Bredding Venture

[thomasp9021]

hi all i was hoping for a little advise i have a spare 20 gal tank and was hoping to breed some fish in it. can anyone suggest some good choices they have to be easy to breed and easy to offload so i dont get stuck with them i am not tryting to make money out of them. althought i would like a small amount for them just to cover food and maintenance.

thanks everyone

 

[minxfishy]

Apistogrammas, a trio, 1m 2f, plenty of caves, rocks, plants and you should be pretty lucky. Also should be fairly easy to sell to LFS as they arent the easiest of fish to get hold of (least not round my way).

Or guppies of course, easiest to breed, but a problem to off load as they are so easy to come by.

What kind of fish were you thinking of?

 

[Colin_T]

As mentioned the Apistogramma dwarf cichlids, and in p[articular, Apistogramma cacatuoides. I always found they did better in prs rather than trios but the choice is yours. If you don't want cichlids then perhaps Melanotaenia lacustris or M. boesemani, or M. praecox. They are rainbowfish that can be housed in another tank and you can put them in the smaller tank for breeding purposes.

 

[thomasp9021]

the dwarfs sound good but the only one i can get hold of are kribensis and bolivian rams

 

[shroob]

Do you have an extra tank to grow out the fry? Its not as simple as getting a fish to breed, you also have to raise the fry to a certain size before the LFS will take them.

Mentioned previously was guppies, my LFS is crying out for locally bred guppies/platties/mollies/angels. The quality of the guppies that he can get from the supplier just isn't up to scratch, so they're desperate for quality ones. This is a good option as it doesn't have to involve another tank.

Your best bet would be to go to all your LFS and see what they are interested in. Talk to them about which fish is in most demand and what they would be willing to buy/give credit for.

 

[Colin_T]

don't get kribensis or bolivian rams. Kribs don't sell and bolivians are hard to breed. Go for small rainbows and keep them in a community tank. Then breed them in the spare tank.

 

[thomasp9021]

managed to buy a pair of apistogramma borreli super red(i think)
whats the best way to get them to breed:
temp
food
tank set-up

thanks

 

[Colin_T]

Did you get a guaranteed pr (1male & 1 female)? Males will be colourful and bigger with longer pointed dorsal (top) fin. Females should be yellow and smaller than the male.

Temperature, about 26C
PH, about 6.6-7.6
General hardness (GH), about 50-150ppm

Food, frozen bloodworms (little red things), brineshrimp, daphnia, bits of raw prawn/ shrimp, and a bit of flake or pellet food. Remove any food that doesn't get eaten within a couple of minutes, and feed the fish 2-3 times a day.

Do a partial (20-40%) water change once or twice a week. If the fish don't breed within a few weeks try doing a 40-50% water change each day for a week and see if that gets them going.

Tank set up, have a few plants (plastic or real) along the back and sides. Have a ceramic flower pot in the middle (or make a cave out of rocks). Have the opening facing the front of the tank so you can see what is happening inside.

Air operated sponge filters are less likely to suck up the fry but small power filters can be used if you put a piece of sponge over the intake.

 

[thomasp9021]

yes they are definitly male and female i have put one of those slate caves in will this do or should i still get a clay pot

 

[Colin_T]

a slate or rock cave is fine.

 

[thomasp9021]

so they have spawned already will they be ok on liquifry

 

[Colin_T]

when the babies are free swimming they can eat newly hatched brineshrimp. If yuou don't have brineshrimp, then microworms will suffice. If you can't get either of those, then liquid fry will do for a while.
When using liquid fry foods, add a few drops of the stuff to a small phial of tank water and shake it up. then pour the liquid into the tank near the fry.
Brineshrimp nauplii (newly hatched) is the best food tho.

 

[thomasp9021]

thanks will try the liqui fry food for now

 

[england]

Best food as stated fresh hatched brine shrimp, micro-worms<easy to culture>

I started with fresh hatched brineshrimp for my channa and micro worms....Then someone sent me a link on ebay for deshelled brine shrimp eggs, which you feed straight to them, my channa go crazy for this stuff......

I never had much luck rearing fry with liquid fry...........

 

[drobbyb]

If you decide to go with rainbows, they are too small for newly hatched brine shrimp. I use Vinegar Eels as a first food for my fry with great sucess.

One tank won't work too well for breeding purposes. As stated you will need a grow out tank (I have 4 to cope with all the fry and their growth.) I would use the 20 gallon for breeding and keep the main fish in a community just as stated. When the fish spawn, simply remove the parents back to the community and raise the fry in the 20 gallon. You will want to use a sponge filter and airpump so no fry get sucked into the intake of a power filter. You also want the bottom to be bare so you can get every piece of poop or uneaten food. You want your fry tank to be very clean.