Best Breeding Traps

[hives]

Hi all, does anyone know of where I can get a decent breeding trap, I bought one yesterday and its cr@p! plus its to small to keep a guppy in even though it says on the box, 'guppy breeding trap'

cheers

 

[lilfishie]

try breeder nets, they are bigger and cheaper but harder to keep clean

 

[orange shark]

i use breeder nets but if your waiting to put a guppy in there to give birth your better off using a trap because theres no way the fry can get out. Have a look round on the internet, google always have some cheap

 

[hives]

Dont really understand the breeding net, the one i saw in my lfs yesterday just looked like a blue sqaured net, didnt see any compartments for the fish to swim into there own section? Im considering getting a tiny tank for them but a decent breeding net would be much easier, do the blue breeding nets have a trap compartment? thanks

 

[lilfishie]

they have a divider along the bottom for the fry to fall into and one to put down the middle if needed,

 

[hives]

Well ok im going to go get one in a sec, heres a pic below of my most preggers guppies! Im wondering what stage would you put the guppies in the trap, i.e now? when do you know when to put them in becuase I thought it might be a bit cruel to leave them in the net for days waiting for them to give there fry but the women in my LFS says 'ohhh no its not cruel you can leave them in there for weeks!' but she would say that becuase she talks 50% bullshiervick! any ideas when you guys would consider mooving your pregnant fish over to the breeding net?

 

[lilfishie]

i often leave mine to birth in the main tank but, just before birth there stomach area will go a squareish shape, usually few hours to a day before birth so moving her when you see that would be good, or sometimes there gravid spot goes deep red too

 

[hives]

Yeah well as you can see on the pics, its like a black bit they have on there bums!, I also remember they are going fairly dark red to, plus there is another guppy who is slightly more pregnant than this one, would this be about the time youd move to a net? cheers

 

[lilfishie]

you could move her to the net early but if she seems stressed by the whole net then its best to release her or she could abort the fry

 

[hives]

hmm didnt want to abort really, the main reason I got my tank with the guppies is to try and raise seom fry and it seems satisfying to me watching them grow becuase I used to breed platies but that was easy as I had a 3 foot tank with a devider, I think ill just put them in the breeding net now and hope for the best, thanks for the advice its been great

 

[BigC]

Most breeding traps are crap and very small and they stress the fish, best to make your own.
4 pieces of glass (arrissed edges for safety) or acrylic is all you need.
You can make one any size to suit you tanks dims.
Cut two end pieces the depth of the tank and about 8" wide
Cut the other two pieces 8" wide and to what ever length to suit the tank.
Now silicone the last two pieces to the end pieces in "V" shape starting at the top. dont let the V touch but have it slightly open (enough for fry to fall through.
I hope I portrayed the DIY breeding trap in understandable english.
You should now have a trap that will provide comfort and stress free room for most gravid livebearers.
Regards
BigC

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

You should only put a female guppys in a breeding trap if she is being badly harrassed by the other fish while she is trying to give birth.
If the female guppy in question though is perfectly happy in the tank and not getting harrassed by the other fish in the tank or anything like that, leave her be in the tank as she be the least stressed this way and far more likely to give birth to a healthy number of fry and also recover easier from giving birth herself.
Breeding traps and nets themselves can be stressful things and can even cause female guppys to abort their fry, you should never have more than one fish per trap or a fish larger than 2inches long.
Make sure you have a decent amount of dense planting in the tank, as female guppys giving birth will often naturally hide in such planting, and when their fry are born, the fry too will hide in the planting.

I would follow BigC's advice if you really want a breeding net/trap and go and make your own decent sized breeding net or trap, as the bigger it is the less stressful it will be for the fish .

 

[hives]

Hi, thanks for your advice, it was a bit 'fidily' trying to put a breeding trap/net in a biorb becuase of the middle centerd bubbles and nothing can suck onto it becuase its round,.. so I just ended up buying another small tank but a normal 1 foot sqaure one, Ive got it up and running with some black sand, undergravel air stone filter and a tiny fluval 1 internal filter plus a tiny strip light and some small to larger plastic tubes/plant-pots for the fry to hide in,... I just wonderd, do fry instingivly to do the nearest hiding point? becuase my guppies dont really go near or inside the tubes as most of them are quite thin. Anyway if anyone wants a 10L fish bowl + light its going free from Hull where I live, and hurry up to becuase my girlfriend is threatening to put a boring goldfish init!

thanks all

 

[afishdude]

i use breeder nets but if your waiting to put a guppy in there to give birth your better off using a trap because theres no way the fry can get out. Have a look round on the internet, google always have some cheap

lol one time i used a "3 way guppie breeding trap" and i watched over 20 fry go out the small holes in its sides and into my angel fish's mouth. i would say theres a way to get out

 

[GuppyDude]

I wouldn't use a net or a trap, Id set up an entirly seperate tank. Breeder traps are a bit stressful for the pregnant fish; and even once she does give birth, there is not breeder trap large enough to grow out those fry.