# gender help>>>>>



## Ishmael_Galon (Dec 9, 2007)

Can you please tell me how to distinguish a male to a female Red zebra? I wanted to breed them. thanks!!!

My auratus had released it's fry and i have 6 baby auratus! yipee!


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

You will have to vent them to determine sex, which means examine their genitalia. They will need to be quite mature in order to do this accurately. (I've never been good at it!)

You do realize that you will need a male and 3-4 females, right?

Kim


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## Ishmael_Galon (Dec 9, 2007)

> You do realize that you will need a male and 3-4 females, right?


Yep i do know that i need a male to 3-4 females but im planning to have 1 male to 5 females. thanks!!!

By the way how do you cure a pop- eyed disease? my greshakei had it and im pretty worried since it is my first time to encounter that kind of problem. i always encounter fin-rot but i always cure it very easy. How about pop-eyed disease? :?


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

If you're having problems with fin rot and eyes, you need to take a good look at your water quality and tank maintenance habits. Usually, they stem from poor water quality.

Eye issues can also stem from an injury, or be a precursor to a bacterial infection.

Daily water changes and Melafix will usually resolve the problem, but sometimes antibiotics are needed.

HTH

Kim


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## Ishmael_Galon (Dec 9, 2007)

Melafix? Is that Methylene Blue?
by the way thanks for the reply.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

No, Melafix is a natural product, sold almost everywhere in LFS. The main ingredient is tea tree oil. It aids in healing and preventing bacterial infection, although it won't do much of anything once bacterial infection sets in.

I know there is home made recipe for it floating around the internet somewhere, if you can't find it!

Kim


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## Ishmael_Galon (Dec 9, 2007)

I Think Melafix is only available in the U.S. Im in the Philippines. But you do know what Methylene Blue is??? Ifr yes, can i use it to cure my greshakei?
I think there is no Melafix here in the Philippines.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

I do know what methylene blue is...It's used for external parasites, which I do not believe is your problem.

I would rather use an antibiotic with daily water changes than that. If you could find something with erythromycin or sulfa based drugs in it, that would be helpful.

Kim


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## Ishmael_Galon (Dec 9, 2007)

Can I use drugs used by humans? I think it's generic name is Erythromycin... Can i use it for my greshakei?


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

You can, but you'll have to adjust the dosage, depending on how many milligram the tablets are that you have.

I know that the Maracyn (made by Mardel - trade name for erythromycin) is in 200 mg. tablets. I _believe_ the directions tell you to dose at two tablets the first day (400 mg.) and 1 tablet daily after that. I always treat for a minimum of 7 days.

Dissolve them in some tank water first, then add them to your tank. Make sure you remove any fresh carbon (less than 2 weeks of use) from your filtration so it doesn't remove the meds from your water as soon as you put them in.

Kim


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

Before you start messing with medications, you should really try the super clean water route. As Kim stated, most eye and fin issues stem from poor water conditions. Doing daily partial water changes for a couple of weeks will do wonders for the eye. If after that an infection is still present, you can move on to antibiotics. Using them too often, or when they are not really needed just hurts your bilogiccal filter and makes what is in the tank more resistant to the meds making it harder to treat in the future.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

I'm sorry...MalawiLover is right... 

I would check the water parameters on the tank before adding any meds. I didn't realize you hadn't listed them until I read back through the post.

With recurrent fin rot and eye problems, the tank probably just needs more attention. This isn't to say that your fish haven't developed a bacterial infection from the poor conditions, but you would want to clean the water up before adding meds of any kind.

Kim


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## Ishmael_Galon (Dec 9, 2007)

Thank you so much for your replies. I will do what you have said. 
THanks Guys!


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