Too many fishes breed

[anewbie]

So i have a problem - the following species of fishes i own are producing frys:
a. nijjensi
a. sp bluketa
a. sp winkelfleck
a. wolli
H. temporalis
g. sp alto sinu
m. egregius
k. xiguensis
---
I clearly need some more predators. But each time i buy a prediator it produces more frys

 

[Fishkeeper123]

So i have a problem - the following species of fishes i own are producing frys:
a. nijjensi
a. sp bluketa
a. sp winkelfleck
a. wolli
H. temporalis
g. sp alto sinu
m. egregius
k. xiguensis
-
I clearly need some more predators. But each time i buy a prediator it produces more frys

Very jealous of your “unfortunate”situation( I wish I had that problem). Does your LFS accept your fish for money? If so you’ll be earning quite a bit if they all breed regularly.

 

[gwand]

It’s time to start an online fish store.

 

[GaryE]

When you're well set up with skills, good water and good practices, a lot of fry are going to happen with Cichlids. It's frustrating, because while you know the value and rarity of the fish, they have no value to the average hobbyist, and you have to raise them to a decent size to distribute them to those few who are interested. No one wants fry, or even younger juveniles.

Bags of a dozen fry from rare and expensive Apistogramma used to sell in club auctions here for $2.00. most often as feeders for $3.97 Pet Chain dempsies.

 

[anewbie]

When you're well set up with skills, good water and good practices, a lot of fry are going to happen with Cichlids. It's frustrating, because while you know the value and rarity of the fish, they have no value to the average hobbyist, and you have to raise them to a decent size to distribute them to those few who are interested. No one wants fry, or even younger juveniles.

Bags of a dozen fry from rare and expensive Apistogramma used to sell in club auctions here for $2.00. most often as feeders for $3.97 Pet Chain dempsies.

The feeder part would really bother me.

 

[GaryE]

The feeder part would really bother me.

Me too, especially when people brag about getting cheap live food. But if you keep them all, you crash tanks. It's a classic no win.

 

[Oldspartan]

Our fry are not valuable, simple live bearers. Linda has a deal with a small locally owned chain pet store. They have three locations within a 20 mile radius of our house and so far they take all she has. She agrees to raise them for about 8 weeks, and they trade food or something else we need. We do not get much fish stuff from them but they are our dog and cat go to. They are very satisfied with her babies and I see they sell them for 7 - 10 dollars each. Good deal for them and good deal for us.

I do use them for feeders though. I do not get joy from it but seems some of the fish need the live food and it is natural. After all, I catch and eat fish from our brook.

 

[MaloK]

3 weeks old cherry shrimps sells instantly at 3$ a piece

The younger, the better chance of survival. I have a taker, that I warn before I deliver them.

And atm without ideas of starting scaling anything, it seems to be a promising easy little monthly supplement that could be able to break even on the hobby expenses.

That would be pleasing.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

@anewbie

Over the past 2+ decades I have had many spawns in my tanks. At the risk of being admonished by the Society Of Breeders (aka S.O.B.s) I am willing to impart to you the solution for your problem. The way to prevent almost any species from spawning is that you must only keep one sex. Special handling is needed for female live bearers so, for beginners, the best solution is only to keep males.

Please do not repeat the above as we would not want this information to get out.

 

[anewbie]

A couple of weeks ago i spent 2 hours trying to catch a female geo to take the pet shop in the 500 and well after a while i just gave up.

Them smart critters.

@anewbie

Over the past 2+ decades I have had many spawns in my tanks. At the risk of being admonished by the Society Of Breeders (aka S.O.B.s) I am willing to impart to you the solution for your problem. The way to prevent almost any species from spawning is that you must only keep one sex. Special handling is needed for female live bearers so, for beginners, the best solution is only to keep males.

Please do not repeat the above as we would not want this information to get out.

