Small and easy fish to breed?

I dunno, I want to breed but I don't want to breed livebearers, I've heard it can kill the females. What other small and easy fish are there?

 

Heh, that's the opposite case with me - I had 2 males and a female and both males were dead before I even had babies! The female is doing great, too. Holding her own with lots of bigger fish

However, as far as I know for easy to breed fish.... Angels are very persistent breeders, livebearers are CONSTANT breeders, Corydoras may be easy to breed, and heck, maybe you should try something a little harder, like Cherry Barbs.

 

Well with a ten gallon tank I don't think you can breed really anything anyways sorry. You really need a separate breeding tank(I know this from personal expierence).

Austin

 

Well with a ten gallon tank I don't think you can breed really anything anyways sorry. You really need a separate breeding tank(I know this from personal expierence).

Austin

Yes I know this, I'm just wondering what fish would be easy if I had the tank capacity to do it.

 

livebearers, all the others I believe you need special care needs unlike liveberaer but you don't want them so I don't konw.

 

What fish are in the tank? Everyone I've asked has said it's easy to breed and rear Corydoras.

 

Maybe someday I'll try Cories, I've always wanted them anyway. You can see what fish I have in my signature. There's no room in my 10 gallon for more fish anyway though, if I get fish to breed they would have to be in the new tank I'm getting, and then I'd have to set up a fry tank too...
One question, what do you feed small fry like Cory fry?

 

https://www.corydorasworld.com/

"I had bought some powdered fry food as well as obtained a microworm culture from a friend and it was small amounts of this that the babies were first fed on"

Basically anything for egg-layer fry. I've seen where people have used the liquid fry food, too.

 

Thanks Marc. I would be seriously tempted to try breeding Cories, except that I will be going to college in several years and when I leave no one in my family can take care of fish, and Cories live too long.

Changing the subject a bit, is it really that risky to breed livebearers? I remember someone saying once that you should be prepared to have some losses if you breed them. I would love to breed maybe my Platys, but I love them so much and I don't want to put their lives at risk.

 

I guess there is, i'v lost some due to breeding but not my choice they bred, I bought her like that. I heard head and tail light tetras are easy to breed.

Austin

 

Just make sure that they are healthy and that you condition them properly. Plenty of live foods, veggie flakes, spirulina, etc. If they are healthy, relatively large, and just look to be in great shape, THEN you should breed them. Otherwise you may or may not have them survive.

 

I think when I set up a new tank I may breed after all. I think I will buy a trio of Platies. Does anyone have any tips for me?

 

Make sure they are conditioned and be prepared to have space for the babies, be it a breeder net/box or a new tank! It's really simple

 

How big do you think females should be before I get the male? Is a 5 gallon tank ok for raising the fry?

 

A 5 gallon is fine. Hmm... not sure how I could really give you an idea of how big... They should be bigger than the males and look pretty big. They should be very thick as well, all in all just bigger than the male guppies.

 

I've had multiple spawns of swordtails with the same female...She's as strong as an ox.

 

Well, that's good to hear. I'm still not sure if I want to breed. I'll keep thinking about it. The main thing is it would mean not getting all the fish I want in the new tank to make room for a trio of Platys...there's no way I'm going to breed the ones I already have, they're too small anyway (although one of the Guppies did have fry already, she was apparently preggy when I bought her... )...is breeding really worth it? What do you guys think, is it worth the effort?

 

It's fun to watch them grow and you really feel a sense of accomplishment when you see how much they've grown

 

Yes, I felt so proud when the 2 fry from my Guppy finally started showing color...and now they're so big... But if I really breed I'll have to give away the fry...and now I've heard that it's risky for the female...well, like I said I'll have to think about it.

 

My problem has become that the LFS doesn't buy or take fish for credit and everyone I know who has fish has no more room for swordtails as I've already given some away to them! The LFS won't even take them for free! I just want someone to enjoy them.

Now, I've got 10 left and need to find a home for them....... ???

 

Try and see if people want them at an Aquarium Society or something - I'll be checking out Norwalk Aquarium Society in two weeks so I'll tell you how it is if you're interested

 

Good idea Marc. Thanks.

 

If I'm going to breed I will ask first if my lfs will take fry. If they say no, then I won't breed.

