Best fish to breed for someone getting back into hobby

[BigJfish12]

Hello all,
I was into fish keeping some years ago and active on this forum before getting out of the hobby as I decided it was getting too expensive and wasting too much time as I had 5 tanks. I am now looking at getting back into the hobby on a smaller scale. I am wondering what fish you recommend if a begginer to intermediate hobbiest wants to breed? Still yet to work out what water parameters and such but just want a few ideas thrown out there. Am even going with a small pond which in that case it would be goldfish or a 64 liter tank I have stored away.

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello all,
I was into fish keeping some years ago and active on this forum before getting out of the hobby as I decided it was getting too expensive and wasting too much time as I had 5 tanks. I am now looking at getting back into the hobby on a smaller scale. I am wondering what fish you recommend if a begginer to intermediate hobbiest wants to breed? Still yet to work out what water parameters and such but just want a few ideas thrown out there. Am even going with a small pond which in that case it would be goldfish or a 64 liter tank I have stored away.

Hello Big. The best fish for my money is the Platy. Very inexpensive, hardy and easy to take care of. Don't keep a small tank. Bigger is always better. A 40 gallon "breeder" tank is the smallest I'd recommend. For me, the standard 55 gallon is the best. Don't forget to change a lot of tank water every few days and feed just a little. every day or two.

10 Tanks (now 11)

 

[BigJfish12]

Ok thanks 11 Tanks

 

[BigJfish12]

At the moment I am short on space and also don't want to go splurging too much money would I be able to make it work if I did go with the tank?

 

[BettaFishGirl]

Guppies are similar to platies and a great option too. They breed like rabbits. You could get a 20 gallon for them and that would be great. You might have to find someone to give the babies to though, like a LFS since after a while the tank will be overcrowded. But as 10 Tanks said, bigger is always better.

A bigger tank is going to be more expensive. Are you planning on the tank having live plants?

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Water hardness is what's important to know before making decisions on what fish to consider. You can usually find this information on your water providers website

 

[AlexT]

Welcome back to the hobby. I was out for 10 years and came back a few months ago. I have now developed Multiple Tank Syndrome, just like I had years ago.

I'd stay away from guppies and platys with all the disease and weakness they have. More aggro than they are worth in my opinion. Unless they are stronger in Australia or you can get quality specimens like @emeraldking

Be interesting to see what your parameters are, you might be able to go with one little group of the smallest Tanganyikan shell dwellers or whatever best suits your water hardness and pH.

 

[Back in the fold]

I have an experimental fish breeding idea for myself that may interest you . White Cloud Mountain Minnows , Tanichthys albonubes . They are a small - 1 1/2 inch - cool water egg scatterer . A small aquarium with a coarse gravel base and floating plants should work simply . The fry eat newly hatched brine shrimp . A common fish but could be fun .

 

[BigJfish12]

Thanks will do a bit of research about them

 

[GaryE]

My aquarium hobby is breeding fish. For years, I watched what people bred in the local aquarium societies, and here's what I took away from that.

As long as you know how to run tanks in general terms, you can breed what you want to. The people who succeeded were the ones who really liked the fish they bred. They read about the fish and their needs, because they liked them. They set up breeding tanks because it was fun. They watched brood care if they bred Cichlids, or egg development if it was a killie or barb or tetra. They watched for Cory eggs. There was always something they wanted to see with the fish they picked.

If they went for livebearers, it wasn't to have young. They wanted a colour or fin type, and they worked on that. Platys, swords and guppies breed themselves, and there isn't much satisfaction in that. But a breeder like @emeraldking breeds special types of guppies, which takes lots of different skills, and that seems fun enough.

Maybe you want to spread an endangered fish around, so you get into breeding one for the satisfaction of keeping them in the hobby.

Maybe, like me, you like species never captive bred before to share observations about, or you like hard to get fish that you have to breed if you want to get to know them well, since you'll only find them once if you're lucky.

So I didn't answer your question, because odds are about 99.99% I would guess wrong. I think everyone should breed Aphyosemion killifish, but I long ago learned a lot of good aquarists don't want to for their own reasons.

What's your favourite fish, or at least your top 5? Start there.

 

[BigJfish12]

Would neon tetra or rummy nose tetra eat the fry of other fish such as guppies or white cloud Mountain minnows

 

[BigJfish12]

My aquarium hobby is breeding fish. For years, I watched what people bred in the local aquarium societies, and here's what I took away from that.

As long as you know how to run tanks in general terms, you can breed what you want to. The people who succeeded were the ones who really liked the fish they bred. They read about the fish and their needs, because they liked them. They set up breeding tanks because it was fun. They watched brood care if they bred Cichlids, or egg development if it was a killie or barb or tetra. They watched for Cory eggs. There was always something they wanted to see with the fish they picked.

If they went for livebearers, it wasn't to have young. They wanted a colour or fin type, and they worked on that. Platys, swords and guppies breed themselves, and there isn't much satisfaction in that. But a breeder like @emeraldking breeds special types of guppies, which takes lots of different skills, and that seems fun enough.

Maybe you want to spread an endangered fish around, so you get into breeding one for the satisfaction of keeping them in the hobby.

Maybe, like me, you like species never captive bred before to share observations about, or you like hard to get fish that you have to breed if you want to get to know them well, since you'll only find them once if you're lucky.

So I didn't answer your question, because odds are about 99.99% I would guess wrong. I think everyone should breed Aphyosemion killifish, but I long ago learned a lot of good aquarists don't want to for their own reasons.

What's your favourite fish, or at least your top 5? Start there.

Thanks GaryE very helpful

 

[BigJfish12]

Sorry Bettafishgirl just saw your question asking if I was going to have live plants. Yes I am hoping to have plants not sure what sorts yet will have to see what LFS's have.

 

[AlexT]

Sorry Bettafishgirl just saw your question asking if I was going to have live plants. Yes I am hoping to have plants not sure what sorts yet will have to see what LFS's have.

If you @BettaFishGirl she will definitely see this. Good move on live plants

 

[BigJfish12]

Thanks still trying to relearn how to navigate the website. Also just wondering what plants are good for guppy fry to hide in? Back when I previously has fish they would often get uprooted by bristlenose, would this happen with corydoras? (Water parameters permiting)