Breeding Traps/nets/boxes

[5teady_2012]

So whats your vote?

I tend to like and use traps/nets/boxes, but seems a lot of people who keep livebearers have a debate about them...

My opinion is if used correctly, they are a great thing to have handy for saving fry, its all about timing, anf the lengh you leave them in the trap, along with general things to help like outing the lights when putting them in to realease stress etc.

My vote is great, always work perfect, never had a fish die in one..

Whats your vote, and opions.

Will be intresting to see diffrent views.

 

[Hawkins]

you seem desperate to get your post count up ??

 

[Spishkey]

ive always found them cruel small little things but after a disater with my breeding/birthing tank, had to resort to using two yesterday!

one was very good, fry dropped down mum was happy etc no problems, until i noticed the fry could squeeze through the gaps and escape into the jaws of waiting fish. lost about 30 fry during the night from the hatchery.

the other one, a bit smaller than the large one, still fry dropped down away from mum, this time no gaps they could escape from and this one came with a lid.

sometime during the night, somehow, the hatchery has lost its bouyancy and slowy sank down a bit, water has lifted off lid and fry have escaped. left with around 20 out of 60+

as a last resort they are ok, but i'll be getting another birthing tank asap!!!!!!!!!

 

[layne2000]

I have been breeding for 25 years and have always used them.
I have had only 1 death in all that time,and that was a heavily pregnant female Guppy just purchased from an aquatic shop.
She died within 20 minutes of bringing her home.

If used correctly, my females are not put under any stress and adapt to the breeder quite happily.
As already stated, it's all in the timing.
I use both nets and breeding traps.
Although its life, I hate the thought of my baby fry becoming food for the other fish in the main tank and have found by using the nets and traps, I get 100% fry, that after the birth can swim safely in my fry tank.

I have a fry/maternity tank where the pregnant females are put just prior to giving birth.
My traps are attached to the top of this tank, and my already born fry swim happily below.

All in all 100% success rate from me. Mum is happy and not pestered or stressed by other fish while giving birth, fry are happy as they dont get eaten and I'm happy to give my fry the best start in life I can

p.s.
I never use those tiny breedig traps where the mum is kept in confinement in a space only twice as big as her body. All mine are a good size that allows free swimming for the female.

 

[5teady_2012]

you seem desperate to get your post count up ??

Are you for real?

Who gives a crap about posts count

 

[omega59]

you seem desperate to get your post count up ??

LMAO what a joke!

anyhow boxes are okay as long as they are the larger sized one with a divider insert

 

[donna 123]

Ive used nets before because i like the fact that the water flows through it, it is all about timing for sure.
ive had sucsess with having the net ready with plants in also floating plants in main tank, letting mum birth in main tank then gathering up fry and scooping them in waiting net.

 

[omega59]

i am currently trying one of those square box net type ones, i placed a plant inside and let's se what happens. i hope the fry don't get eat'n.

 

[donna 123]

good luck with the net ,
I find that having something for the fry to hide in at the bottom helps too, i used one of them mini teracotta plant pots, the fry hide in and mum cant get to them.

 

[Nick16]

i used to use them no problem, but now i have a spare tank!

 

[aaronnorth]

i have a heavily planted tank so the fry always end up surviving anyway, i never use them anymore. getting a bit over run with endlers now!

 

[dunchp]

I don't use them, but I have over 100 tanks and always have a few spare to move gravid fish into.

I don't have any faith in them personally but they just don't suit my type of fishkeeping (I am too lazy to keep checking on them and too much of a fusser to leave them alone), I have a couple but they are just a last resort and I only use them to keep surprise fry in for a day or so whilst i find them more suitable quarters (about twice a year maybe).

A note of caution (from experience in the dim and distant past), if you are using the hang on type, take care when doing water changes, I lost a brood of hard bred Quintana atrizona that way in the mid 80s. I have had problems with the floating type also, especially where there is a strong current in the tank.

In summary, I don't like them, but god knows how many million users can't be wrong.

Oh and by the way some of you need to get some manners, if you wouldn't say it to someones face, don't post it and Hawkins, if you would be that rude to someones face then why don't you go and start up your own forum.

 

[seanie112]

we used breeding trap to hold fry for a day or so before putting them in a holding tank for fry but not often

 

[nakomis90]

i use the traps too hold any fry i fnd in the tank then i transfer them my partners witnessed the fry getting sucked through it by other fish

 

[LauraFrog]

I don't like to use them if I can avoid it. In my opinion breeding nets are useless for anything except raising the fry. Virtually every time I have put a female in one to give birth, I have come back in the morning to find that she has given birth and eaten all the fry. Divided traps where the fry drop through are great, but the ones I can get are invariably tiny and see through, resulting in the female panicking. I have had one female die in one, another abort (I put her in too early). One got injured; jumped and hit the lid. Another got her tail stuck in the slat, developed finrot and almost died.

Whenever my girls give birth now I whip up a 5 gal tank. I have a plastic container sitting around for just this purpose. I scatter some gravel so the fry can hide, provide plastic plants and a bark tunnel, a bubbler and a heater if it's cold, and I chuck a cycled bioring in the bubbler. I set up some 'fry shelters' made of plastic containers with the openings covered with mesh the female cannot fit through and scatter them so that if she chases them they have somewhere to go. No doubt a few are eaten but most survive. I have never had a death in this contraption, the whole setup cost me less than $40 and most of the equipment I would never be without anyway because there's always a chance that something might fail. The setup also doubles as a hospital tank and quarantine tank.

I did vote 'in two minds' though because although I have never - not once - had a successful delivery of healthy fry in any sort of breeding trap I think they are great for raising the fry. I use them inside my growout tanks, put the small fry in those and then the large fry swimming free. This way I need only heat and filter one tank so I can use one large heater and filter instead of clogging up powerpoints with lots of little ones.