Breeding Nets...Safe or not Safe?

Hey, I'm pretty new at this whole breeding thing, I have a pregnant swordtail and I bought a new breeding net for her...

I'm not sure if she likes it in their and I think it could stress her out to the point that she could abort her pregnancy?

Could this happen or am I too paranoid?

Should I leave the female in the main tank and wait for the babies to be born and put them in the breeder net, or just leave her in their?

Have you guys had success with breeder nets?

Please, any help would be appreciated.

Oh and I posted a Picture of my pregnant swordtail, you can't really see the little eyes but she is pregnant...

 

I don't care for them.

I have always had better luck with keeping the tank heavily planted.

 

Yeah but..

Have you ever used the breeder nets though?

I feel that maybe I should just leave the mom in the main tank and let nature take its course...but I also want more free fish sooo...?!?!?

 

ya it is easy for small fish like guppies
its difficult for swords though. My female aborted almost half her fry because of the breeder net

 

I don't like breeding nets really and just give the fry lots of hiding spots with floating plants, flat glass marbles substrate and a bunch of caves & plants. Then I can 'rescue' them to their own tank.

 

Yup, hiding spots and a grow out tank. I've birthed a few batches of guppies in a net but there were always quite a few more babies when mom was free swimming. Ground level hiding spots is very important when they are born as babies kind of settle on the bottom before they really start swimming around. They'll be safer if they can settle into unaccessable crevices and in amongst plant leaves. Could buy you a little extra time to get them into their temp home.

 

Yes, I have used them.
Back before I knew any better.

 

Thanks

Alright thank you guys for all your information, I will leave her in the main tank and then when the babies are born "rescue" them and put them in the breeding net so the bigger fish don't have 'em for snacks.

Oh and btw...I see a lot of little eyes in my swordtail's stomach but she has yet to deliver...how much time would be left...?

 

If you can see eyes, it should be very soon, a week at longest.

 

yea, watch for her trying to isolate herself and for her back end to sort of get square-ish looking. I love when you can see them looking out at you.

 

Haha I do too and thanks for the help..

Would my swordtail ever have babies in the night or when the light is off?

 

I use one as a growout chamber for my Java Fern plantlets. They're too small to not get knocked around by the current in the tank and get sucked up the intake.

 

Oh and one more thing, my male keeps chasing my female...I think she might be getting stressed as she is always running away...?

What should I do?

 

That is normal. Our male guppies chase the female guppies when they are close to delivering fry. I would make sure to inspect the female for any visible injuries/wounds, but they should be fine.

 

Excellent idea.. I think I'll do that with some baby Java Fern and Watersprite. ;D

I use one as a growout chamber for my Java Fern plantlets. They're too small to not get knocked around by the current in the tank and get sucked up the intake.

 

Excellent idea.. I think I'll do that with some baby Java Fern and Watersprite. ;D

The only issue I have found with this is the current tangles the roots all together. I have a small Java fern ball in there right now. :-\ Hoping this will become a non-issue in three weeks when I take the HOB out of the tank and go to strictly the cannister.

 

I'll try putting the net on a tank corner with the least flow and maybe it'll help. At least the little baby plants won't keep getting sucked into the intake.

The only issue I have found with this is the current tangles the roots all together. I have a small Java fern ball in there right now. :-\ Hoping this will become a non-issue in three weeks when I take the HOB out of the tank and go to strictly the cannister.

 

HEY GUYZ GUESS WHAT?

My fish were just born today, I was in school so I couldn't catch any of the action but I came home and managed to snag at least 4 in the breeder net. I saw one get eaten and then two are hiding in breeder grass. Sorry I can't get any pictures because my camera ran out of batteries...maybe ill snap some pix for later.

Anyway I was wondering...will my baby fry in the breeding grass survive for long?

Will they get eaten?

Do they have a chance?

And how will I feed them??? I have those HikarI bites but they take so long to get to the bottom and they reallly dirty up my tank. Please I need your opinions, thank you all for your great advice btw.

I hope they make it.

