# Breeding



## ZackyBear (Dec 1, 2011)

Hey everyone~! 

I've been skimming the site everyday, doing my research and taking notes since I want to become a good betta breeder. I don't even own any bettas right now:lol: Some day I hope to have my own line going, but that's a different story!

Because of the whole "I wanna be an awesome breeder" attitude, I was thinking that maybe I should start out with breeding a different type of fish species. I have no experience breeding any fish. Ever. And the only way to get that is by going for it since I'm more of a hands-on learner.

Do you think it would be a good idea? Or should I just stay focused on bettas for now?

If it seems like a good idea, anyone recommend a good fish to start with? If not then I will go back to studying. x3

P.s- I hope this thread is in the right spot!


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## BeckyFish97 (Apr 9, 2012)

Yes this is in the right place as far as I can tell.
On the question of other fish, I started of with platys as they are quite easy to breed and it gives you the experience of raising fry, I think a couple of platy spawns, or even guppy spawns would be a good experience before trying to breed bettas as they are considerably harder to breed, the best thing you can do it read read and read some more!You can never prepare yourself enough, also you need to think about food cultures and research those for feeding any fry, I do daily 25% water changes for all my fry.You need to know this is a LOT of work, from one single spawn bettas can produce up to 600 fry (in my experience, someone else may have had more!) you need a massive grow out tank, seperation jars for the males. I'm not trying to put you off I just think people need to know what they're letting themselves in for! I have to say though there is nothing quite like raising a baby and seeing it grow up into adulthood!Good luck, I hope I helped!


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## ZackyBear (Dec 1, 2011)

xD Yes, breeding bettas is actually kind of scary for me because so much can go wrong, and the worst part is if I ended having to cull. I'm not all too much worried about the time/effort put into it or the amount of bettas bred~ Those are easy to work with. ^w^

As for platys...what...ARE they? o.o

Also for some reason I love vinegar eels. I was thinking about getting a culture for myself to start...would that work for other fish or is it betta specific?


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## BeckyFish97 (Apr 9, 2012)

vinegar eels I believe are ok for all, but I'm not sure.
These are platys:
http://wereallwet.com/mickey-mouse-is-in-the-building/


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## BeckyFish97 (Apr 9, 2012)

Oh one other thing, culling shouldn't be much of a problem if you breed the right combinations!I believe the main reason for culling is overlarge fins and you can control this!


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## ZackyBear (Dec 1, 2011)

They are such pretty fish~! I'm going to look into them. Is it possible to keep males together and females seperate or do you HAVE to have 2 females for every male?


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## BeckyFish97 (Apr 9, 2012)

With platy's it is better to keep them together because they are shoaling fish, (lol I think I spelt that right) they are built to live together. Some people may argue that when kept together the males basically breed the females to death, but at the same time if you put 5 males together on their own they would be likely to kill each other out of pure frustration. Personally I keep 2 males with 3 females or even 1 male with 3 females and seperate the females only when necessary. If you put a platy on its own, it will get depressed and eventually die from not eating (because of the depression)


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## tpocicat (Aug 8, 2011)

Platys sound like guppies! When I've had guppies I try to have at least 3 females for every male (same reason). Of course they are live bearers and bettas lay eggs in a bubble nest.
There are some very good stickies under the breeding bettas section if you want to learn more.


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## ZackyBear (Dec 1, 2011)

Yes I've been reading up on those as well as spawn logs. It's just a library here! x3 But I'm thinking about starting out with some platys and see how that goes. I probably won't try breeding bettas for another 6 months~ Maybe longer.


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## MaisyDawgThirteen (Dec 7, 2011)

Guppies are pretty similar to platys.


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## ZackyBear (Dec 1, 2011)

They're all so very pretty, too ;^;


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Breeding another type of fish for experience will be completely fine as long as you can provide the optimal homes for them.

I would recommend breeding an easy beginner fish for starters and raise the fry similar to how you would raise bettas.......

are great beginner breeder fish as they are profilic breeders and there fry are relatively hardy, I currently have a Guppy fry tank outside aswell as a male guppy tank, I am planning on having a successful breeding colony after I raise the fry to adulthood. 

Guppies are relatively easy to breed as they are livebearers and have been known to multiply without any sort of assistance for breeding and preserving the fry. Males and females will naturally breed when plac in the same tank and for minimal stress, along with best results, you ideally should have 1 male and 3 females. The gestation period for these fish are short and you should have babies after about 28 days. Only of fertilization occurs

Guppies require little or no maintenance to get the fish to breed yet I would treat them as you would when breeding bettas if you are planning to get ready, if you were to breed guppies as they are usually bred, you would gain little experience from this so ideally you would want the below materials

1 20 gallon fry grow out tank for an average spawn size of around 50. Please note though that a guppy spawn wont be nearly as large

A heavily planted 5-10 gallon spawning tank, though in this case you would want a minimum of 3 females and a male

A high a quality breeding pair with no deformities

Homes for all of the fry

Heaters

Filters

Cover for the fry


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## MaisyDawgThirteen (Dec 7, 2011)

How many babies would you get from 3 females? Could you use the same tank for spawn and growout?


