Females - When Are They About To Breed?

[Irf]

Hi all,

I have a couple of fish that look ready to breed. The female swordtail is suddenly bigger and very fat. Also there is a zebra damio that looks a lot rounder than normal. Sometimes my platys get big bt then a few days later then lose their roundness, so I guess they have spawned and the fry have been eaten.

I am getting a small breeder net but I was wondering when is the best time to move the mother out of the main tank? What are the signs that she is "ready" to spawn or give birth (in the case of livebearers).

Many thanks,

Irf.

 

[Thuggerz]

Hi all,

I have a couple of fish that look ready to breed. The female swordtail is suddenly bigger and very fat. Also there is a zebra damio that looks a lot rounder than normal. Sometimes my platys get big bt then a few days later then lose their roundness, so I guess they have spawned and the fry have been eaten.

I am getting a small breeder net but I was wondering when is the best time to move the mother out of the main tank? What are the signs that she is "ready" to spawn or give birth (in the case of livebearers).

Many thanks,

Irf.

Hi irf, go to the Common Livebearers section and take a look at the pinned articles...good luck

 

[Tropical Fish Breeder]

Never fear, they breed like flies. If you miss them today, you will get them tomorrow. (literally). If you think she is ready and about to pop, you can induce her by doing a 25% water change. This works almost everytime but you must ut her in the breeding trap as soon as you change the water. Wait about three-four hours and bingo, your fry is there. Zebras are funny. They seem as they are about to squirt eggs and the next thing they are thin again. But they breed like flies as well. I breed neons and cardinals as well. They are not easy to breed but once you have got it right the first few times you learn and it becomes easy. They require lots of fine plants where they can drop their eggs without them being eaten. I only use plastic plants as real plants are a pain in the ass. The pieces die and produce nitrates in the water, the fish eat them and after a while they look ugly.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Never fear, they breed like flies. If you miss them today, you will get them tomorrow. (literally). If you think she is ready and about to pop, you can induce her by doing a 25% water change. This works almost everytime but you must ut her in the breeding trap as soon as you change the water. Wait about three-four hours and bingo, your fry is there. Zebras are funny. They seem as they are about to squirt eggs and the next thing they are thin again. But they breed like flies as well. I breed neons and cardinals as well. They are not easy to breed but once you have got it right the first few times you learn and it becomes easy. They require lots of fine plants where they can drop their eggs without them being eaten. I only use plastic plants as real plants are a pain in the ass. The pieces die and produce nitrates in the water, the fish eat them and after a while they look ugly.

I would not take any advice from this poster, until we know for sure that he really has done what he claims. He made some very unusual claims and provided no evidence.

The advice offered in this post is not good. A platy will give birth when it is not stressed out- so you don't want to either mess about too much with the water or put her in a breeding trap- the trap can make her abort and kill her, and it is unlikely to save the fry as she can get at them perfectly well while they are being born. Much better is to provide plenty of plant cover for the fry to hide in. And I find it hard to believe that somebody who can breed clown loaches is incapable of keeping a few basic plants alive.

Signs that your platy is ready is when she start acting irritable towards other fish, hiding in the bushes, sinking to the bottom. Giving birth may take considerably more than three hours. Just try to give her as much peace as possible. If you want to save the fry, you can net them out once they've been born and ut them in the trap. They do not want their mother- she would eat them given half the chance.

 

[Irf]

Hmmm - thanks for the mixed responses. I've read through all the advice in the livebreeders section already, but wondered if there was some good guidance on when is best to evacuate the mother-to-be to the breeder net. I have to use this method cos I don't currently have the space to keep a breeding/nursery tank.

Cheers,

Irf.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Hmmm - thanks for the mixed responses. I've read through all the advice in the livebreeders section already, but wondered if there was some good guidance on when is best to evacuate the mother-to-be to the breeder net. I have to use this method cos I don't currently have the space to keep a breeding/nursery tank.

Cheers,

Irf.

If it is a net you have- ie nothing that separates the fry from the mother, they might actually be safer in the main tank than shut up in a small space with her. I would watch out for signs of imminent birth (listed in my previous post) and see if I could net the fry and transfer them to the tank on their own instead. They can spend the first few weeks in there and be released when they've got a bit bigger and better at dodging.

 

[Irf]

If it is a net you have- ie nothing that separates the fry from the mother, they might actually be safer in the main tank than shut up in a small space with her. I would watch out for signs of imminent birth (listed in my previous post) and see if I could net the fry and transfer them to the tank on their own instead. They can spend the first few weeks in there and be released when they've got a bit bigger and better at dodging.

Thanks mate. I haven't actually got the breeder net yet, but I've been looking at them. Also there is a breeding trap, which seems better cos the babies seem to swim through a set of slits so that the mum can't get at them.

The reason I'm not sure I'll be able to get them once they are in the main tank is that it's fairly heavily planted and it's a hell of a job catching anything! Also because I'm not around during the day, I'm bound to miss the birth and by the time I get home they'll be all gone.

Thanks again for your comments - I'll do my best!

Irf.

 

[furryrabbit]

if its heavily planted you should be able to just let the fry live in the main tank - they are proficient at hiding and my fry , at 20something days old < i think? > strut all around the tank , regardless of their parents ( however , i might add that right now their are only platies and glass cats in that tank - so pretty peaceful )

 

[Irf]

if its heavily planted you should be able to just let the fry live in the main tank - they are proficient at hiding and my fry , at 20something days old < i think? > strut all around the tank , regardless of their parents ( however , i might add that right now their are only platies and glass cats in that tank - so pretty peaceful )

I was wondering that. Thing is that my tank has neons, danios, rainbowfish, Siamese algae eaters, loaches, gouramies, rams and guppies - as well as the swordtails and platies. Some of these fish are extremely fast in the water!

Irf.