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Wanting to Breed - Suggestions Please!

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5K views 39 replies 13 participants last post by  GermanBlueRam224 
#1 ·
Hello forum,

I am new to this forum but have had aquariums for about ten years now. However, my fish have been limited to guppies, mollies, small barbs, catfish, shrimp, and my newest adventure, marbled crayfish. However, I have been feeling the need to expand a little. I have dedicated space and equipment for a 29 gallon tank and a 10 gallon tank. I would like to include 2-3 of the marbled crayfish (smaller ones, don't mind if they get eaten) in the 29 gallon, along with breed-able fish. I will use the 10 gallon to hold fry and/or lay eggs.

Now, I'm not going to run out and buy the first fish someones suggests and try to breed them. I have the tanks establishing now and will do my research. I was just wondering if you all could nudge me in the right directions with some fish that you think will be a good fit for a 29 gallon and relatively easy to breed or a good starter. Would like to expand beyond live bearers. Cooler the better :cool:.

Thanks,
Hank
 
#2 ·
it seems like you don't have the space to breed much other than live bearers. 10 gallon isn't a big enough grow out tank for a lot of things, and 29 isn't really big enough to hold a lot of "cool" fish. and i'd expect the crayfish to eat fry.

if you DO pick a kind of fish to breed, find out what's necessary for breeding. a lot of things need like 40 gallon breeder tanks to grow out. not to mention adult fish that need bigger.
 
#3 ·
Hey Hank ,
DJ is right about the tank size for alot of the common uniqe such as loaches , sharks , angels and stuff need more space . ( well oka angels aint real uniqe to some but are cool fish ) Dont know really what you would call ''cool'' so its kinda hard to answer lol those I listed are cool to me and diffrent , you dont hear many people breeding them ( except angels a few people do breed them they are kinda easy from what I hear ) .

But there are many egg layers that you got room for like ''cherry barbs'' ''Harlaquin Rasbora'' spellin might not be right on the last one sory most folks call them ''hets''. You might consider a chichlid tank ..Lots of colors and diffrent types to pick from :) Also they aint to hard to get to breed from what I read so thats an option .
And you cant forget the placos lots of diffrent types ''clown'' ''zebra'' ''bristlenose'' ''golden'' lol lots to pick from .
I hope this helps give you some ideas , and good luck with the new adventure !! Let me know what you settle on :-D
godbless
 
#26 ·
Hey Hank ,
DJ is right about the tank size for alot of the common uniqe such as loaches , sharks , angels and stuff need more space . ( well oka angels aint real uniqe to some but are cool fish ) Dont know really what you would call ''cool'' so its kinda hard to answer lol those I listed are cool to me and diffrent , you dont hear many people breeding them ( except angels a few people do breed them they are kinda easy from what I hear ) .

But there are many egg layers that you got room for like ''cherry barbs'' ''Harlaquin Rasbora'' spellin might not be right on the last one sory most folks call them ''hets''. You might consider a chichlid tank ..Lots of colors and diffrent types to pick from :) Also they aint to hard to get to breed from what I read so thats an option .
And you cant forget the placos lots of diffrent types ''clown'' ''zebra'' ''bristlenose'' ''golden'' lol lots to pick from .
I hope this helps give you some ideas , and good luck with the new adventure !! Let me know what you settle on :-D
godbless
Thanks for all the suggestions so far guys!

I guess when I think "cool" I think of nice colors and a bit aggressive. I keep several geckos so I have a lot of feeder insects (mealworms, dubia roaches, etc.) that I would like to feed to the fish. I guess I was thinking more towards cichlids. I was just unsure if they can be housed properly in that small of a tank.

As far as dealing with the fry, I know there is a bit of a market for cheap cichlids in this area and I am closely affiliated with a few pet stores and a friend that has turned his garage into a fish house and sells frequently.
Hey Hank ,
Sure its big enough for a pair chichlids as long as you research the specific type you get . Wich from reading here I'm sure you will . There are small ones that you could house a pair of , and seeing that you have something to do with the fry is awsome thats a big problem for most people that decide hey I want to breed , they dont think ahead enough to realize hey Im gonna have 30 plus extra fish soon . lol its nice to see someone thought out and prepaired ;-) I do wish you all the luck . Im tryin to get a pair of chichlids myself from a member on here but having trouble with my paypal account :evil: they are soo cool really great fish.
god bless
i really don't think you have enough space to breed any kind of cichlids :s

maybe to keep much more than a few rams
I disagree about the rams/ you should go with dwarf chiclids but never checkerd they are most difficult. there are tons of dwarf chichlids to choose from rams are about the size of dwarf gouramis mabe a little bigger but not by much there are plenty of dwarfs to choose from try checking / the reason I disagree about the rams is the max number I think I know is a couple pairs=4 in all if you have enough items to choose from then the territories should be established but could result in fights because of lack of diriffiation in teritorries this chichlids in general dwarfs are quite a bit more peaceful than medium and large chichlids plus with any chichleds the parents take care of fry except angelfish in some cases the parents eat eggs and fry hope this tells you what chichlids to choose from.
 