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Around 100. If all of the fry survive and you are able to save them all I would use a grow out and of around 35 gallons to keep them all in.


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## MaisyDawgThirteen (Dec 7, 2011)

Do you feed them BBS? Or just crushed up flakes? My guppies only except crushed up flakes. -.-


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

I feed them BBS and every so often crushed up flakes. They appreciate the BBS much more, and I would expect more vigorous growth from using it, along with other food cuctures such as microworms


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## MaisyDawgThirteen (Dec 7, 2011)

Mo said:


> I feed them BBS and every so often crushed up flakes. They appreciate the BBS much more, and I would expect more vigorous growth from using it, along with other food cuctures such as microworms


 Cool! My LPS sells BBS eggs. If I ever do decide to breed that'd be great!


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Yup, the brine shrimp them selves are amazing little creatures and are fun to own and have multiple purposes, that is one of the main reasons why they are so popular...
PS they do love heated water though. I have gotten a nice colony without heating the water but for best results, you would want a good temperature of around 78 degrees, as you would keep bettas in


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## MaisyDawgThirteen (Dec 7, 2011)

I keep my guppies at 75? With a heater . . .


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

I am talking about Brine Shrimp.... Guppies actually do better in temperatures around 74 and live a lot longer thn they would in tropical setups. So good job for giving them the optimal temperature, most people don't do this


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## MaisyDawgThirteen (Dec 7, 2011)

How big do brine shrimp get?

Sorry about hijacking this thread. xD


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

usually about 8–10 millimetres for an adult male and 10–12 mm for an adult female, but the width of both genders, including the legs, is about 4*mm.


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## ZackyBear (Dec 1, 2011)

So would vinegar eels work as well?

o.o I think they are easier t colonize IMO


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Yeah, vinegar eels are good too.


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## ZackyBear (Dec 1, 2011)

Alrighty. I've come up with a plan. I've gotten everything written down and logged for now. I'm going to get a bit at a time!

Firstly, the fish I wish to try and start with. I'm going to start out with Platys and eventually work on guppies. I need to figure out another 'level' of fish to work with. (Like a pyramid. And eventually work my way up to bettas!)

Secondly, supplies. I'm going to get them here and there. First I'm going to start with the tanks. Heaters, Test Kits, live plants (needa QT those x.x) the works. The While those are cycling I will also be growing out the cultures I will choose to feed the fry.

Thirdly, stocking up on items I will need in case any of the Platies get sick.

I know there is something else I'm forgetting...


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

In breeding livebearers, wouldn't it be a good idea to have two seperate tanks for the fry - one for males, one for females - so that you can control the genetics and prevent unwanted spawns? That way, you can decide who mates with whom. 

A second-tier sort of fish might be some easy cichlids, like convicts.  They need a different set-up, though.


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Yes, but if you only want to spawn once, then 3 tanks would be unnecessary


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## MaisyDawgThirteen (Dec 7, 2011)

Couldn't you divide the tank and have one side for males and one side for females?


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

That would also be a good idea maisy. Good thinking!. But after you choose the two that you want to fourth spawn you would need to Find room for the others so you have space for a grow out tank


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## ZackyBear (Dec 1, 2011)

I like the idea of having a divided tank, one side for males and one side for females  Since I'm new to breeding and doing this for experience, I only want to do one spawn so I don't overwhelm myself! That would be very bad....

@Bombalurina - Convict Cichilds?  That's a very...erm...strange name.


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Good luck with breeding, your plan sounds very well thought out. Just make us that your tanks are cycled

I hope I helped with this situation


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Convicts breed really easy. There's the regular ones and also a pink form.
You can't have anything in with a breeding pair. Mine managed to rip up a 10" pleco that wanted to get to the nest.
A piece of PVC would be a good nest for them.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

FYI-Once the breeding age female Platy or Guppy is exposed to the male- the female can hold sperm packets inside of her for up to 6 drops....... and so, even if you remove the male platy-the female will continue to drop fry every 28-30 days for 6-7 months...so don't count on just having one spawn/drop.....


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

OFL. there have been reports of holding the sperm and being able to give birth when in contact with a male in the past 8-10 months


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## ZackyBear (Dec 1, 2011)

O_O I wish you were kidding!! 

Well, that doesn't seem too bad then. I could just QT the females in a seperate tank if they pop out any more fry. If they do then I'll just grow them out or....something.


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## Pitluvs (Jun 22, 2011)

We have a group of Swordtails that breed like rabbits as well. Another great breeder, but a much larger fish that requires a bigger tank. My largest female is nearly 4inches


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