When did you get into breeding fish?

[nik_n]

I have been interested in breeding fish for about a year now. The only fish I have been successful at breeding were guppies, sword tails and blue gouramis. I have been looking for and trying out simple breeding projects without much success. I'm in my last year of high school, so I'm under quit a bit of pressure. I haven't had much success in breeding fish or raising up the fry. I spend as much time as possible taking care of the fish but it always seem as I'm not doing enough.

I had my blue gourami spawn in January, pulled the eggs out and raised the fry on my own. Been feeding them live and frozen food with high protein flakes but they are taking an INSANE amount of time to grow. Even after 8th months they are still tiny. They are kept in a 15gallon tank with an hang on the back filter and a heater at 27°C, and I try to do water changes 3 times a week. The fact that I'm seeing little growth and no breeding behaviour from other fish is really discouraging.

This makes me wonder if this might not be the time to try to get into breeding fish, because I can not let it dictate my time. On the other hand it seems that others do it with relative ease and in a matter of 2-3 months of getting the fish to spawn the are selling the fry. I wanted to get into breeding pristelnose plecos, apitogramma, CPDs or Rocket killifish but recently it has been really discouraging.

Do you have any advice or similar experience?

 

[Circus]

My experience is pretty similar to yours. I have successfully raised guppy and platy fish, and my Neo. Multifasciatus shell dweller project has already had second successful spawning, with very few losses. My Orange Chromides keep spawning, but I cannot seem to keep the fry alive.

 

[Sgooosh]

a year ago!!
(when i first started)
i like free stuff bc im broke

 

[itiwhetu]

I started breeding fish in 1976 aged 14. I started with swordtails, then I got hooked by the time I was leaving home I had a fish room with 45 tanks. The secret to breeding fish is a lot to do with tank size. You need small tanks to spawn the fish, then you need large shallow tanks to raise the young. The more water the better. If you are going to breed fish, breed ones with a high resale value. They are just as easy to breed as cheap ones and the returns can be great. I managed to do what I did by building my own tanks out of secondhand glass, and having parents that made sure the room was paying for itself, I also worked every weekend to help support my hobby.

 

[Sunnyspots]

Are you keeping the air above the gourami warm and moist for development of their breathing apparatus? My honey gourami bred themselves and I've just kept the air moist and fed them Hikari First Bites and brine shrimp. They are about 7 weeks old and already look like little fish.

 

[nik_n]

Are you keeping the air above the gourami warm and moist for development of their breathing apparatus? My honey gourami bred themselves and I've just kept the air moist and fed them Hikari First Bites and brine shrimp. They are about 7 weeks old and already look like little fish.

Yea I am with a DIY plastic lit with two holes for the filer and the auto feeder.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

...but it always seem as I'm not doing enough.

...but they are taking an INSANE amount of time to grow...The fact that I'm seeing little growth and no breeding behaviour from other fish is really discouraging.

This makes me wonder if this might not be the time to try to get into breeding fish, because I can not let it dictate my time.

This suggests to me that breeding fish isn't yet for you. Don't believe that pressure goes away once you leave school...ask us all...we know!
Normally, a well-balanced tank shouldn't take too much effort and can be a very pleasurable and relaxing hobby, but with breeding, even if it's accidental? Well that's a whole new ball game...

So, like many, my first experience with breeding was when my guppies started spontaneously popping sprogs all over the tank. To be sure, some of the other fish had a free meal, but plenty survived, with little extra effort from Yours Truly and I was able to swap them at a couple of local fish shops for food and/or small items of equipment.
That said, a work colleague was also more than happy to have 'some of those very pretty little fish' and, when I put them into her tank, this huge and previously un-seen Angel swam from behind the weeds and sucked up each and every one! I wasn't best pleased and my friend was so traumatised, she gave up on the hobby there and then.

It was never my intention to breed, as I really prefer the community tank set-up and I'd already guessed that space would be an issue.

However, I have, without any intention, successfully bred Dwarf Gouramis, Rams and Kribensis, in community tanks. Each then compelled me to pay a lot more attention than I previously had and it was extra effort for as long as it took for the fry to become small fish. It also added costs, as I ended up 'having' to get more tanks. For the Rams and Kribs, when it became obvious I had a very friendly pair, I built a little slate cave and this became the nursery. All of this was trouble-free, until Mr. and Mrs. decided it was time to walk the kids through the tank. Suddenly, it wasn't a big enough tank, with the rest of the inhabitants having to stay clear, especially of Mister.
I got out of those predicaments by fortunately having another tank to hand, but the experience taught me that breeding fish successfully takes a lot of work and time.

 

[nik_n]

I started breeding fish in 1976 aged 14. I started with swordtails, then I got hooked by the time I was leaving home I had a fish room with 45 tanks. The secret to breeding fish is a lot to do with tank size. You need small tanks to spawn the fish, then you need large shallow tanks to raise the young. The more water the better. If you are going to breed fish, breed ones with a high resale value. They are just as easy to breed as cheap ones and the returns can be great. I managed to do what I did by building my own tanks out of secondhand glass, and having parents that made sure the room was paying for itself, I also worked every weekend to help support my hobby.