#4 ·
I think it supposes as well what your intentions are after you breed them. Are you going to get them to 3 months say and then give them to your lfs, sell them, or keep them all.

I like the bristlenose idea from above because well, I like them, I've even looked into breeding them perhaps in the future and even spoke to my lfs about whether they'd take them after etc, presumably what I couldn't sell early on as I wouldn't want to sustain like 50-100 of these!
 
#5 ·
I've heard Kuhli loaches can be fun to breed, but definitely on the challenging side. Harlequin Rasboras could also work, they lay their eggs on broad leafed plants. Mine spawn a few times a month, but I have yet to see fry, and the eggs get consumed fairly quickly.
 
#6 ·
Oh yes they have very good points. Definitely finding homes for fry is a good idea before they're even born. And all the materials like food, sponge filters, etc taht you'll need. the breeding section of the forum has TONS of great advice and logs of people's breeding aventures. :)

I like he pleco idea too. not sure how much space the fry need to grow out in, but I'm a sucker for catfish.

my cories and angels spawn all the time, but I've never had fry either. but i don't have space for fry anyways

good luck though man!
 
#7 ·
Thanks for all the suggestions so far guys!

I guess when I think "cool" I think of nice colors and a bit aggressive. I keep several geckos so I have a lot of feeder insects (mealworms, dubia roaches, etc.) that I would like to feed to the fish. I guess I was thinking more towards cichlids. I was just unsure if they can be housed properly in that small of a tank.

As far as dealing with the fry, I know there is a bit of a market for cheap cichlids in this area and I am closely affiliated with a few pet stores and a friend that has turned his garage into a fish house and sells frequently.
 
#8 ·
Hey Hank ,
Sure its big enough for a pair chichlids as long as you research the specific type you get . Wich from reading here I'm sure you will . There are small ones that you could house a pair of , and seeing that you have something to do with the fry is awsome thats a big problem for most people that decide hey I want to breed , they dont think ahead enough to realize hey Im gonna have 30 plus extra fish soon . lol its nice to see someone thought out and prepaired ;-) I do wish you all the luck . Im tryin to get a pair of chichlids myself from a member on here but having trouble with my paypal account :evil: they are soo cool really great fish.
god bless
 
#13 · (Edited)
I dont think you got room for the '' tigers'' as they like alot of room to swim they are very very active even if you had a long tank 29 aint enough really . Now I'm saying this mainly based from all the talk in another thread I was just reading with homer asking about fish and brought those guys up well he asked about the green tigers and everyone said the same thing to him . Myself I dont know really to be honest . I havent had any barbs since I was a kid , now that said when I had them it was in either a 10 or a 20 as those were the only ones I had as a child , and they lived . But livin aint breeding or being happy its just surviving and thats not cool to put animals through just for personal enjoyment . I wouldnt keep them now in one of those tank sizes .
Even if you got them and they did breed I dont know if your grow out would be big enough for the fry to grow out in properly . Im sory its hard to decide on one that fits what your equiped for , .
Its always easier to pick one and then get what you need for it . Well easy except for the money involved in geting it all .
Just keep looking you'll find one that fits your set-up , its great that your actually goin through the effort to find one that will be comfortable in what you have thats rare in this hobby , most folks just get whatever they want regardless of how it will affect the fishes life .

I like the krib chichs , they would love the crayfish lol for lunch ;) sory I know that was wrong to say . I love my ghosties . That chich in particular is the ones I was thinking of to be honest , or a blue ram pair like dj mentioned earlier they are both cool and colorful . And what you have would handle a pair , no more than a pair though .
 
#15 ·
Hey Hank ,
I have absolutely no experiance personally with them ( danios) , but I'll give you my opinion . As they are a very active fish its also a very tiny one and hense would require less space and produce less waste in a smaller tank as well . I would think that they would make a fine choice for your new endeavor with breeding . They are small , you have the room for them in your main tank as well as the grow out should be fine for the fry . But make sure that you WANT to raise these and are not settleing for them , as in doing so you will not get near the gratefacation or pleasure rather from it as you would with a fish you really love .

