Is it this simple?

[CaptainAquatics]

Hey everyone! So as some of you know I have been on the forum for a long time now and this christmas will be 4 years in the fish keeping hobby, with 10+ aquariums. My fish knowledge has become more expansive than I could have ever thought possible (seriously 5 years ago if you told me what id be doing now id laugh in your face). I have met some amazing people through this hobby both online (you guys) and IRL at events. Anyway one thing I haven't really ever done is breeding fish. I have decided that I would like to try this with the most beginner fish possible, the guppy. I just wanted to get any advice about how to go about this and if my plan sounds good. Here is my plan:
1. I have two empty 10 gallon aquariums right now with no purpose. I plan to make one of these the main tank where I keep the moms and dads, and one of them the tank where the sellable guppy's go. I will buy a 2.5-5 gallon tank for the fry, and put a small sponge filter in it with a small heater. This will also be where I put the moms before they give birth to keep them as stress free as possible
2. I will set up all these tanks and likely do a insta cycle with media from my other tanks with the main tank. I will buy some higher quality guppies from my LFS and begin to breed them.
3. Then just raise the babies and sell them

Is this a good plan? Do you think I (and the guppies) will do well with this plan? I do have a few questions though:
1. Do guppies prefer specific tank set up to breed (ex: lots of plants, lots of rocks, sand substrate, rock substrate, strong/weak water flow, ect.)
2. What should the temp be? I was thinking maybe 76F?
3. Is a good ratio 3 females for every 1 male?
4. Any other recommendations?

Now I would like to quickly say that I am not doing this whole thing only for money and will still ensure that all the fish are happy and healthy. I think this will be a fun thing to do and experiment with, and I am exited to get this project up and running. I do intend to sell these fish and make some money but I am still doing this because I enjoy fish keeping and want to try something new! What do you think a good price would be? I'm thinking like 2$ (slightly cheaper than my LFS). Also I would like to warn everyone there are likely many updates and questions to come. Thank you in advance for all your advice!

 

[SAM321]

I would rather recommend to put 4 male and 2 female Danio Zebra with a net at bottom for 3 days and let them produce around 100+ eggs and then move them back to main and repeat this after a weel in other aquarium.

In 4 months you will get around 200 zebra to sell.

Guppies mortality rate is high plus u need more care for the guppy fry.

Plus guppy life expectancy is around 360 days. Zebras are hardy and go more longer with less efforts

 

[CaptainAquatics]

I would rather recommend to put 4 male and 2 female Danio Zebra with a net at bottom for 3 days and let them produce around 100+ eggs and then move them back to main and repeat this after a weel in other aquarium.

In 4 months you will get around 200 zebra to sell.

Guppies mortality rate is high plus u need more care for the guppy fry.

Plus guppy life expectancy is around 360 days. Zebras are hardy and go more longer with less efforts

Will that really work so quick? Also what tank are you talking about? Put those 6 fish in the 2.5 gallon with a net for the eggs to lay on? Also how can you tell the difference between male and female danios?

 

[SAM321]

I am new to forum, can I post a YouTube link here that will give you some idea

 

[CaptainAquatics]

I am new to forum, can I post a YouTube link here that will give you some idea

yeah, I think you can

 

[SAM321]

First watch all three videos, all are my experiments.

All you need is large plastic mosquito net.

Fold it in layers tjat fits in side aquarium, hold it with medium size stones

 

[FinalFins]

Why not start with BN plecos? They are simple, you can use the 10 gallon and you may or may not need a nother tank?

Well with zebras you need to condition, make sure the eggs survive. Egg scattering fish are pretty challenging IMO.

 

[SAM321]

Yes Plecos is also a good idea.

Do you have hands on step by step guide.

I might try

On the other hand ensuring survival of Zebra egg is easy. 2 drops of PPM after the parents are removed and keeping the water at constant temp is enough atleast for my multiple rounds of experiments.

 

[CaptainAquatics]

I might just start with guppies for now and move onto other fish later. There is no reason I couldn’t switch what I’m breeding later on.