I wanted to breed angelfish, but couldn't get a pair. To be fair I only bought 4. I got the gouramis and they spawned on their own. I'm hoping to get into breeding plecos and apistos as they can cohabitate in the community tank and are in high demand.

 

[nik_n]

This suggests to me that breeding fish isn't yet for you. Don't believe that pressure goes away once you leave school...ask us all...we know!
Normally, a well-balanced tank shouldn't take too much effort and can be a very pleasurable and relaxing hobby, but with breeding, even if it's accidental? Well that's a whole new ball game...

So, like many, my first experience with breeding was when my guppies started spontaneously popping sprogs all over the tank. To be sure, some of the other fish had a free meal, but plenty survived, with little extra effort from Yours Truly and I was able to swap them at a couple of local fish shops for food and/or small items of equipment.
That said, a work colleague was also more than happy to have 'some of those very pretty little fish' and, when I put them into her tank, this huge and previously un-seen Angel swam from behind the weeds and sucked up each and every one! I wasn't best pleased and my friend was so traumatised, she gave up on the hobby there and then.

It was never my intention to breed, as I really prefer the community tank set-up and I'd already guessed that space would be an issue.

However, I have, without any intention, successfully bred Dwarf Gouramis, Rams and Kribensis, in community tanks. Each then compelled me to pay a lot more attention than I previously had and it was extra effort for as long as it took for the fry to become small fish. It also added costs, as I ended up 'having' to get more tanks. For the Rams and Kribs, when it became obvious I had a very friendly pair, I built a little slate cave and this became the nursery. All of this was trouble-free, until Mr. and Mrs. decided it was time to walk the kids through the tank. Suddenly, it wasn't a big enough tank, with the rest of the inhabitants having to stay clear, especially of Mister.
I got out of those predicaments by fortunately having another tank to hand, but the experience taught me that breeding fish successfully takes a lot of work and time.

I wouldn't say that being inexperienced means the breeding fish isn't for me. It is a side of the hobby I'm very interested in and would like to explore further. That said it's not a high priority for me right now. To be fair I also didn't intend to breed fish when setting up my tank, it just happened and it send me down a rabbit whole.

Breeding fish can be tricky and challenging especially if it's not the main thing on your to do list, but that doesn't discourage me from trying over and over.

 

[Herpin Man]

For me, it was accidental. I had put a pond in the backyard of the house I was living in at the time. The second spring, I tossed a couple of dozen feeder goldfish in there. However, the next day, they were dead, floating on top. I removed them, fed them to my turtles, and thought no more of it.
I was very busy that summer, and pretty much let the pond go. Then, one fall day, I was looking at it, and saw a couple of small goldfish. Some had lived, after all!
Then I saw a very large goldfish. Now I was confused. So I got out my dipnet, and began my investigation. I found several very large goldfish, and hundreds of little ones.
Despite my neglect, a few of the feeder goldfish had survived, somehow grown (I had not fed them, as I didn't know they were there) and spawned.
Oddly enough, very few of the little ones were orange. Most of them were brown.

 

[AbbeysDad]

It all began many years ago when Abbey saw some balloon molies at the pet store and thought they were adorable. So I bought a pair and soon after there were 18 fry. This brood was followed by two more broods of 18 each hat all eventually went to the LFS. Then along the way I began breeding, growing out, and selling Red and Pineapple Swordtails. Last year the count was 327, and YTD this year is 256. In addition, dozens have gone to auctions and swap meets. Just another extension of the hobby that helps pay for food and such.
Edit: An Accidental Breeder

 

[kribensis12]

I've always been interested in it have have bred fish randomly, but only very recently have I been looking at doing it for any sort of revenue source.

First fish I've ever bred - Mollies. What fish am I breeding now? "Orange Flash" Cockatoo Apistogramma & (when they mature) Dark Knight Ram Cichlids.

 

[AbbeysDad]

I've always been interested in it have have bred fish randomly, but only very recently have I been looking at doing it for any sort of revenue source.

Wholesale fish sales is about 1/3 the retail price so unless you can scale to produce in bulk, it's a revenue source for food and supplies but not a real money maker.
'A tropical fish breeder won the lottery and was asked what he was going to do with the winfall. He said "I guess I'll just keep breeding fish until it's all gone".'

 

[Retired Viking]

About two years ago, I have guppies and platy which are easy. I also had lucked with red eyed tetras which are a little harder. Trying with embers and glowlight tetras lately but no luck so far.

 

[kribensis12]

Wholesale fish sales is about 1/3 the retail price so unless you can scale to produce in bulk, it's a revenue source for food and supplies but not a real money maker.
'A tropical fish breeder won the lottery and was asked what he was going to do with the winfall. He said "I guess I'll just keep breeding fish until it's all gone".'

The trick is to sell fish that are not easily available wholesale or non-existent wholesale.

Dark Knight Rams are borderline impossible to find in a petstore unless locally bred. I'd wager that within 200 miles of my city (this includes Chicago, IL) that not a single pet store sells them and if they did - it came locally. Their scarcity can push individual prices upwards of $40-50 per fish online.

Cockatoo's are harder to find, but not impossible.