New to BREEDING.. Whats the best option?

[UM3R]

I am new to breeding and would want the fish to breed to their full potential. In the past I just left the nature take its course and a few times I was lucky with Platy's and got FRY's big enough since birth to have their own offsprings, etc.

Anyway, I wanna do it properly. I have Mollies, Guppies and Platy's... Swordtail is pregnant at the mo and by the looks of things, only a few days before the little ones come out.

I have a 4ft X 15 X 12 tank with:

2 X Swordtails
5 X Neons
4 X dont know wot - something small anyway
1 X dont know wot - small anyway

Shall i buy a new small tank? Or will net do me fine?

Wot do u suggest and how do I go on about it? I dont mind spending a bit of cash.

 

[Fishy Jon]

Guppies are easy I'm not sure about platies or swordtail, my platies got no babies yet. Mollies have the most fry a drop. The net has always done me good. You may want to get a small tank, that's what I'm thinking about. Hope this helps.

Jon

 

[infant340]

i think that a breeder net is fine but if u add lots of plants and some java fern and le it gro u should be fine

 

[guppy97]

fishy jon is right, you should consider a small tank (5 gallon). it gives the frys more freedom to explore and it might make the growing process faster. but make sure the fry doesn't get sucked up into the filter like mine did. i just covered it with a mesh.

 

[UM3R]

Wot about heater, air pump, etc.. i take it i need a full set up in the breeding tank too. shall i have live plants in it? or is it not neccesary? also, wot if i have the tank in my bedroom (breeding one).. its like 10 steps away from the dining room where my community tank is.

would a fish survive 5-10 secs it will take me to go from one tank to another.. i am thinking of using a net thingy to transfer

 

[guppy97]

Wot about heater, air pump, etc.. i take it i need a full set up in the breeding tank too. shall i have live plants in it? or is it not neccesary? also, wot if i have the tank in my bedroom (breeding one).. its like 10 steps away from the dining room where my community tank is.

would a fish survive 5-10 secs it will take me to go from one tank to another.. i am thinking of using a net thingy to transfer

you would definity need a heater cause a light bulb won't just cut it (not hot enough). i'm not sure if you need plants in the small tank but i have some small live plants in mine.
what you can do is transfer the fish in a cup from your room to the dining room, instead of the fishing net. most likely it won't die wihout water for 5 seconds.

 

[UM3R]

Does it matter if my fish is lonely for several days? I dont want my swordtail (pregnant at the mo) to die from boredom... surely if its in a breeding tank, she's a loner and will be for days and someone said it aint good as they dont like it.

Is that true? Whats the max i can do this for? One week? How long will it take for this fish to drop all the fries? And isnt it a bit "UNSAFE" having the mother in the tank with fries as she can easily eat one of the offsprings..

Does this breeding process take days? hours? i dont wnt her their too long and dont wanna take her back to the community tank only to find another 20 odd offsprings eaten by the other fish

 

[guppy97]

Does it matter if my fish is lonely for several days? I dont want my swordtail (pregnant at the mo) to die from boredom... surely if its in a breeding tank, she's a loner and will be for days and someone said it aint good as they dont like it.

Is that true? Whats the max i can do this for? One week? How long will it take for this fish to drop all the fries? And isnt it a bit "UNSAFE" having the mother in the tank with fries as she can easily eat one of the offsprings..

Does this breeding process take days? hours? i dont wnt her their too long and dont wanna take her back to the community tank only to find another 20 odd offsprings eaten by the other fish

think of it this way, if you put another grown fish in with the pregnant one. the chances are, that fish would eat the frys when the pregnant fish delivers. put the pregnant fish in the small tank 5 days before the dropping. after the dropping, the other fish might stress out the female and it might die. some times the dropping can take hours, depends on how many frys. i heard that some pregnant fish can drop half 1 day and the other half another day.

 

[UM3R]

So lets say that it drops 5 today.. Do i keep it with the 5 newly dropped fries until it drops all? Or do i put her back in the big tank?

Would it not eat the 5 newly dropped fries if she feels hungry? Is there a way I can prevent this from happening?

And i get what ur saying by other fish stressing her.. so whats the way round this? leaving her isolated in the small tank for how long? and wot shall i do with the fries? Is it unsafe for them to be with their mother who may have em as a wee snack?

 

[guppy97]

So lets say that it drops 5 today.. Do i keep it with the 5 newly dropped fries until it drops all? Or do i put her back in the big tank?

Would it not eat the 5 newly dropped fries if she feels hungry? Is there a way I can prevent this from happening?

And i get what ur saying by other fish stressing her.. so whats the way round this? leaving her isolated in the small tank for how long? and wot shall i do with the fries? Is it unsafe for them to be with their mother who may have em as a wee snack?

it all depends on the fish it self. all of the pregnant fish that i have has dropped all in 1 day. it's rare that it drops 1 week and then another week.

to avoid the mother from eating the young ones, try to feed the mother more often like 4 times a day.

this is what i have right now:
a pregnant guppy (very huge) isolated in a 5 gallon tank. when she delivers (don't know when) i'll scoop the frys into the breeders net which is also in the 5 gallon tank.when i see that the body is small, then i'll leave her in the tank for another day to recover and gain her health back and then i'll transfer her to the main tank. after she's in the main tank, i'll transfer the other pregnant guppy to the small tank.

 

[UM3R]

This helps a lot.

ONE MORE QUESTION THOUGH...

Will i need to keep the filter, heater, etc running in the small tank even when theres no fish??

Cos i dont have many preganent ones and I am not going to be using the small tank at all times..

Wots the best way to keep it in the best form, so no disease or water conditions deteriate.

 

[haaris]

if your gonna get a small 5 gallon aquarium
if youre getting a filter youl have to get netting
for it so the fry dont get sucked into it
its better for a natural birth in a big, vegetated aquarium
id just highly vegatate the aqaurium the mother to be is in
and let her stay there

p.s is your name omer or is it just ur nick
My brother studying in london name is omer

 

[UM3R]

Thanks for the advice Haaris..

Yeah.. my name is UMER.. Just like OMAR...

Its funny isnt it?? Same name but 4 different ways to spell

Umer
Umar
Omar
Omer

Altough.. Proper way is Umar.. well, thats what ive heard anyway..


ANOTHER QUESTION:

What wil u guys recommend as a 5 gallon tank? What filter, heater, etc.... And also, any plants in particular?? Lighting necessary?

 

[guppy97]

just right now my pregnant guppy is dropping and still continuing. so far there's 4 frys.

 

[haaris]

congratulations
mine is still pregnant