Is my zebra danio pregnant?
- Thread starter Hockeygrrl
- Start date
You can read websites...there are listed a few different ways that people say you can sex them, but I've never REALLY been able to tell. If you see one scattering eggs...or one that was really chubby get skinny all of a sudden, then its probably female 
The same thing of most fishes is true about danios...the males are usually smaller (thinner, less round) and brighter colored than the females. BUT I have a smaller danio that is the roundest and brightest of the bunch...so I have no idea whether its female and just younger than the rest, or male and just eats a lot or is sick.
SO in answer to your question...I don't know. You could read some more sites about people who have had success breeding danios and see if they have any tips for spotting prego females...but I haven't seen any.
The same thing of most fishes is true about danios...the males are usually smaller (thinner, less round) and brighter colored than the females. BUT I have a smaller danio that is the roundest and brightest of the bunch...so I have no idea whether its female and just younger than the rest, or male and just eats a lot or is sick.
SO in answer to your question...I don't know. You could read some more sites about people who have had success breeding danios and see if they have any tips for spotting prego females...but I haven't seen any.
i also had a zebra danio that was really huge, up to the point where i was afraid that it was gonna explode! but the strange thing was that it was huge all the time, so i wasnt sure if it was pregnant or not. it didnt look or act sick though, no scales sticking out or anything. and then one day it just mysteriously turned skinny! and its been that way ever since. i never did find out what was up with him.
I am having the exact same problem right now. One of my 2 danios is abnormally fat! It's eyes are almost cross eyed because of it's extra large girth. It really looks quite funny. The danio seems quite healthy, no signs of stress, regular eating, active with the rest of danios in my tank. I also thought that it could be pregnant but it's been this size for a little while now. Any ideas?
well i've been doing research on this topic, and someone told me that maybe the danio is keeping the eggs, waiting for them to be fertilized. they'll keep making more eggs hoping that a male will come along, but then after awhile they release them unfertilized. i'm not sure if this was the case with my danio, or with fatboy's, but it sure does provide an explanation for why my zebra stayed fat for so long and kept getting fatter, and why it just suddenly became skinny one day!
It's definately not just a danio thing, it's also happening with my glowlights, these are very easy to distinguish sex because the female gets a really full belly and looks like a whale/tank lol.
the males stay much skinnier, these are easier to sex than danios i agree but the same thing is occuring with the eggs. they are not actually "pregnant", only livebearers get pregnant, they are just filling up with eggs and waiting for the stud to whisk them off their...fins.
one of my female glowlights recently just went really thin, i've got no idea though if she spawned with the male or just dropped the eggs, my other female is still really huge. does anyone know what to look for in the eggs? from what i've heard they're almost transparent and that makes it difficult to find in a 55g!
take it easy,
Luca.
the males stay much skinnier, these are easier to sex than danios i agree but the same thing is occuring with the eggs. they are not actually "pregnant", only livebearers get pregnant, they are just filling up with eggs and waiting for the stud to whisk them off their...fins.
one of my female glowlights recently just went really thin, i've got no idea though if she spawned with the male or just dropped the eggs, my other female is still really huge. does anyone know what to look for in the eggs? from what i've heard they're almost transparent and that makes it difficult to find in a 55g!
take it easy,
Luca.
Haha, I'm glad I found this topic! Two of my four danios are so fat that I was seriously waiting for them to explode! I mean, their spine is curving because of their size! Their bellies are so round its obscene! But, like others, mine were acting fine and had no scales protruding (and I know I don't overfeed them, thats for sure)...I asked a friend who said she found that they keep their eggs for a long time until the find the right "moment" to lay them, which is along the lines of what sraiss mentioned. Ok, phew....I thought I was the only one with gigantically mutant danios!
I wanted to return to this topic because I came hoew tonight and the one danio that I thought was pregnant but it just a really big danio is huge! I am afraid it is going to burst Is my only option just to wait and see what happen? It's scales are not protuding but it looks a little paler than usual. I am going to search online and see if I can find anything but any info that a forum member may have would be great.
Is my only option just to wait and see what happen? It's scales are not protuding but it looks a little paler than usual. I am going to search online and see if I can find anything but any info that a forum member may have would be great.