Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Set up a shallow breeding tank filled with plants. Place a layer of dark marbles at the bottom of the tank (or a false bottom suspended just above the marbles). These will be crucial later as they'll prevent the Zebra fish parents from eating their own eggs.
Choose several Zebra Fish and separate them according to sex. The adult male is slightly smaller and more streamlined than the female; in addition, he has gold stripes in between his blue stripes and in the female, these alternate stripes are silver.
Fatten up the Zebra fish with five daily feedings of worms and brine shrimp. After 10 days, the females will appear rounder and the males more vibrantly colored. Meanwhile, ensure the pH in the breeding tank is set at 6.6. The temperature of the water needs to be about 77 degrees F.
Place three of the fattened Zebra fish into the breeding tank -- two males for every female -- and wait for spawning to take place, usually at dawn. The fish should breed within a few days. If not, subtly raise the temperature of the water while continuing to feed them. Within a week, the fish should spawn, with their eggs falling in between the marbles, out of harm's way.
Remove the adult Zebra fish within two days of the spawning or they'll eat their newly hatched offspring, which should be swimming up from amid the marbles. Carefully remove the marbles and siphon off decaying food and other dirt from the bottom of the tank.
Feed the fry microscopic live organisms after a few days. As they grow, feed them live baby brine shrimp which has been properly washed. Later, they can be moved to a larger tank with proper filtration and they reach maturity between four to six months.