 

[Vinh]

Hey everyone! So as some of you know I have been on the forum for a long time now and this christmas will be 4 years in the fish keeping hobby, with 10+ aquariums. My fish knowledge has become more expansive than I could have ever thought possible (seriously 5 years ago if you told me what id be doing now id laugh in your face). I have met some amazing people through this hobby both online (you guys) and IRL at events. Anyway one thing I haven't really ever done is breeding fish. I have decided that I would like to try this with the most beginner fish possible, the guppy. I just wanted to get any advice about how to go about this and if my plan sounds good. Here is my plan:
1. I have two empty 10 gallon aquariums right now with no purpose. I plan to make one of these the main tank where I keep the moms and dads, and one of them the tank where the sellable guppy's go. I will buy a 2.5-5 gallon tank for the fry, and put a small sponge filter in it with a small heater. This will also be where I put the moms before they give birth to keep them as stress free as possible
2. I will set up all these tanks and likely do a insta cycle with media from my other tanks with the main tank. I will buy some higher quality guppies from my LFS and begin to breed them.
3. Then just raise the babies and sell them

Is this a good plan? Do you think I (and the guppies) will do well with this plan? I do have a few questions though:
1. Do guppies prefer specific tank set up to breed (ex: lots of plants, lots of rocks, sand substrate, rock substrate, strong/weak water flow, ect.)
2. What should the temp be? I was thinking maybe 76F?
3. Is a good ratio 3 females for every 1 male?
4. Any other recommendations?

Now I would like to quickly say that I am not doing this whole thing only for money and will still ensure that all the fish are happy and healthy. I think this will be a fun thing to do and experiment with, and I am exited to get this project up and running. I do intend to sell these fish and make some money but I am still doing this because I enjoy fish keeping and want to try something new! What do you think a good price would be? I'm thinking like 2$ (slightly cheaper than my LFS). Also I would like to warn everyone there are likely many updates and questions to come. Thank you in advance for all your advice!

You want to sell these fish.Pair them with the very good looking/ healthy rare one . Every one will love it.The one 5$ each we can buy anywhere in lfs. No special at all

 

[ystrout]

Will that really work so quick? Also what tank are you talking about? Put those 6 fish in the 2.5 gallon with a net for the eggs to lay on? Also how can you tell the difference between male and female danios?

Females are chubbier and have barbels. Males are skinnier.

My pearl danios consistently "breed" in the morning right after the light turns on. They then proceed to eat their eggs hahaha.

 

[Mcasella]

You'd have better luck picking up a true breeding pair then filling one of the ten gallons with decorations and plants and letting them go. You want to get a true breeding (the offspring look like the adults when grown) rather than just a random male and female from the local pet store to make the best effort for being able to sell them easily. With the heavy decoration and fluffy plants the babies can hide and survive. The more cover the better, sometimes you get lucky by not having fry eaters.

 

[CaptainAquatics]

I got the guppies! I got one male and three females. The females are just assorted guppies but the male is a cobra guppy so the babies should hopefully carry his trait. I used cycled media from my other tanks to insta cycle the 10 gallon for them so they should be set to go. They are acclimating and when they settle in I will post pics!

 

[idk]

Since nobody has addressed this yet, lots of plants are great for the babies especially if there are adults/bigger guppies in the same tank. It increases the survival rate a lot! Babies tend to hide around the bottom-lower mid areas of the tank so hopefully you'll be seeing some soon!

 

[CaptainAquatics]

Since nobody has addressed this yet, lots of plants are great for the babies especially if there are adults/bigger guppies in the same tank. It increases the survival rate a lot! Babies tend to hide around the bottom-lower mid areas of the tank so hopefully you'll be seeing some soon!

Hopefully! I hope to be able to get a 5 gallon tank and put a sponge filter in it just for the babies. Still don know when that's going to happen though. My next post on this thread should be pictures of the new guppies! It might even attach to this post.

Here are some photos of the male. Don’t have great ones of the females yet:

I don’t seem to be able to upload photos, weird....