Where Should I Start Breeding ?

[Ronananator]

ok im new to this website abisully but im here to stay i recognise that its a nice community and i would like to be a part of this. just incase from of u think im just comeing here for help and then leaving.

ok first off these are my tanks :
My tanks set up! : http/i54.tinypic.com/19v3g3.jpg

Top Left tank = 15 litre 1 rainbow shark (recovering from led poisining) will be upgrading to 57 when he is better( on his own): heater/filter

Top left tank = 54 litre tank with two gold fish and 4 white cloud mountains and one small sucker fish : no heater has filter

Bottom left tank = 1 gallon/5 litre 0 fish : no heater/filter has /has air pump/ornament


so i guess u have noticed iv got a breeding tank for about 1 gallon which is quit small the tank only right now has ornament and a air pump i was thinking on breeding white cloud mountains in this tank for just a try but i was woundering will i need to get a heater for this tank. if so what else could i breed in this tank

if i was able to breed the white cloud mountains could i just identafie male/female from bigger tank and put them in the small one and let them at it? our will i have to buy a breeding pair from locale store/

OUR should i get some guppies and put them in with the rainbow fish to breed lol ? im assuming bad idea i just want some suggestions on what to do ?

p.s with the fish i breed i will be probly giving selling them to the shop our giving away our maby buy a nice big tank for them ?

Thanks a million dont forget to leave a comment every little helps for a newbie like me

 

[SlimboyFat]

Hi,

After quite a long absence I have just started with the aquarium again. I bought 3 female guppies which all had fry within a week of getting them home and a platty which dropped within 2 days.

I really must start looking at the fish the LFS give before getting them home?

So you can't go wrong with Guppies for an easy start with breeding.

 

[Ronananator]

sounds cool but wouldnt i need a heater/filter ? for that and wouldnt my rainbow shark attack them ? also what did u use to nest the eggs ect ?

 

[SlimboyFat]

Hi,

Here in the UK you would always need an heater, not sure in sunnyer climates.

Again, a filter is a must for all aquariums.

I have a rainbow shark in the main tank which doesn't give the adult guppies any problems but even the guppies would eat the fry. Luckily I still had a smaller tank that now houses the babies until there at a size that they wont be eaten.

In a well planted tank you normally find that some of the fry will survive as they have planty of places to hide but the numbers would be greatly reduced.

Both guppies and plattys are "live bearers" so they don't lay eggs.

 

[Ronananator]

thanks a million ya i guess i porbly would need a heater then as my tank is at about 15 degress celcuse ( how ever u spell it) so im guessing i would but would i defo need a filter in such a small tank that im only useing to house the fry in untill i can put then into new tank .? also with such a small tank that the rainbow shark is in now he would probly not lyke it all that the fish are invading his small tank lol. is there any other fish type that would go nicly with the rainbow shark that they wouldnt go along great? while the shark is recovering i know i could get one of those louch but they grow so big im not sure if i could get a tank big enuf for him lol

 

[SlimboyFat]

IMO but I'm no expert I believe you stuck with the equipment you have and the fish you already have.

The main tank is 200 litre and the "nursery" tank is 60 litres. I had to use a divider in the nursery tank as the plattys are still tiny whilst the guppies have grown quite a bit in just a few weeks and I was afaid to put them together.

With about 25 of each the tank really is too small but will re-home them as soon as possible.

 

[Jenste]

to be honest, you may not yet be ready for breeding.

one gallon is no where near large enough for a nursery, never mind a breeding tank

also, your current tanks are not properly stocked - - the tank with the goldfish is massively too small, under 15 gallons. for ONE FANCY goldfish you need 20+ gallons, then ten gallons for each additional goldfish (fancies have the double tails) for ONE COMMON/COMET goldfish you need 30+ gallons, then ten gallons for each additional goldfish - these are best fish for ponds or large systems.
Therefore, including the minnows and "sucker fish" (needs to be identified - most "sucker fish" grow huge) puts you in the range of 45-55+ gallons for the fish to be comfortable and the tank properly filtered. also, goldfish are massive waste producers so any tank they are in needs to be over filtered


for the rainbow shark - when you say he will move to a 57, are you talking about liters? because this is too small.


how have you cycled all of these tanks? how long have they been set up?

you should read up on care guides in order to maintain proper homes for these fish and we need to ID your sucker fish immediately - most require at least 50-75 gallon tanks due to their adult sizes.

if you can please post a picture of the sucker fish.