You said earlier that you had alot of experiance with live birthers guppy, molly , and so on . Well even though they are a very common fish they are stil just as rewarding as the other
''cooler'' fish ( loves guppys ) and you are suited for them . You could continue with them and fine tune your breeding skills and have more time to research and prepair for entering another field such as the egg layers . So in doing this you wouldnt have to settle for what you could have rather you could have what you want , and be completely set for said species breeding , houseing ,and so fourth . Even learn more about the genetics so you could really stand out in shows and sales with your fish health , color , fins so much goes into the genetics that is taken for granted with '' the parents looked okay'' being what based the breed in the first place . When an experianced breeder with a knowledge in genetics can get so much more than one without it .
But I'm not tryin to talk you out of the new idea just reminding you of other options ,. Oh and dont forget the shrimp they are a big thing now like previously posted by someone was a ''critter tank '' thats also an idea I mean you have a huge set-up as far as they are concernd. And there are many diffrent kinds to choose from as well , with difficulty rangeing from easy to advanced . Crystal reds are really cool as well as this one type ( red chich ) is posted a thread on in the classifieds about a breed / species in hawaii about to go extinct that are selling for the last time .
I just dont want you to get a fish and then a month later say '' I wish I had waited '' or '' I wish I had got that one instead '' .
Sory for the chapter long reply
 
#16 ·
Thank you very much for the reply! I used to work at a pet store and my favorite fish to feed were the zebra danios. They would torpedo up from the bottom of the tank and attack the food. Very interesting to feed. I do appreciate your comments about genetics. I always take that approach in other animal breeding, its good too see that it's common in this hobby too. I am also really liking those blue rams.
 
#17 ·
You could breed shellies in the 10 no problem, growout in the 29. If your looking for small colorful cichlids there's plenty of apisto species out there, some such as cacatouides are fairly easy to breed & colorful, others can be quite a challenge. If you keep up on water quality a pair of them in a 10 shouldn't be too much of a squeeze, I've bred them in a 20 & they had plenty of room.
 
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#18 ·
Okay Hank I got it , Man I found one of the COOLEST fish so amazing . Its freshwater you got room for a pair and it is way cool and diffrent :) I know I said cool like a dozen times but he is man .
I just read about it on another thread stockin issue , Its the africanbutterfly fish . I never heard of it and looked it up while reading the post and thought of you lol . It matches what you said you were looking for , uniqe , color , fins ,body structure its a choice that hasnt been mentioned and should really be looked into for you . I dont know about breeding conditions or requirments but if you want I will find out for you just message me or post it and I'll find out all I can , I want one now lol .
Just wanted to throw that in with all the rest , like I said I thought of you the second I saw it and read a little . Thought you might like to check into it .
God bless ;-)
 
#23 · (Edited)
Pantodon buchholzi
just thought I'd put that out there to ya . They are real cool and very diffrent . I have also never heard a single person breeding them but you know someone is , just not a whole lot of ppl lol . Kinda what you were looking for ??
 
#24 ·
Guppies take no effort :)
 
#27 ·
#28 ·
Chichlids need hard water and a sandy substrate since they dig and in some filter feed
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#33 ·
I was talking to my big fish friend and asked him if he had any danios. He told me he had giants and pearls. I googled pearls and that led me to find Celestial Pearl danios. These guys stay under an inch and seem to be pretty peaceful.

Do you guys think they are peaceful enough to be in the same 29 as a flowy finned guppy?
 
#34 ·
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#35 ·
I say yes that is exp I have I had giants with fancy guppies/and the giants are the fastest swimmers among them unfortunately with giant they see commens as food unless the giants are added last if the giants are full grown and old but if giants are young but still not fry they see them as other fish rather than food strange psychology lol but really with this conclusion is the celestial is a perfect tank mate but keep this in mind danios have group mentalitys. Meaning they only act together and try to act like other fish if they see them grouping just to fit in also they should be with 5 danios in all at minimum but will still act in this group manor + these are more gental than giants so good Luck and they should go together based on my exp have fun :)
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#36 ·
I say yes that is exp I have I had giants with fancy guppies/and the giants are the fastest swimmers among them unfortunately with giant they see commens as food unless the giants are added last if the giants are full grown and old but if giants are young but still not fry they see them as other fish rather than food strange psychology lol but really with this conclusion is the celestial is a perfect tank mate but keep this in mind danios have group mentalitys. Meaning they only act together and try to act like other fish if they see them grouping just to fit in also they should be with 5 danios in all at minimum but will still act in this group manor + these are more gental than giants so good Luck and they should go together based on my exp have fun :)
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Thanks a lot, Cole, just what I wanted to hear!
 
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