Setup a breeding aquarium

[Sasha the breen]

i have just bought a plastic aquarium it holds about 70 litres (not much) but could i place a pregnant guppy or platy in theirby themselves till they have released their young?or would it be cruel to isolate them?i just dont like the idea of a small net breeder

 

[Juggernaut22988]

the tank would be fine for breeding but I would suggest moving the males out of the main tank and into another tank when the females are giving birth.

the main concern here is the water difference between the two tanks

 

[gto_cowgirl]

If you don't want to use a net breeder there are other options you can use without buying another aquarium.

You can buy a 10 gallon or bigger tank and then use a divider to section off a small part of the aquarium for when you think the fish is just about to give birth then afterwards put the mother back in the regular part of the aquarium. That way the water params/temp and so forth are all the same and she might not get as stressed being in the same aquarium.

You can also try just leaving the mothers in the aquarium when they are going to give birth and add several plants for the fry to hide in. Some may die due to being in the same tank but there is a good chance most would survive if given enough hiding places and then the fry would be given a chance to swim in a large aquarium.

 

[motherof6]

I do as gto_cowgirl said: I divided off a small section of my 10 gal guppy tank. I place my ready to birth female in there when she is ready. I remove all rocks after the fry are born. That way it is easier to keep clean. I put mom back in the main section of the tank when the fry is all born.

Dividers are very easy to make (and a fraction of the price). I read about it from freshwatergirl in the Betta section

 

[guppymonkey]

I wish I knew how to convert from liters to gallons! I use a 5 1/2 gallon tank as a fry tank. It seems to work fine. I use a 10 gallon power filter because I don't think air driven filters work at all. I don't know what other tanks you have but its a really good idea to have extra tanks to separate the males and females as soon as sex is apparent. Otherwise it just leads to not being able to control the breeding numbers. Also make sure that the tank has a heater.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

If you decide to use real plants, easy-to-grow plants are java moss and java ferns. The former are good for hiding the fry and house microscopic lifeforms for them to feed on.

If you are going to transfer a pregnant fish, make sure it's around a week before the due date. That's the safest time to move the mother (unless you move her earlier ).