anyone has any insight I would be
grateful. Thanks very much,  

Greg Dutton

Lab Technician
Ransom Lab
Oregon Health Sciences University
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