 

Well I have read and printed out some articles about breeding and it seems to me that guppies are the easiest to breed so I plan to buy a variety of guppies and then breed them :https://so if some of the fish die it doesn't rely matter because I will have lots more to breed.when raising the fry it is best to have plants or rocks so the fry can hide from the adults. :'( :-* :-\ :-X :-[ : 8)

 

Swordtails are VERY easy to breed....3 batches of fry in 4 months.........over 30.......

 

Can you keep swords in a 20g? Also, how big do they get and how long do they live?
thanks

 

I have 3 green swords in a 15g. They can get to be about 2 1/2". Not sure how long they live. You also have to remember that in a controlled environment fish sometimes never reach their full sie becasue of he size of their surroundings. That's why everything you read about fish size always says ' Can get UP TO x" '.

 

Both the males and females get to 2.5"? I would have thought the males would be smaller than the females...
Well I'll do some research on them. Maybe I should try breeding some Swords... ;D

 

My two guppy ladies I think are pregant and one of my platy ladies looks really fat - I am not entirely sure how to handle the situation but I will let you know how mine goes so you can have some more info

 

Both the males and females get to 2.5"?  I would have thought the males would be smaller than the females...
Well I'll do some research on them.  Maybe I should try breeding some Swords... ;D

They get to be about the same size, but the males are very slender compared to the females. I have seen some places indicate that they can get up to 4", but every pet store I've seen them in says 2-1/2"-3"....

 

ok thanks. I've decided not to breed right now for several reasons, but I definitely want to someday!

 

My lfs's will take my baby guppies for free but they don't take care of them so I'm wondering if I should give them to them or feed them to my fish or whatsafish's7 pirhanas. I think I'm going to give them to the pet store so they have a chance of surviving and finding hopefully a good home but doubt that will happen since they sell 50+ guppies like every week. Wish them luck. I think breeding isn't that great unless you know that someone will keep taking them and you can get a little money for them so it pays to breed them.

 

I agree with you about wanting to know someone who can take them...that's one of the reasons I decided not to breed...I've seen so many livebearers, especially Guppies, sold to some kid along with a 1 gallon tank or something.

 

Yup when I get older I'd like to own my own pet store and breed my own fish to sell.

 

So I’m still working on my discus, the end goal bring to breed f0s someday. . . Someday far from now haha. But I am interested in starting some other projects, preferably ones with monetary potential (not looking to quit my day job but breaking even might be nice). I’m planning on EBAs soon, but anything else y’all would recommend I look into? Preferably fish that aren’t gonna require huge water volumes. Plecos interest me, shrimp interest me, wild caughts. . .

 

So I’m still working on my discus, the end goal bring to breed f0s someday. . . Someday far from now haha. But I am interested in starting some other projects, preferably ones with monetary potential (not looking to quit my day job but breaking even might be nice). I’m planning on EBAs soon, but anything else y’all would recommend I look into? Preferably fish that aren’t gonna require huge water volumes. Plecos interest me, shrimp interest me, wild caughts. . .

Not sure if you’ll make big money breeding the following, but...

Honey Gouramis

Pygmy Corydoras.

Apistogramma (various types)

Killifish

None of these require large water volumes, and from what I’ve read, they’re pretty easy to breed

 

If you don't want large volume of water and upkeep I would not choose EBA .
They are hogs for space that do not pay for their needs at all IME . They took up my largest tanks and sold the slowest of all fish I have bred.
It is exactly the amount of space they require and their low selling price along with low demand that finally got me to stop breeding the EBA .
Glad they are gone still !
I would suggest going to Aquabid and see what sells best ..It is not acara for sure .

 

If you bred wild bettas they could go for a pretty good price, they also have large spawns and don’t require large tanks (I can’t remember which species but some of the species can live as a Male female pair in a 5-10g)

 

If you have a load of money to invest and don't mind waiting a while on your return, Plecos can be a money maker.

Me personally, I did WELL with fancy Guppies. On the cheap end you can get a few bucks each for them, on the high end $20-$40 each. SUPER easy, breed like crazy, no work at all. A few hundres dollars in nice Guppies can return THOUSANDS. I made a boatload of money breeding them in the mid 90's.

 

DuaneV And coralbandit were to source quality guppy strains?