Mosquitofish

[lilshirou]

Hey Guys, i was just wondering how many babies that this could have at one time. i checked wikipedia it said i could have 7000- 120000 in five months.

[Red]

LOL, maybe a bit over board, but they are like a guppy, add water and you will have hundreds. Also wouldnt use wikipedia that much on fish info.

[UncleWillie]

I second that the number is a bit exaggerated, and Wikipedia is not the best for fish info. While they are very close to guppies, they are hardier, much more vicious and can sometimes be hard to get much reproduction in aquaria. I have had moderate success breeding them in tanks, but because of their tendencies to be nasty and consume young, you must have the proper set up. Are you interested in breeding them?

I have had less fry production in Gambusia-only tanks than I have when they have been left to supply food for larger fish in community tanks. If you wish to have success, you will need a large, heavily planted tank, but a very light stock (1 male 3-5 females). You will need to thin them out as needed. As I have noticed even in large tanks, once juveniles or adult numbers get higher than the above numbers, reproduction slows and more fry are consumed. Meaning once fry are large enough, net them and put then in their own tank until needed.

On the contrary, if you set up and outdoor tub with plants, you can add a few fish and in months you will have dozens more (if not hundreds:shappy: )

[EmmanuelJB]

i checked wikipedia it said i could have 7000- 120000 in five months.
Thats not what the artical says...

From Wikipedia: " Individual populations have been recorded expanding from 7,000 to 120,000 in five months."

Thats saying if you have 7,000 of the fish, they can reproduce so much that that you could end up with 120,000 total in 5 months. So if half of the 7000 were female and the other half were male (3,500 pairs), than that would only be about 34 fish per pair in 5 months. Thats not unrealistic at all. (Obviously there wont be an even male female ratio in the population, but you get my point.)

[UncleWillie]

Emmanuel - this makes much more sense! Thanks for clarifying and bringing that up. The key thing to note is it says "individual populations...". It doesn't say that a single fish can produce 7000-120000 young in five months... That sounds much better.

[Red]

LOL, why would they use those random numbers like that haha

[lilshirou]

why do they grow so big? i found one in big als for 20 cents and it about 2 inches long.

[troy]

why do they grow so big? i found one in big als for 20 cents and it about 2 inches long.
Because they do.....

[UncleWillie]

Good answer, Troy.

It is not uncommon to see adult females push 2.5 inches in some cases.

[tanks4thememories]

If you live in Hayward CA (Alameda County) you can get them for free delivered to your house!!!...lol I'm jealous...lol

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.] ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.])