Tokis-Phoenix
^_^
I'm writing this thread because since i have come back to the forum after a little break, i have noticed a lot of "what fish can i breed?" or "i wanna breed this fish, how?" or "whats the easiest fish to breed" sorts of threads. I know these threads are always here on the forum, but all too often i get concerned about these people's understanding of what it actually is to breed fish and the all responsabilities you have to take on when breeding fish.
On the positive side of breeding fish;
a. Baby fish can be suprisingly cute (although not always) and are a joy to watch.
b. Its great watching your little fish grow up and mature into great adults.
c. You can make a little bit of money from the project if you can find someone to buy the fry off you once they have matured.
d. You can gain a new understanding of your fish and how they live.
e. You may even learn how to look after them better in the process.
f. You can even do something good for the fish, like specifically trying to breed fish with better and stronger gene's.
On the negative side;
a. Most small or medium sized fish which people choose to breed tend to breed in vast numbers. Some fish will breed continously pretty much to the day they die if you put them together (like guppys). Thus you need a lot space to breed fish.
b. A lot of adult fish need to be separated from each other after spawning (like betta's) or from the fry or eggs (like most barbs, danio's, tetras etc) or both. This can mean you need a lot of tanks, not just to house the fry, but also all the adults.
c. Many people overstock their fry tanks. A lot of people when they buy a fry tank, go for something in the region of 2-5gallons. This is not good as you should avoid overstocking fry tanks just as much as you should with your normal tanks, if not even more so. 40 guppy fry are going to need around a 20-30gallon tank, and 50 betta fry are going to need at least a 1gal jar for each fry.
If you overcrowd the tank you will end up resulting in weak fry or suffer a lot of deaths or both. It is also very difficult to medicate small fry without overdosing them on meds.
d. What are you going to do with your fishes offspring? Not all petshops will take fish off you, and few will pay for them. Too many people end up in the situation where they cannot find enough homes for all their fish.
e. Sometimes you will end up with mutant fry, like ones with missing tails or kinked spines- this is usually down to poor gene's or external environmental factors messing around with the frys or eggs development (using strong meds or having water quality problems can do this). Could you see yourself euthanising these poorly developed fry?
f. Its all to easy to become attached to your fry, even when you know you aren't going to keep them when they are older. Even the fastest growing fry usually take 3-6months to mature, and its very easy to grow emotionally attached to your little fry during that time- and when it comes down to it, you'll usually expect a year for most fry to mature or to finish your breeding project.
g. Because fry can take such a long time to mature, it is a long term commitment- please to not go into breeding fish believing that it is going to be some cheap, fun little project. More than often you'll be spending a lot of money and raising the fry for at least 7months to more than a year before you finish the breeding project (and thats if you adults breed quickly with no issues first time).
My danio's and mollys took over a year until they were anything near a decent size.
h. A lot of fry need to be fed 4 times a day, could you see yourself having the time to feed your fry this often?
And so on and so forth...
I'm just trying to say that breeding fish takes a lot of responsability, time, committment and often money and space too. Please only breed fish you are very interested in them and committed to them and have thought through everything very thoroughly, taking as many things into consideration as you can etc...
On the positive side of breeding fish;
a. Baby fish can be suprisingly cute (although not always) and are a joy to watch.
b. Its great watching your little fish grow up and mature into great adults.
c. You can make a little bit of money from the project if you can find someone to buy the fry off you once they have matured.
d. You can gain a new understanding of your fish and how they live.
e. You may even learn how to look after them better in the process.
f. You can even do something good for the fish, like specifically trying to breed fish with better and stronger gene's.
On the negative side;
a. Most small or medium sized fish which people choose to breed tend to breed in vast numbers. Some fish will breed continously pretty much to the day they die if you put them together (like guppys). Thus you need a lot space to breed fish.
b. A lot of adult fish need to be separated from each other after spawning (like betta's) or from the fry or eggs (like most barbs, danio's, tetras etc) or both. This can mean you need a lot of tanks, not just to house the fry, but also all the adults.
c. Many people overstock their fry tanks. A lot of people when they buy a fry tank, go for something in the region of 2-5gallons. This is not good as you should avoid overstocking fry tanks just as much as you should with your normal tanks, if not even more so. 40 guppy fry are going to need around a 20-30gallon tank, and 50 betta fry are going to need at least a 1gal jar for each fry.
If you overcrowd the tank you will end up resulting in weak fry or suffer a lot of deaths or both. It is also very difficult to medicate small fry without overdosing them on meds.
d. What are you going to do with your fishes offspring? Not all petshops will take fish off you, and few will pay for them. Too many people end up in the situation where they cannot find enough homes for all their fish.
e. Sometimes you will end up with mutant fry, like ones with missing tails or kinked spines- this is usually down to poor gene's or external environmental factors messing around with the frys or eggs development (using strong meds or having water quality problems can do this). Could you see yourself euthanising these poorly developed fry?
f. Its all to easy to become attached to your fry, even when you know you aren't going to keep them when they are older. Even the fastest growing fry usually take 3-6months to mature, and its very easy to grow emotionally attached to your little fry during that time- and when it comes down to it, you'll usually expect a year for most fry to mature or to finish your breeding project.
g. Because fry can take such a long time to mature, it is a long term commitment- please to not go into breeding fish believing that it is going to be some cheap, fun little project. More than often you'll be spending a lot of money and raising the fry for at least 7months to more than a year before you finish the breeding project (and thats if you adults breed quickly with no issues first time).
My danio's and mollys took over a year until they were anything near a decent size.
h. A lot of fry need to be fed 4 times a day, could you see yourself having the time to feed your fry this often?
And so on and so forth...
I'm just trying to say that breeding fish takes a lot of responsability, time, committment and often money and space too. Please only breed fish you are very interested in them and committed to them and have thought through everything very thoroughly, taking as many things into consideration as you can etc...
