My wife an I are new to the concept of breeding fish. Wethought we would try with somecommon goldfish at first because it seemed to be one of the easiest ways. Well six months and six tanks later we are no further than we were on day one... Still we think a fish is a male one day then a female the next.
What should we be looking for
What size tank I have tanks from 5 to 55 gallon.. How many fish in each tank...Temp? and are goldfish the wrong way to go to learn hoe to breed fish should I try another fish like a guppy or anything else...???
Please if you have any helpful tips to make us understand how to create a small breeding ground that my family can enjoy.... Please help us.
ESKCARR
Goldfish are egg laying fish and in an aquarium they are unlikely to breed successfully because;
a. They need the right conditions to incourage them to breed, these conditions usually mimic the ones that come about in ponds and rivers when the seasons turn from winter into spring- in an aquarium these conditions are unlikely to happen by themselves.
b. Goldfish need plants (and lots of dense planting at that) to lay their eggs on, the problem is though is that goldfish also eat plants, particularly with common goldfish in the tank you are unlikely to have any plants survive and thrive for any decent ammount of time.
c. Goldfish will eat fish eggs, and after spawning has finished they will eat other goldfishes eggs (and even their own on occasion). In a large pond or river they are unlikely to find their eggs again after spawning, but in an aquarium they hardly have to look far to find the eggs.
d. Goldfish usually need to be 4-5years old on average to be mature enough to breed, most goldfish sold at shops are barely over 1 year old.
e. Goldfish will eat any fish smaller enough for them to swallow, so even if the eggs survive and hatch, any fry born in the aquarium are likely to be eaten by the goldfish.
Thus often the easiest way to breed goldfish is to have a pond of at least 500gallons and at least 3ft deep.
Another problem is that a 55gallon tank is too small for common goldfish, the absolute minimum recommended amount of gallons is a 75gallon long tank, common goldfish can easily grow to 12-15inches long on average.
I understand that you are trying to breed fish as your family may enjoy the experience, however, most fish commonly available in the hobby are prolific breeders which breed on a large scale. Also, a lot of thorough research should be done before you purchase any fish, every fish has its individual needs and care, in my honest opinion you should only buy a fish if you are actually really interested in keeping it as a pet and not just as a breeding project as breeding fish takes a lot of dedication and (often) money and time, you need to be really enthusiastic about the fish in question you are keeping if you are to breed them successfull and well/properly
.
Another thing you need to take into consideration is what to do with all the fry- fish fry often take many months, even over a year, until they are large enough to sell on, and finding a place that wants to buy or take them can be difficult. If you chose to go for guppys, they are a great deal easier to breed in an aquarium, however there is a lot to learn about them and they can be very prolific breeders, with females more than capable of producing over 30fry a month.
Guppys are common livebearing fish, there is a section on the forum dedicated to this group of fish with many informative and handy pinned articles if you are interested in keeping guppys and want to learn more. Generally speaking, it is advised that you have at least 2-3females per male, and a tank of at least 10gallons, a separate tank of 5gallons is good for raising fry in if you want to breed the guppys successfully.