 

[GaryE]

I'm a S.O.B. and a S.O.F.W. (Society of fish watchers) member, and I hate seeing single sex tanks. It's fine if you are into keeping fish as ornaments, which most people do.
If you like watching fish, then single sex tanks are deadly boring. I mean, watching guppies try to mate with snails or rocks is quite a thing, but it gets kind of depressing when it goes on all day long. It's sad.

Too many fry are a consequence. The only time I ever had too many frys was a heater malfunction, but there is a problem when you have 4 species of dwarf Cichlid and 50 fry of each. I remove as many as I can raise, and when the parents prep for the next spawn, they take care of the problem.

It's not as if most species of fish raise themselves without serious efforts on the part of the breeder. Some do, but most involve hard choices.

 

[anewbie]

We will see what the geo do - she seems to be finding food for them cause they are growing fast.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Well there is a solution to not having single sex tanks whoch is equally as good. For the past 18 years I have bred rare B&W hypancistrus from the Big bend of the Rio Xingu. These guys have small spawns and the offspring sell for over $100 minimum for most of them. The adults sell for multiple $100s. But I also breed them in species tanks and most of the time they hide. Most of the spawning takes place inside a cave.

The fish which have been breeding in my tanks for all those years have paid all of my hobby costs and are what allowed me to upsize the number of tanks and species I was able to procure.

I had a few flying Foxes way back when. very hard to catch especially in a heavily planted tank. I was trying to get SAEs and they send the foxes. I managed to nab all but one. That last one took me almost 2 years to catch. When I finally nabbed it It was dumb luck. It decided to shelter in one of the pleco caves and i spotted it there. That gave me the chance to net out the cave with the fish in it. I like to think I am smarter than the average fish, but sometime I am not sire about this.

Most of us begin with live plants not understanding that in a well planted tank catching fish can be nearly impossible unless you do not care about uprooting many, or most, of the plants in the process. I learned early on how to make those plastic bottle fish traps.

 

[anewbie]

Well there is a solution to not having single sex tanks whoch is equally as good. For the past 18 years I have bred rare B&W hypancistrus from the Big bend of the Rio Xingu. These guys have small spawns and the offspring sell for over $100 minimum for most of them. The adults sell for multiple $100s. But I also breed them in species tanks and most of the time they hide. Most of the spawning takes place inside a cave.

The fish which have been breeding in my tanks for all those years have paid all of my hobby costs and are what allowed me to upsize the number of tanks and species I was able to procure.

I had a few flying Foxes way back when. very hard to catch especially in a heavily planted tank. I was trying to get SAEs and they send the foxes. I managed to nab all but one. That last one took me almost 2 years to catch. When I finally nabbed it It was dumb luck. It decided to shelter in one of the pleco caves and i spotted it there. That gave me the chance to net out the cave with the fish in it. I like to think I am smarter than the average fish, but sometime I am not sire about this.

Most of us begin with live plants not understanding that in a well planted tank catching fish can be nearly impossible unless you do not care about uprooting many, or most, of the plants in the process. I learned early on how to make those plastic bottle fish traps.

I find that when fishes breed it cost me money. The problem is i don't sell fishes; so once or twice a year i'll send some to someone (only when it is warm enough for two day shipping ot reduce the amount i have to pay to ship) and the rest i just give the to the local lfs. Sometime they give me a bag of substrate or some food but i generally don't ask for much.

 

[Oldspartan]

In our case, at least at this point, the young are mostly an expected consequence of the learning curve. Linda likes to play around. She bred some blue-ribbon hens in the past. She also bred hogs to maximize first meat, them piglets, she has no training but a good eye and street smarts.

She is currently trying to isolate two colors of sail fin Molly and is about ready to try het hand with Betta. I think when the Angels pair she will try them too.

She, or I, have no expectations of riches or even break even. In fact no expectations at all, too old for that. It is just an interest that seemed to grow from somewhere. The fry have become, especially to my lady, the biggest enjoyment of the hobby. My joy comes from watching hers.