Small shoaling fish that’s easy to breed

I really like Cardinal Tetras, and I have a spare 130 Litre (~35 Gallon) tank I’m not doing anything with.

I looked into breeding the cardinals, but it doesn’t seem easy (I have no experience with breeding).

Is there a shoaling fish, small like a Cardinal, that’s easy to breed without trying to amend pH etc?

Thanks!

 

Livebearers are very easy to breed, as are corydoras. Endlers are the smallest livebearer that I know of, and look stunning. They are very easy to breed. Just turn the temperature up a couple degrees and feed well.

 

Livebearers are very easy to breed, as are corydoras. Endlers are the smallest livebearer that I know of, and look stunning. They are very easy to breed. Just turn the temperature up a couple degrees and feed well.

Thank you. Would Endlers end up over breeding, though, meaning I’d have to find someone to take them?

 

Thank you. Would Endlers end up over breeding, though, meaning I’d have to find someone to take them?

It depends how much cover you have and tank mates. If you have a heavily planted tank and this is going to be a species only, then definitely, but if you have less plants, or some kind of tetra or other fish to eat some babies, then you should have a low enough survival rate to prevent over breeding, but also enough to grow some babies to adulthood. A larger fish(or multiple fish) to eat babies with a lot of plants is definitely better then less plants.

 

It depends how much cover you have and tank mates. If you have a heavily planted tank and this is going to be a species only, then definitely, but if you have less plants, or some kind of tetra or other fish to eat some babies, then you should have a low enough survival rate to prevent over breeding, but also enough to grow some babies to adulthood. A larger fish(or multiple fish) to eat babies with a lot of plants is definitely better then less plants.

Ok lovely, yeah I’d want a heavily planted tank but I’d definitely be open to a larger fish to help with population control.

Would you have any recommendations for a fish to put in for population control?

My LFS has endler guppies, is that the same thing or a cross between endlers and guppies and thus not the thing we’re discussing?

 

Ok lovely, yeah I’d want a heavily planted tank but I’d definitely be open to a larger fish to help with population control.

Would you have any recommendations for a fish to put in for population control?

My LFS has endler guppies, is that the same thing or a cross between endlers and guppies and thus not the thing we’re discussing?

Sorry I didn’t specify; I do mean endlers guppies.(also called endlers livebearers) For a 20 gallon tank, Harlequin Rasboras would be a great peaceful schooling fish that would eat some fry. 6 harlequins, with 2 male endlers and 4 or 5 female endlers, and snails or shrimp would look great. You cold also do less endlers keeping at least 2 females to 1 male, and have corydoras on the bottom, which would also be easy to breed. (Egg layers so population control is very easy) I would recommend putting putting as many plants in the tank as you can.(they will help for breeding, keep the tank cleaner, make the fishes color pop, and just look great) Good luck!

 

Sorry I didn’t specify; I do mean endlers guppies.(also called endlers livebearers) For a 20 gallon tank, Harlequin Rasboras would be a great peaceful schooling fish that would eat some fry. 6 harlequins, with 2 male endlers and 4 or 5 female endlers, and snails or shrimp would look great. You cold also do less endlers keeping at least 2 females to 1 male, and have corydoras on the bottom, which would also be easy to breed. (Egg layers so population control is very easy) I would recommend putting putting as many plants in the tank as you can.(they will help for breeding, keep the tank cleaner, make the fishes color pop, and just look great) Good luck!

Ah ok! Thanks for the advice

I’m half in half on whether I’m going to go with endlers/rasboras or a species only convict cichlid tank haha

 

Ah ok! Thanks for the advice

I’m half in half on whether I’m going to go with endlers/rasboras or a species only convict cichlid tank haha

Sounds great! Never had convict cichlids but when kept as species only them seem very fun!

 

Sounds great! Never had convict cichlids but when kept as species only them seem very fun!

Yeah they look amazing, the only issue is what I’d do with the fry haha.

 

Yeah they look amazing, the only issue is what I’d do with the fry haha.

I really enjoyed my convicts. I donated the fry, once they grew out, to my LPS.

 

I really enjoyed my convicts. I donated the fry, once they grew out, to my LPS.

I'm interested in your experience, if you're willing to share; did you just buy a male and a female for your tank and they bred, or did you have to buy a group and watch to see which ones paired off?

Once the fry is born, will they eat it? If not, at what age do you have to remove it to avoid aggression between the males?

How many babies did you get on an average month?

How big was the tank you kept them in, and how many did you have?

I really like the Cichlids I have (cockatoo dwarf and eliotti), what are convicts like (other than very aggressive when breeding)?

 

I had one male and one female. Initially, they were in a 20 gallon and I evetnually moved them to a 55 gallon. They started breeding in the 20 gallon. Twenty gallons may be too small. No other fish were with them.

I didn't do anything to get them to breed. Convicts are generally very easy to breed. They are good parents and don't eat the fry. It's very interesting to watch them parent; they protect the eggs, alter the substrate to make an area for the fry, protect the fry, suck straying fry into their mouth and spit them back into the group.

It was like over 10 years ago so I don't remember the age I removed the fry, but it was bascially when they looked like miniature versions of the adults. They were around an inch (2.5 cm), probably a little less. I usually had around 20 babies I guess. I don't remember all the fry details.

I found them interesting & they are your typical cichlid in most ways. They can be aggressive in groups, even prior to breeding.

I hope this answered some of your questions. Let me know if you have more! (That being said, there are more experienced people here that can probably give you better info.)

 

Small easy to breed schoaling fish that spring to mind would be WCMM or danios.

 

I had one male and one female. Initially, they were in a 20 gallon and I evetnually moved them to a 55 gallon. They started breeding in the 20 gallon. Twenty gallons may be too small. No other fish were with them.

I didn't do anything to get them to breed. Convicts are generally very easy to breed. They are good parents and don't eat the fry. It's very interesting to watch them parent; they protect the eggs, alter the substrate to make an area for the fry, protect the fry, suck straying fry into their mouth and spit them back into the group.

It was like over 10 years ago so I don't remember the age I removed the fry, but it was bascially when they looked like miniature versions of the adults. They were around an inch (2.5 cm), probably a little less. I usually had around 20 babies I guess. I don't remember all the fry details.

I found them interesting & they are your typical cichlid in most ways. They can be aggressive in groups, even prior to breeding.

I hope this answered some of your questions. Let me know if you have more! (That being said, there are more experienced people here that can probably give you better info.)

Thank you that's very helpful

Small easy to breed schoaling fish that spring to mind would be WCMM or danios.

Ah nice, thank you