Tropical Egg Layers How To Breed Them

chrisandmarie · Jul 31, 2008

hi everybody i would love to know how to breed egg layers im doing great so far with livebearers my guppy gave birth 30/07/08 to 60 fry and had 1 still born i have scissor tails , neon tetras , zebra lauches , black widows , and some other ones . im after another tank aswell im in blackburn so and anybody got 1 for free or cheap i would be quick to have or buy .but what do i need , food ect heat , temp , ph ect thanks

rocknurworld2006 · Jul 31, 2008

chrisandmarie said:
hi everybody i would love to know how to breed egg layers im doing great so far with livebearers my guppy gave birth 30/07/08 to 60 fry and had 1 still born i have scissor tails , neon tetras , zebra lauches , black widows , and some other ones . im after another tank aswell im in blackburn so and anybody got 1 for free or cheap i would be quick to have or buy .but what do i need , food ect heat , temp , ph ect thanks

it depends what u wanna breed,as u there are egg scatterers or egg depositers i would start with something like zebra danios maybe

chrisandmarie · Jul 31, 2008

i have black widows x3 scissor tails x6 8 neon tetras .thanks

Athena · Jul 31, 2008

What size tank are you thinking of setting up - because that will determine what type of egg-laying fish you can have. I mean, if you are going for a 2ft tank (approx 20 gallons) then you could get a pair of German Rams - they are beautiful little fish with amazing colours and they are egg-layers.

If you are going for a larger tank then you could get some convicts - but these do grow to the size of your hand. I have a pair of Pink Convicts and they, also, are very beautiful, graceful-looking fish with large, bright eyes and super personalities. My pair seem to spawn constantly so there are eggs laid every couple of weeks.

Only problem is, if you are wanting to rear the fry then you will have to separate the fry from parents after about 3 days because otherwise the male tends to eat them, unfortunately. I haven't taken steps to remove fry from the parents because, to be honest, I don't have room for another tank and then what would I do with a whole batch of convicts every fortnight? So I let nature take its course for now.

The other thing to take into consideration is, if you are wanting to rear fry in order to sell them on, it's best to find out beforehand exactly how you will sell them on (i.e. will it be to your LFS or private sales?). Certain fish, like the convicts, spawn so easily and regularly that you might find it hard to sell any.

If that's the case, consider getting something a bit more unusual. Have a look on the egg-layers forum as I'm sure you'll find some useful tips on there.

Regards - Athena