 

[Ronananator]

http/animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/cyprinids/images/chinalgaeater_s.jpg that is the guy im talking about iv cheaked and they dont grow very big

 

[Ronananator]

i also have the red fin shark right now in this 15 litre tank he is useing a 53 litre tank filter so that should help alot he doesnt need much space at the momment due to as i said he is recovering and im pritty sure 54 litres for one small fish couldnt be that bad ? i mean i got in my current 54 tank now its quit overstocked but the water is cycstal clear the fish have great fun and i dont see anything wrong at the momment and deffo if i get understess witht he size of any fish my store will take the fish back i know the tanks are a little overstocked but im gonna keep it all undercontrolle and i want let it get out of hand and that u for advice on breeding im just gonna wait till im ready and get a nice heated/filters breeding tank which is the right size ! thanks

 

[Ronananator]

i also picked up this on the internet "They say that one inch of fish should have 1 gallon of water, so if one fish is say 6 inches that fish (itself) should have 6 gallons of water or space to have for itself. Usually people dont follow that rule, but its best for your fish...If you follow that rule (somewhat) you'll be fine, fish need space to survive, hope this helped " there for i got a 5 gallon tank thats enuf for a 5 inch fish right ? so how are u telling me that its 2 small ? it has a way to good filteration system right now even in the 5 gallon tank and the fish is about 2/3 inchs and when hes all better he will be in a 54 litre tank thats about 15 gallons and they reach up to 7 inchs right soo there for i see no problem i also do 25% water change every 3 days and i use some chemicals to keep ammonia/nitrate ect under controll ? this sounds good to be please correct me if im wrong !

 

[fluttermoth]

That 'rule' is for the standard, small bodied tropical fish of an inch or so adult length ONLY It does NOT apply to larger, deep bodied fish like sharks.

A five gallon tank is ok for five small, one inch fish, like tetras or rasboras not for one five inch fish; it just doesn't work like that.

For larger fish, forget all about the 'so many inches of fish per gallon' rules and work on needing a tank that is at least four times the eventual adult length of the fish long and two of the fishes length in width and height; so your shark needs a tank 28"x14"x14".

Edit; and even that 'rule' is only of some help for tropical fish; it doesn't work like that for the goldies...

 

[Jenste]

again, you haven't addressed cycling

also, you need to plan for the fish's ADULT size...when you buy a fish in a store, it is small because it IS A BABY. your tiny fish is not going to stay tiny long as it grows up - -and having it in too small conditions does physical harm to it.

again, this falls under the thought of researching and planning ahead of time so that you can provide a suitable home for the live animals you are opting to care for.

 

[Tolak]

First get a handle on keeping before you consider breeding. Second answer this; why do you want to breed fish? Third, you need to reverse engineer it. The fish you produce will need to go someplace, where will they go?

 

[Ronananator]

ok im back online i know what ure saying tolak and thanks everyone else i have dessided im defo not going to start breeding any time soon i just wanted to experiance it so ya i know what u guys are saying im looking at a big tank for him right now. thanks a million guys.

 

[OldMan47]

Please do not take that inch per gallon guidance seriously for any large fish. It works fine for small fish like guppies, neons, swordtails, platies, mollies and similar small fish but it will cause you to grossly overstock if you use it on larger fish.

As Tolak said, start with the end in mind. If you have a market for a particular fish that you can breed, go ahead and breed them. It is nice to get back enough to pay for the fish food with a breeding program, I do it myself. If you are new to fish, start by learning to care for your fish properly. Once that becomes really easy, you can start looking at what sells well in your area and may find something you are competent to breed.

I have found that goodeids, almost never found in pet shops, can demand a good enough price at auction to pay for my fish food bill. If everyone came to the same conclusion tomorrow, I would quickly go broke breeding them. Their rarity supports the prices that I get. If you were to attend many fish auctions, you would quickly learn which fish demand a high price and by the time you figured out how to breed that kind they would be getting pennies instead of dollars. These things go in waves and no fish is worth keeping, as far as economics are concerned, for more than about a year. By the end of a year, so many people will be breeding that fish that the market will dry up. I have a big enough selection of breeding livebearers that I can shift around among them when deciding what to sell at an auction. Anything that gets terrible prices today will probably be in demand around 12 to 18 months from now. Whatever showed no response from bidders 18 months ago is worth bringing to today's auction in small numbers. Why would I flood the market and get terrible prices again next auction? I can probably get good prices twice before the market is flooded with a species if I am careful.

The thing that most of us hobby breeders never mention is that we end up spending more at a typical auction than we get. I figure that if I walk away from a fish auction with only $20 out of pocket expenses, I have made out fairly well. It means that I sold my own fish at a decent price and resisted buying too many other fish from other people. At my last auction, I actually did even better. My fish brought premium prices and I really didn't see much that interested me enough to buy them. I did come home with several plants and some minor hardware though. The end result was almost an even exchange that day with very little cash out of pocket.