Best mid-top level fish to breed (Tetras, Rainbowfish)

Hey guys. So I'm setting up a grow out breeding tub. The tub will be about 27g. (I'm changing from a 15g to 27g).

It's a bronze/green cory grow out tank

Although once the babies get bigger i would want to add some tank mates to have them breed.

I would honestly go safer and just breed something that is small rather then like an apisto or kribs. I was even thinking angelfish, but I don't want my cory fry to get picked off.

So i'm thinking about a few fish
Tetras wise:
Ember Tetras
Glowlight Tetras
Black Phantom Tetras
(I heard these are the easiest tetras to breed)
I mainly want to do tetras, but other options could be forktail rainbowfish or maybe even platy's

Out of this group of diffrent fish I'll also ask my LFS what they would want to buy from me

Anyone have any opinions on this?

 

I vote for black phantoms. Mainly because i want some in my tank and can't find anything but red phantoms locally for awhile now.

 

Oh ok lol. I'm buying from Aquahuna and they have black phantoms. The shipping is probably the best online rate and the prices are actually really good.

So i'm assuming black phantoms are the easiest in your opinion??

I think they look cool but I feel like the Embers or the glowlights would be better in terms of my LFS would want to buy them. Any tips for those two?

 

In a breeding setup, platies will breed like mad. There’s very little intervention needed to successfully get fry. They’re certainly the easier to breed as they’re livebearers, while tetras and rainbowfish are egglayers.

If you’re breeding fish as a business then platies are the way to go IMO. I hope I haven’t went and stated the obvious.

If you want to breed tetras then any would work, especially the ones you think your LFS would want to buy from you. They lay their eggs in plants and are easiest to breed in softer, acidic water.

 

In a breeding setup, platies will breed like mad. There’s very little intervention needed to successfully get fry. They’re certainly the easier to breed as they’re livebearers, while tetras and rainbowfish are egglayers.

If you’re breeding fish as a business then platies are the way to go IMO. I hope I haven’t went and stated the obvious.

If you want to breed tetras then any would work, especially the ones you think your LFS would want to buy from you. They lay their eggs in plants and are easiest to breed in softer, acidic water.

Ok sounds good. As much as I'd love to breed the tetras I think it would be a lot easier to breed platies on an ethical side and a business standpoint.

Although what about swordtails. I would do molly's but they have too high of a bioload imo. Are swordtails similar to platy's in any way (i know they are both livebeares)

 

Hello, I have had a pretty good experience with rainbowfish though accidentally breeding them. I had java moss in my main tank and around 3 pairs of dwarf rainbowfish. Long story short i had transferred some java moss to my shrimp tank where around 3 days later i noticed the tiniest of fry swimming around (think half the size of a newly born guppy). The eggs are microscopic and i would never saw them on the moss and it would have gotten eaten by the fish in my main tank had i not separated the java moss.

Thats just my experience out there. Be prepared to have infusoria if you want to be successful in breeding rainbows since at the earliest stage I don't think anything else will fit into their mouth.

Currently i just setup a new ember tetra breeding tank with some java moss and a spawning mop but been dwelling a bit on youtube and it seems the best bet on ember tetra breeding is to have a mesh basket. Good luck and keep us posted on your project .

 

Pencilfish would be a good option as well. Mine bred without me trying. And they are not much of a danger to other fry.

 

White Cloud Mountain minnows!

 

Pencilfish would be a good option as well. Mine bred without me trying. And they are not much of a danger to other fry.

Can i ask you about your setup? i currently have a pair of pencilfish showing signs of breeding(rubbing next to each other )

 

Can i ask you about your setup? i currently have a pair of pencilfish showing signs of breeding(rubbing next to each other )

It wasn’t planned, At that time I had 7 pencilfish (beckfords) in a 175l tank along with some neon tetras, an Apistogramma and a couple of small angelfish. The tank was planted and was almost covered with floating plants (pistia) with long roots. Temperature 26-27, pH 6.6-6.8, GH about 2. I happened to take some of the floating plants for a small tank I was setting up for cichlid fry, but I ended up leaving those fry with their parents. Later on I found pencilfish fry in the small tank, the eggs must have been in the roots of the floating plants. I guess they probably spawned several times as I have often seen that behaviour you describe, but the eggs would have been eaten in the main tank.

 

Hello, I have had a pretty good experience with rainbowfish though accidentally breeding them. I had java moss in my main tank and around 3 pairs of dwarf rainbowfish. Long story short i had transferred some java moss to my shrimp tank where around 3 days later i noticed the tiniest of fry swimming around (think half the size of a newly born guppy). The eggs are microscopic and i would never saw them on the moss and it would have gotten eaten by the fish in my main tank had i not separated the java moss.

The same thing happened to me with Lake Kutubu rainbows (aka Turquoise Rainbowfish).

 

The same thing happened to me with Lake Kutubu rainbows (aka Turquoise Rainbowfish).

What you feed the little guys i'm curious. Only 1 survived for me i did not have green water or infusoria available.

 

What you feed the little guys i'm curious. Only 1 survived for me i did not have green water or infusoria available.

After I noticed them I just fed them regular fish food, crumbled up between my thumb and forefinger as small as I could get it.

 

After I noticed them I just fed them regular fish food, crumbled up between my thumb and forefinger as small as I could get it.

Same here with the pencilfish fry, except I used a pestle and mortar to crush the food.

 

Pencilfish would be a good option as well. Mine bred without me trying. And they are not much of a danger to other fry.
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I was thinking of Pencilfish since I do want to mix it up for a change. I just don't have many pencilfish options in my area. I was thinking of doing WCMM though

 

Beckford's pencilfish will NOT breed above pH 7 just so everyone knows. Or at least the eggs don't hatch. Ask me how I know

 

I have just found another tiny (1cm) pencilfish fry in the tank with my male Cichlasoma and his at least 60 fry. I had moved the adult pencilfish from that tank to my big tank in March, there must have been eggs there, but I don’t know how this one managed to survive.

 

My BF tetras kept dying and disappearing in my main tank. Not relevant... just brought up some sad feelings when I see ppl saying they're hard to find, for them.

I love embers but they're super tiny, i cannot even imagine how microscopic thier fry are lol. Guppy fry are a big pain as it is to net and separate, and embers are much smaller. Shockingly my angel has never eaten one, presumably too quick.

I support the Platy suggestion. They're much easier to breed, being live bearers. Just plop a male in the tank and you're golden. They can even hold for 6m so if you remove the male, you may still get a few broods after the fact.

I exclusively only focus on LBers. So much fun lol!