Hi there,
Apologies if this has been addressed previously; I'm new and although I searched the site, I did not find anything somehow.
I have an albino red zebra mom and her babies together in a split tank. The babies are about 3 weeks old and about 2 cm long. I think 3 babies are missing! A few got through the barrier (gravel and snails worked inbetween the tank wall and rubber of the barrier to create a gap) and they got to dad's side. I picked them out and fixed the barrier, but I still can't find the others.
I have three fears:
1) babies were eaten by dad
2) babies were eaten by mom!
3) a few small 1/2 cm hydras appeared in tank after feeding baby brine shrimp and introducing java moss clump-- could they have stung/killed the babies, although the hydra were much smaller? I have removed hydras as I find them, and not seen any since.
Mom has seemed protective and like a good mom as far as I can tell... Would she eat the babies? I feed her small amts 3 times a day to get her weight back since she became horribly thin brooding for what seemed like over a month. She gets 3 different spirulina/algae foods and a sprinkle of tropical flake, and an occasional slice of zucchini or cucumber.
The tank is heavily planted and has 3 rock caves. The filter is a biowheel on dad's side, and no babies got sucked in on their trip to dad's side... This is her first batch of babies. She is two years old and almost 3 inches long, mouth to end of tail fin.
I don't know what to do so I don't lose anymore babies! Should I move them? I don't have another tank or room to add another right now, unless it is a tiny 10 gal or something and I put it under the cabinet on my aquarium stand, practically on the floor.
I would like to get a larger tank (100+ gal) in the near future, but cannot at this time.
Thank you in advance for your help and advice!!!! Again, sorry if this is a redundant question, and a long post! I am new to fishkeeping (probably obvious from my post!) and just want to be a good "parent" to my fishy friends.
Apologies if this has been addressed previously; I'm new and although I searched the site, I did not find anything somehow.
I have an albino red zebra mom and her babies together in a split tank. The babies are about 3 weeks old and about 2 cm long. I think 3 babies are missing! A few got through the barrier (gravel and snails worked inbetween the tank wall and rubber of the barrier to create a gap) and they got to dad's side. I picked them out and fixed the barrier, but I still can't find the others.
I have three fears:
1) babies were eaten by dad
2) babies were eaten by mom!
3) a few small 1/2 cm hydras appeared in tank after feeding baby brine shrimp and introducing java moss clump-- could they have stung/killed the babies, although the hydra were much smaller? I have removed hydras as I find them, and not seen any since.
Mom has seemed protective and like a good mom as far as I can tell... Would she eat the babies? I feed her small amts 3 times a day to get her weight back since she became horribly thin brooding for what seemed like over a month. She gets 3 different spirulina/algae foods and a sprinkle of tropical flake, and an occasional slice of zucchini or cucumber.
The tank is heavily planted and has 3 rock caves. The filter is a biowheel on dad's side, and no babies got sucked in on their trip to dad's side... This is her first batch of babies. She is two years old and almost 3 inches long, mouth to end of tail fin.
I don't know what to do so I don't lose anymore babies! Should I move them? I don't have another tank or room to add another right now, unless it is a tiny 10 gal or something and I put it under the cabinet on my aquarium stand, practically on the floor.
I would like to get a larger tank (100+ gal) in the near future, but cannot at this time.Thank you in advance for your help and advice!!!! Again, sorry if this is a redundant question, and a long post! I am new to fishkeeping (probably obvious from my post!) and just want to be a good "parent" to my fishy friends.
