New Breeder! Need Help!

[sunpirate2u]

sorry me again,

Im going to set up a 3 gal platy fry/ breeding tank and i have some questions:

~is it ok to have no sand or gravel on the bottom? (maybe a few rocks)

~can u cycle a tank with a sponge filter?

~do sponge filters make noise?

~what is the best way I can help my platies to breed?

thanks, this is my first time breeding fish Also to make my frist time easy, im going to buy defo pregnat females.

 

[Colin_T]

3 gallon is a bit small to be breeding platies. It is ok for the fry but not to house a group of breeding adults.
you don't need sand or gravel in the bottom but it looks more natural that way. Try not to put rocks in because fish bodies can hide under them and decompose. If you make caves have the opening towards the front so you can see inside.
Yes you can cycle a tank with a sponge filter. It will cycle the same as any other filter.
The bubbles coming out of the sponge filter make noise, as does the air pump used to run the filter. A coverglass will help keep things quiet.
Keep the platies in good water, PH about 7 and 0 ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Have some plants in there and feed them well. Once the female platies are pregnant remove the male to another tank so he doesn't bother them.
Only buy female platies as they will be pregnant in the shop tanks, unless the shop has seperate male and female tanks but I don't think any of them do that.
good luck and have fun

 

[sunpirate2u]

then should i think i will breed them in my 10 gal

 

[Colin_T]

breed them in the 10 gallon and move the babies to the 3 gallon to grow up.

 

[sunpirate2u]

breed them in the 10 gallon and move the babies to the 3 gallon to grow up.

lotz of questions

could i move the heavily pregnat female into the 3 gallon, let her have her babies, then put her back?

also ( just keep having more thoughts) wouldn't i have to buy a glass separator to divid the males from females?

 

[Piltdownpaul]

i keep my parents in a 16 litre tank and move the babies out straight after they are born to a larger tank, the parents stay in the 16 litre.

 

[5teady_2012]

You dont have to remove the males, its just some do to stop them bothering the female while she is pregnant..

You can move the pregnant to the breeding tank, but it may cause stress to her, have you not got a breeding trap to put her in, in the main tank?

Then when she has them just put the fry form the trap in to the bredding tank..

You dont have to get a glass seperator, if you do want to seperate the males then you can get net seperators from your LFS and others as well...

 

[Piltdownpaul]

This is my link to my breeding tanks
[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/content/forum/227204/My-Breeding-Tanks/"]http/www.fishforums.net/content/forum/22...Breeding-Tanks/[/URL]

 

[Colin_T]

it's preferable not to move the heavily pregnant females. Platies won't normally eat their young so the females can give birth in the main tank and you simply scoop the babies up in a cup and move them to another tank. If there are other types of fish in the tank then move the female before she looks really fat. She can have the young in the smaller tank and after a few days can go back into the main tank. Try to keep males and females seperate unless they are breeding because the males will continue to chase the pregnant females around and the stress can kill them. Once a platy is pregnant she can have 3 or 4 more batches without a male being present.

 

[5teady_2012]

Platies won't normally eat their young

No offence m8, but yes they will.. platties and swordtails are the worste for it..

 

[sunpirate2u]

You dont have to remove the males, its just some do to stop them bothering the female while she is pregnant..

You can move the pregnant to the breeding tank, but it may cause stress to her, have you not got a breeding trap to put her in, in the main tank?

Then when she has them just put the fry form the trap in to the bredding tank..

You dont have to get a glass seperator, if you do want to seperate the males then you can get net seperators from your LFS and others as well...

when i said glass seperator i ment for the babies after i can sex them.

This is my link to my breeding tanks
<a href="http/www.fishforums.net/content/forum/227204/My-Breeding-Tanks/" target="_blank">http/www.fishforums.net/content/forum/22...Breeding-Tanks/</a>

nice tanks!

it's preferable not to move the heavily pregnant females. Platies won't normally eat their young so the females can give birth in the main tank and you simply scoop the babies up in a cup and move them to another tank. If there are other types of fish in the tank then move the female before she looks really fat. She can have the young in the smaller tank and after a few days can go back into the main tank. Try to keep males and females seperate unless they are breeding because the males will continue to chase the pregnant females around and the stress can kill them. Once a platy is pregnant she can have 3 or 4 more batches without a male being present.

i don't have a breeder net or box. i'm trying to keep my breeding supplys on a very low budget. how much do the breeding box/nets and glass seperators cost? any other supplys should i get then?

 

[5teady_2012]

Breding nets and traps cost anywhere from £2 - £9 at my LFS - i just get the 3.50 ones, they good size)

You can get a piece of glass to seprate them if you want, this should be done at about 4-8 weeks after birth when the male will produce his gonopodium..

Here is what i mean (this is a platty but its the same as on a guppy or any other livebearer.)

 

[linher1215]

I also have not the best of luck with platys eating fry.......


I would separate them for the highest success rate....

 

[targa66]

I agree - I've watched one of my platies drop two fry and turn around and eat one of them.

I take the pregnant females out of my big tank before they get too hugely pregnant and put them in a 30 litre tank that's got pea gravel and lots of floating plants (hornwort and anacharis). (I bunch the plants or wind them around the wire attached to the heater so that they don't just float all over the tank.) Right after they're born, the fry will burrow in the gravel and sit on the plant leaves (which is why you want the plants to be relatively still). You can also put a big leaf, say from an Amazon sword plant, at the surface and the fry will just sit on it for the first day or two. I first thought the fry would get stuck in the gravel and I spent forever "rescuing" them but I've learned that they manage to get out, even when they really seem dug in there. After the mother's done giving birth (and it's a little bit of a guessing game as to when she's totally done) I put her back in the main tank and let the fry grow in the little tank.

It works so well that I've now got WAY too many fry and have had to move mid-sized ones to a third tank until they're big enough to give to the LFS. I've just let two females drop in my main tank b/c there's just no room in the little tanks for anyone else - hopefully, a few will survive.

Good luck to you!

I also have not the best of luck with platys eating fry.......


I would separate them for the highest success rate....