What To Breed For Feeders?

[dguysk01]

Hello everyone, I'm new to this site and relatively new to the hobby as well!
I have a number of tanks set up at the moment, but my main focus for now is my 21 gallon housing 2 warmouths. I know they aren't tropical, but i love my fish anyway
I'm getting tired of running to the pet store all the time to get feeder comets, so I'd like to try my hand at breeding feeder fish. My first question is what would be the best route to take? My initial thought is to set up a 10 or 20 gallon tank with a dozen guppies and a dozen mollies and take care of that tank for about 6 months before i use any for feeders so i can have a large population, or maybe go with minnows. Is there another fish that may breed faster and is just as good for feeding? Any other suggestions? Any help is appreciated!

 

[Blondielovesfish]

to the forum

Guppies are probably your best bet, they breed about every month or so. The only thing is, the parents often eat the fry if the tank is too crowded so, for this reason, you may need to also get a breeder tank.

 

[Noahsfish]

Just make sure and feed the feeders a nutritious diet...(obviously)

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I've just had to look up "warmouths" (Lepomis gulosus), not a fish I've come across before. These fish are going to need a big tank, at least a 5x2x2 and ideally longer, given they should reach ~30cm SL. You have not stated what size they are now, but if they are already eating "feeder comets," I'm concerned they are in a 21US gallon (~80l), I hope you are doing some serious weekly water changes to keep nitrate in check (regardless of perfect ammonia/nitrite readings) and you are not going to leave it too late to give them a tank upgrade.
 
Have you tried a range of dried foods a fair attempt? Not all predatory fish have to be offered live fish and I would be prosecuted for doing so in the UK, I have several opportunistic predator species (Pantodon buchholzi; Ctenopoma acutirostre; Chrysichthys ornatus) that eat the likes of Doromin; Cichlid XL; Hikari Cichlid Gold; Tetra Prima.

 

[dguysk01]

Thank you all for the replies, it looks like i am going to set up a 20 for the guppies and a 10 for the birthing and fry. My warmouth are roughly 4 inches in length, i am setting things up to move them into a 180 gallon with a sump, likely a 55 gallon. The feeder comets they eat now are the smallest i can find, and i have been feeding them freeze dried krill. They much prefer the fish lol