Should I split my tank to keep to rice fish colours separate or should I get one and one I have master them get another tank

[Jellybean123]

Hi Guys,

So I have decided to start breeding rice fish as I am really interested in breeding different colours . I was originally just getting platinum and orange . The platinum (6) are going in a 40 litre tank which in a few months I will upgrade to something bigger and use existing for fry . Then the orange (8-10) have an old 100 litre tank . However the supplier has some lovely black ones in which I hoped to get later on but my question is should I split the 100 litres to put the black and orange in separately or should I focus on getting the orange and platinum breeding. Then get the black ones later down the line when I the funds for another tank .

I am asking because I can’t decide and need to place my order next week
Many thanks

 

[GaryE]

If you are seriously thinking of breeding the ricefish in colour lines, you need a lot of tanks to start. I would say three per colour form minimum. You need the main tank for the whatever colour you pick, a fry tank, and a large growout juvenile tank. There has to be no possibility these fish, which can jump, could get mixed up.

I've seen a lot of 'hoping to be' breeders (in the mirror sometimes...) who get too many species for their resources, and then can't breed anything. You're always best to go one at a time, with two at most. Medakas are very tolerant fish. With the economy being so bad for ordinary people, tanks are coming up for sale regularly as people try to cut costs. Medakas like cooler water and have minimal energy costs associated with them, like the killifish people used to think they were. If you're in a position to wait for second hand tanks and the UK is like here, you can slowly build a breeding set up as you go.