Breeding Fish

[xptweakerntn]

Ok, so I have two female platies and one male, planning on breeding them. I've got them in my community tank, but honestly I don't want to use any of the breeding nets or such, as I think thees look very unsightly. I am, in theory, going to let the fry live with the other fish from birth. Not only do I have the platy's, but also two flame dwarf guaramies, and some algae fish. I figure the flames will find the fry tasty, so I know a few, probably most of the fry will get eaten. I"m just wondering, as I've got some of the "breeding grass":
http/i162.photobucket.com/albums/t257/dr...ne09/DIY001.jpg
Not only the grass, but I have plently of hiding places in my 55 gallon. I was just wondering if anyone has any experience with this "natural breeding" type thing. Is it very likely that any fry will survive? As I don't want to fool with many many many fish, but just enjoy watching the fish grow, will this work? As long as 2 or 3 fish from every batch live, I'll be suited. I'll donate any that I feel are too many to some lfs. So does anyone have any experience with this?

 

[vinylman]

It's possible that some will survive, then again you may find it's just the odd one. If you add something like a handful of large(ish) marbles, then more may survive as the larger fish won't be able to get among them.

 

[xptweakerntn]

Ahh...well that's what I'm hoping the breeding grass will help accomplish. Since all the fish in my tank are all large, I also have something else in mind, I'm not sure it will sink though...a small bottle, just the right size for a fry, but nothing else could fit. Will it sink? I'll soon find out. It like a little glass ornamental thing. What about the filter? I have a filter with the oh so common tube with grating on it, I believe that when first born, the fry can fit through the grating. I'm trying to decide what do do about that, any ideas?

 

[dthoffsett]

Most livebearers are prolific breeders, so there's an excellent chance some fry will survive. Fortunately, IMO you'll get the strongest ones that survive and won't have to do any culling since the other fish will take care of that for you.

As far as fry getting sucked into your filter, a bit of sponge with a slit in the center to fit over the filter inlet will keep fry from getting sucked in, and add a little extra biological filtration.

 

[xptweakerntn]

Well that is what I was thinking of..but two questions:
Won't that possibly cut down the water flow levels?
What sort/where to find a sponge such as this?
Oh, and one of the main reasons I want to try this is so that I will only get the strongest, smartest frys to live (and the lucky leprechaun types

 

[dthoffsett]

As long as you rinse the sponge out frequently (say every water change) there shouldn't be much of a flow decrease. As for finding them, some LFS carry them specifically for fry tanks, or you could get a filter sponge (like the replacement sponges for Fluval or Aquaclear filters) and cut your own.

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