Begin by carrying out frequent water changes, raising the tank temperature slightly, and slowly extending the length of time that the lights are on. Carry out research so that you know what kind of planting, breeding surfaces, and substrate are preferred by your fish, and try to copy that in your breeding tank. When choosing a pair of fish that you intend to breed from, be sure to choose the pair that has the brightest color and appears lively and in good overall condition.
Most fish are able to breed once they grow large enough and reach maturity. So, pick a pair of fish that are of a reasonable size. Remember that in many species, female fish are smaller and less brightly-colored than males.
The fry is placed into outdoor ponds until they grow large enough to be shipped to fish stores. These youngsters have been conditioned by being fed a good diet, including live foods and pellets. By the fall, the fry is mature and ready to breed, and you may find a perfect pair in your local fish store. Whether you choose egg layers or livebearers, you will need to feed the fry, and that can be the trickiest part of breeding fish.
The fry of egg layers feeds on the egg yolk sac for a few days after they hatch. After that, you will need to feed them. Most fish breeders use infusoria as a first food for their fry. Infusoria are tiny micro-organisms that live in the water, including crustaceans, algae, bacteria, and protozoa. You can grow infusoria, simply by putting a lettuce leaf in the breeding tank, as soon as the male and female fish start spawning.
At that time, you can remove the old lettuce leaf and replace it with a fresh one. After another week, you can begin to feed the fry with one of the finely powdered fry foods for sale in your local fish store. Commercial paste preparations are also available, including Liquifry. There are many variations of breeding in fishes. Egg scatterers require a bare tank with either spawning mops, a bed of marbles or a net across the base for the eggs to fall through. Egg depositors like some cichlids need a surface to spawn on, be it a piece of slate, a flowerpot or a spawning cone.
And bubble nesters like Siamese fighting fish need still, shallow water and an anchor to build their floating bubble nests around. Sometimes getting fish to spawn is the easy part. Tiny fry have tiny mouths and need tiny food, little and often. Crumbled fish flake may just about cut it with large livebearer fry like mollies, but for the fry of egg scatterers and bubble nesters, you will need specialised fry food at the very least, leading on to newly hatched Artemia.
You can even make your own live food cultures like Whiteworm, Grindalworm, and Vinegar eels. Feed often, remove uneaten food and change water frequently. If you lose successive batches of fry the food may be too large, you may not be feeding enough for all of them in one sitting, or you may not be feeding frequently enough.
How to breed tropical fish. Water conditions Fish only have to do four things in the wild: avoid predators, find food, find a mate, and breed. Males will chase off predators. Bearers : These fish carry their young as they develop, either inside the female or outside, often in the mouth of the male. Sharks, rays, molly and gambusia give birth to live young. Fish School. Optimize the conditions of the water in the tank.
Apply your newfound knowledge of your parent species to make their surroundings more hospitable. Factors like temperature and the chemical and mineral balance of water can influence whether or not fish decide to mate. It may be necessary to use a separate heating element to warm the tank or soften the water to change its basic composition.
Water temperature, for instance, should only be raised or lowered degrees over the course of about a week. Too drastic a change in too short a time may agitate or even harm the parent fish. Simulate the rainy mating season. This is when most fish begin to breed in the highest numbers.
Use a watering can or circulating sprayer system to create the effect of a light downpour on the surface of the water. Incorporate familiar physical features. Add elements like stones, plants, and artificial tunnel structures to the tank to approximate the natural conditions under which the parent fish prefer to mate.
Cichlids, for example, typically mate on flat rocks, while other species retreat to the safety of caves or drift closer to the surface of the water.
A more recognizable environment will put them at ease and prompt them to increase their numbers. These structures will also provide a place for the female fish to deposit her eggs.
Outfit the tank with a low-power filter. If necessary, switch out the filter you currently have in your spawning tank for one with less suction. High-speed filters may over-circulate the water, creating strong currents that can sweep away tiny eggs or even suck them up. Part 3. Remove the parent fish from the spawning tank. Once the female has laid her eggs or given live birth, return both parents to their original tank, where they will quickly acclimate to their ordinary environmental conditions.
This will protect the eggs from being interfered with long enough for the fry newborn fish to hatch. Keep the conditions in the tank the same. It can now be used as a nursery tank to rear the fry. Limit the amount of light that enters the tank. Cover the tank on 3 sides with paper or scraps of fabric thick enough to block out most of the light from outside. Eggs and newly-hatched fish are often sensitive to light—too much may stunt their development or even kill them. As they continue to grow, their tolerance will increase and you can return the aquarium to its original light levels.
Be sure to black out the sides that receive the most direct light exposure. Leave one of the larger sides uncovered for observation. Change the tank water daily. Clean water is a must while the fry are learning to breathe and filter on their own.
Feed the young fish several times a day. When the fry first hatch, they come equipped with a large yellow egg sac that provides sustenance for a few days.
Liquid egg yolks, crushed fish flakes, plankton and algae are all examples of foods used to nourish fry. Look for the foods and supplements you need at pet stores that sell specialty fish supplies.
Smaller species like tetras and rainbowfish, for example, won't be able to handle commercially prepared foods so soon after hatching, and need to be fed liquid infusoria or similar supplements that they can digest easily.
As the fry grow larger, they can graduate to more substantial live foods like brine shrimp and microworms.
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