 

The fry will survive until they come out and get found. The way that we rescued our platy fry was to move the adult fish to a container of tank water that we covered to keep them from jumping. Then you can remove the decor and even the substrate if you need to, to another container with tank water. Then it's just a matter of catching the fry.

 

I am new to live bearers and My black mollies had hers on new years day and I thought I only had 2 left so I ran to the store to get some floating grass and they are doing great. I find more babies with each water change. I am now up to 5. They are a week old and swimming out in the open more often. Good luck and best wishes.

Haji4

 

Thanks for all the help guys, so far my little ones seem to be doing just fine.

I'm new to this whole breeding thing and this is my first time successfully getting baby fry, its really exciting watching little baby fish swim around in your tank and it feels so good to finally get some after continuously trying and trying.

Thnx!

 

I am new to guppies, I wanted to add some color to my ten gallon shrimp tank so I put some guppies in there. Two of my females are pregnant. I have a breeding net/box I can put in, but ive read mixed reviews on them. Opinions? I also have an empty 2 1/2 gallon tank with a sponge filter that I had a few shrimp in for a while. Will it do for a birthing tank or would the breeding box be better? Thanks for the help!

Jess

 

I personally do the tank. As with the breeding box, the fish will stress and stress because its in an enclosed place. While the tank give it a temporary living space thus causing less stress upon the fish and you don't need to time the birth. whereas a breeding net, its best to time when shes about to induce labor then insert the mother.

 

Ok great thanks for the input Teishokue! So you think the 2.5 is sufficient for birthing and temporary fry raising? 10 gallons are cheap enough but I would like to try and use what I have on hand. Thanks!

 

I personally do the tank. As with the breeding box, the fish will stress and stress because its in an enclosed place. While the tank give it a temporary living space thus causing less stress upon the fish and you don't need to time the birth. whereas a breeding net, its best to time when shes about to induce labor then insert the mother.

I agree 100%. No need to add anything else.

 

Thanks Chris! Perhaps I misunderstood, so I should just keep them in the main tank and not worry about taking her out at all?

 

Thanks Chris! Perhaps I misunderstood, so I should just keep them in the main tank and not worry about taking her out at all?

It depends. I keep all my egglayers in the main tank when they're spawning (since they do it all the time and I can never keep count of all the fry), but I try to move the livebearers over to a 6.6G bookshelf tank with some anacharis whenever they're ready to burst. I usually just fill the spawning tank with water from the tank they're currently housed in and use some pre-seeded media to keep the shock of moving as low as possible.

 

Awesome, thanks Tsyklon! It seems like that's what a lot of people have been having luck with so I will do that. Thanks!

 

Take them out of the main. A 2.5 gallon is fine for small fry. As they get older you can cull some and add ones you want to the main tank. 10 gallons you'll need though. As the fry matures quickly. I don't know what to do with my assorted guppies. I'm really thinking about adding them into my gar tank. :s since I'm getting in show guppies/endlers. I cannot mix them.

 

That's what I was thinkin, I'm in the process of stocking a 72 I acquired and thinking of putting some larger more aggressive fish. I will most likely cull out the ones I like and feed the rest to what ever ends up in my new tank. Apologies if this is Guppy blasphemy but I have no problem feeding fry to my other fish haha

 

Thanks Chris! Perhaps I misunderstood, so I should just keep them in the main tank and not worry about taking her out at all?

I just let all of my livebearers stay in the main tank, a 46 gallon community, and do their thing. I've been amazed to watch how newborn fry have this sense of self-reliance and their instincts are honed. They know when they need to stay hidden away and they know when they can join the general population. It's really cool to watch them figure things out. I much prefer this natural method, which also keeps my stock calm versus grabbing females out for either a separate tank or a breeding net resulting in not only stressed females, but stress to the tank as a whole.

 

Thanks Lynda! I'm really leaning towards just letting nature take its course and let the strong survive. The less I interupt them I'm thinking the better. I will just keep the tank well planted so they have plenty on nooks to hide in