Breeding Set Up.

[stucolls]

Hey guys, I have a small tank set up at present that im not overly happy with as im not convinced I set it up correctly months ago and although the water params are pretty good (ammo always between 0 and 0.25/nitrite always 0 and nitrate always 5) I just dont feel happy with it.

What would everyone recommend as a decent breeding set up/fry tank.

basically, what does it need in it, heater?filter?substrate? etc etc

I have looked at those tank packages you see for small tanks with built in internal filters (usually trickle or hob) and a little heater, they dont seem too bad.

Many thanks

Stu

 

[iSnail]

Hi Stu, just curious what fish you are trying to breed?

 

[stucolls]

at the moment my livebearers, mollies and platys which I know breed like wildfire, im thinking more of their fry.
But after that id like too breed my corys and if I get them, id like to try angels.

 

[stiffler69]

Hi mate the fish you just got of me are bred in a 54 litre tank with a 300lh foam filter and 50 watt heater ive added plastic plants and gravel substrate so there is plenty for them to do and its homed around 150 fry all different ages at once with plenty or room, infact theres that much room you can very rarely see them all unless they muching on food.

Here is a couple of pics

 

[iSnail]

Sponge filters are ususally used in fry tanks so the tiny babies don't get sucked into the filter. You can always wrap some filter foam around intake tubes if the other types of filters are used. Defintely need a heater this time of year though

 

[stucolls]

thats awesome, the tank I have set up at the moment is about the same size with a little bubble box filter, it has no heater though, been using a flexible lamp over the top for light and heat which I know aint great, when I first set it up it was in a rush, I added some filter media from main tank and some bactinettes capsules (which I wouldnt use again) and put 15 fry in straight away and the tank turned green and cloudy and all the fry died, since then I restarted the set up and have my rtbs in there and the bubble box filter was not working for about 4 weeks. The water aparams, as I said earlier, are always pretty good, and the shark always looks healthy, although he is gonna be too big for it soon, I guess im just too wary too use it because I dont wanna risk any fry in it.

 

[jayjay]

Fry tanks I would (do) keep as simple as possible. Simple sponge filter, heater and light. Nothing else, not until they get some size at least, then a few decorations/plants, but no substrate. This setup makes for easy cleaning.

If you want the adults in with the fry, then you will want to fill it with plants and the like to give fry chance to hide.

If you plan to move your livebearers to the tank to spawn then remove them again, I would put in plants and the fry to hide. If you are going to use the tank for spawning the fish, i.e. moving a pair of fish there to breed as you may with angels, furnish it how they would like it, I'd use a bare tank for angels, with a sponge filter, heater, light and a piece of near vertical slate for them to breed on.

In essence keep the tank simple is my advice. Fry tanks get fed a lot, to keep them clean a bare tank will help greatly! Also if/when you add plants at any point I'd go with fake due to not having to worry about them dying and it still means you can avoid a substrate, though you could go with "free standing" plants, i.e. floating plants, moss balls etc. which would give the fry somewhere to feed off in between feedings. As a final note not all people use lights either, saves costs for breeders, but I would say use them so you can enjoy the fry more!