Tips For Effective Fish Breeding
Anything that you have placed in the aquarium traps debris. As soon as the fry come out, remove any breeding traps that have been in the aquarium before. You can also add one or a couple of apple snails into the aquarium. Apple snails are very laid back and do not attack any fish. These snails will eat debris, and will also eat any dead fry. Apple snails will not eat live fry. Apple snails also produce a good supply of infusorians and can even provide the frys first supply of food.
Keeping a detailed log of the entire process is a very good idea. This will help you when you need to repeat the process. You should keep accounts of the species name, the detailed water chemistry, filtration and aeration methods, approximate ages of the parents, when the female was added, the date on which the fry was released/hatched, the frys first food and the body size of the fry till it reaches about three months of age.
Sometimes, even in spite of doing just about everything to ensure success, you will find that your fish just does not breed. All conditions are as they should be, but still there is no success. In this case, it is best to use a target fish to jump-start the process. This works best in territorial fish. A target fish is a perceived threat to the territorial fish. The male fish sees the new fish as a possible encroacher in his territory and he will then pair up with the female fish to isolate the target fish. The important thing here is to ensure that your target fish is in reality not a threat to the existing fish or vice versa. For instance, when trying to breed small cichlids, using some zebra danios as target fish will not pose any threat to either fish. It should be noted that some species of fish will kill any kind of target fish, and such situations should be avoided. If this is the case, it will also suffice if you place the target fish in a different aquarium alongside the mating aquarium so that the male can see but not touch.
Sometimes, fish introduced into a new aquarium are too nervous to come out into the open. They will remain hidden for days and will refuse to settle down. Fish that are stressed in this way will never pair up and breed. In such cases, you can use a dither fish to calm the other fish. A dither fish is an easygoing, harmless fish. A hyperactive and aggressive fish is definitely not the right dither fish. Calm and peaceful midwater fish makes the best dither fish. Once the nervous fish see the dither fish swimming about happily without being consumed by predators, they too will settle down and come out of their hiding places. This is just to reassure the nervous fish that nothing will harm them when they come out into the open.
Breeding Bristlenosed Catfish - A short introduction to breeding Bristlenosed catfish
Breeding Discus - An introduction to breeding Discus.
Breeding Goldfish - An introduction to breeding goldfish
Breeding Mbuna Cichlids - An introduction to breeding Mbuna Cichlids
Breeding Oscar Fish - Introduction on how to breed Oscar fish.
Breeding Tiger Barbs - An introduction to breeding tiger barbs.
Breeding/Rearing Aquarium Tanks - How to setup a good aquarium to raise fry in.
Choosing the parents - An introduction to choosing the right fish for breeding.
Condition the parents - An introduction about how to condition fish for breeding.
Equipment and breeding fish - An introduction to equipment and how to manage a breeding tank.
Failed breedings - An article about failed breedings and how one can prevent the same thing from happening again.
Feeding Fry - An article about how to feed your fry.
Fish Spawning Methods - A introduction to the different spawning methods that are used by fish.
Koi Breeding - An introduction to breeding Koi fish.
Raising fry - An article about how to raise fry.
Spawning Methods - An introduction to the different spawning methods that fish use.
Keeping a detailed log of the entire process is a very good idea. This will help you when you need to repeat the process. You should keep accounts of the species name, the detailed water chemistry, filtration and aeration methods, approximate ages of the parents, when the female was added, the date on which the fry was released/hatched, the frys first food and the body size of the fry till it reaches about three months of age.
Sometimes, even in spite of doing just about everything to ensure success, you will find that your fish just does not breed. All conditions are as they should be, but still there is no success. In this case, it is best to use a target fish to jump-start the process. This works best in territorial fish. A target fish is a perceived threat to the territorial fish. The male fish sees the new fish as a possible encroacher in his territory and he will then pair up with the female fish to isolate the target fish. The important thing here is to ensure that your target fish is in reality not a threat to the existing fish or vice versa. For instance, when trying to breed small cichlids, using some zebra danios as target fish will not pose any threat to either fish. It should be noted that some species of fish will kill any kind of target fish, and such situations should be avoided. If this is the case, it will also suffice if you place the target fish in a different aquarium alongside the mating aquarium so that the male can see but not touch.
Sometimes, fish introduced into a new aquarium are too nervous to come out into the open. They will remain hidden for days and will refuse to settle down. Fish that are stressed in this way will never pair up and breed. In such cases, you can use a dither fish to calm the other fish. A dither fish is an easygoing, harmless fish. A hyperactive and aggressive fish is definitely not the right dither fish. Calm and peaceful midwater fish makes the best dither fish. Once the nervous fish see the dither fish swimming about happily without being consumed by predators, they too will settle down and come out of their hiding places. This is just to reassure the nervous fish that nothing will harm them when they come out into the open.
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