Easy To Breed Fish ?

[kylealastairlove]

thankyou mbou, i wanted to breed tetra's, well neon tetras to be specific, i had this idea in my head of having quite a small school of them and then breeding them and raising the fry so that i have an even bigger school but that's easier said than done i guess

 

[fluttermoth]

Neons are one of the harder fish to breed; not something you'd want to try for your first attempt, IMO!

The main problem with neons is that the eggs (and newly hatched fry) are light sensitive, so you have to keep the whole tank in the dark until the fry are free swimming. That means it's very difficult to get the food (which is also difficult; the fry are so small, they really need infusoria) to the fry at the right time.

 

[kylealastairlove]

ehhh forget it, i might just buy a couple of red wagtail platys again! see them breed as i've never seen the whole process of it with platys, or i could just keep an eye out for a female who is already looking pregnant quick question how many fry do platys drop?

 

[snazy]

hmm i do like pygmy corys , would i be able to raise the fry in the same tank or would they end up being eaten do you think ? thanks for the suggestions anyway, if all else fails i might just buy a few cherry shrimp as i hear they are quite easy to breed

It normally says that pygmy corys don't eat their fry but I can remember a member on this forum breeding them and says they do. They won't eat the eggs though like other cory species. If your tank is well planted, lots of moss and similar plants, you could have survivors.
As for shrimp, any shrimp from the "Neocaridina" family has the same requirements as cherry shrimp and are quite hardy for beginners but shrimp keeping is an art on it's own and water requirements, including of how often to do water changes and such is very different from fish keeping, so research is the best way to go.

If you buy a platy from a tank that has males too, then it's certainly 99% chance it's pregnant Don't buy males. I only bought two female platies and now I have a bunch in two of may tanks without trying to breed them.

 

[kylealastairlove]

okay do you think i should buy a couple of females instead then ? i've always liked the variatus type of platy, although they can get a bit bigger than wag tails normally do, and i only have a small ish tank so i didnt wanna over load it with some big fish haha

 

[snazy]

Platies can grow quite big, so after the first batch of fry you'll be overstocked.
Have a look at the video of my biggest platy from this thread:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/406840-monster-platy/page__gopid__3423544#entry3423544

 

[kylealastairlove]

hmm id only want to keep one or two, just to watch them grow from baby to adult, it'd be really interesting

 

[snazy]

hmm id only want to keep one or two, just to watch them grow from baby to adult, it'd be really interesting

The adults may eat most of the fry, so you will eventually end up with just a few, but in my experience quite a few baby platys survive. But yes, a couple of female platies should give you a head start. They are one of the hardest to keep and easiest to breed so it's a good start. Make sure you cycle the tank first. Best way is fishless cycling. If you fail to do that, you will end up with sick and dying fish that have sick and dying babies. Read this section on what is cycling and best ways to cycle a tank:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/

 

[Aquascaper]

One thing you need to consider before you breed anything is; how are you going to get rid of the fry?

Yes things like convicts and kribs are easy to breed, but it can be very difficult to get rid of the fry; very few places or people want a couple of hundred, aggressive ciclids.

Dwarf cichlids, like apistogrammas have a fairly good market, especially if you go for one of the less common species; same with corydoras.

Sorry if you answered this but I must of missed it...

Have you a plan in place for where the fry will go?

 

[kylealastairlove]

snazy i already have a tank up and running been going for a year now sorry i should of mentioned that part
and to aquascaper ... i dont really have a plan in place no, you see i didnt take into consideration the amount of fry, i thought id just have a couple and be able to raise them but id probably end up with like 364724312456 fish :')

 

[snazy]

Ok, thought I'd mention it as it's not always the case here. My fingers are worn out of retyping the same thing all over