# Breeding DIY Guides



## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

This is a collection of DIY guides for breeding and raising fry. If you want to add to it, please make sure that the methods shown are ones that you've tried yourself -- and include pictures!


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

*DIY: Cultures*

*INFUSORIA CULTURE:*

One glass jar (I used a pasta sauce container).
Tank water from the bottom of a planted tank.
A few yellowing aquatic plant leaves.
Leave this covered in a sunlit spot for 2 weeks.
The water should turn yellowish green, filled with lots and lots of yummy microorganisms.

*VINEGAR EELS:*

1 jug apple cider vinegar
1/4th apple, sliced
Starter culture
Spring water

- Pour out 1/3 to 1/2 of the apple cider vinegar, and replace the vinegar with conditioned water. I used spring water, because my tap water is bad.
- Add the sliced apple
- Add the starter culture
- Stick it in a cupboard and forget about it (I left the cap cracked so fresh air could get in)

Vinegar Eels will take several weeks to mature.

In addition to those slow-growing cultures, I also have walter worms and micro worms. The instructions for culturing each are the same. Note, walter worms are somewhat smaller than micro worms, and will be edible when the fry are smaller.

*WALTER WORMS AND MICRO WORMS:*

Cooked Oatmeal OR Masa Flour OR Wet Bread
Active Dry Yeast
Starter Culture

While most people choose to use oatmeal, I used Masa Flour (corn flour) for my culture medium, because it is said to smell better. Having sniffed what I purchased versus my now mature cultures, I can tell you both that micro worms smell like hell no matter what, and that they smell _less _like hell with masa flour than with oatmeal. Also, walter worms smell better than micro worms.

- Mix the masa flour with spring water until you get a loose paste. Not too thick, but not liquid, either.
- Spread the starter culture on top as though buttering toast.
- Add just a sprinkle of active dry yeast.

The yeast will naturally liquefy the culture as it goes along, so if you notice your culture getting too soupy, add a small amount of cooked oatmeal or masa flour (depending on what you used), and stir it in. You're not going to hurt your worms.

There's no need to add more yeast.

In 2-3 days, the worms should be crawling up the sides, ready to harvest.


*Harvesting Vinegar Eels*
There are a lot of different ways on the 'net to harvest vinegar eels. Many guides will tell you to strain them through a coffee filter, but if you do that the smallest of the nematodes will fall through. This is a loss for you, since you need vinegar eels for the tiniest fry, so the smallest ones are the most valuable.
Here's a way to harvest them that allows you to catch even the smallest eel. You will need:

long-necked vessel
filter fiber
conditioned water
mother culture

Filter fiber looks like this:



Pour the mother culture into the vessel you will use for harvesting. If you're using a flask, stop at the point where the neck joins the body. Otherwise, just leave half the neck clear. Stuff some filter fiber in the neck until it squishes firmly against the culture.

Pour dechlorinated water on top of the filter floss. It should look like this:


The vinegar eels will swim up through the filter fiber and into the conditioned water above. This serves a dual purpose - first, the eels are separated from the vinegar, and second, you get all sizes of them!

You can safely leave the fiber in there until your fry have moved past the stage where you're feeding this baby food. It will need to be refreshed about once a week.

*Baby Brine Shrimp*

So you don't want to spend $20 for a brine shrimp hatchery, but you need that nutritious BBS for your fry. If you have a few things laying around your fish room, you can save money on equipment. Which is good, because you'll be spending that money on eggs, instead...

You will need:

Air Pump
Air Line
2 Liter Soda Bottle + Cap
Aquarium Sealant

Cut the soda bottle in half:


Drill a hole in the bottle cap:


Run the air line through the bottle cap. Get it as tight as you can - cutting the tube at a 45 degree angle will help with this:


You’re probably going to need to seal the cap/tubing combo, so that it won't leak. Use aquarium sealant for this – even if you don’t immerse your hatchery, the sealant is water tight, cheap, and non-toxic.

Cut a small hole in the bottom half of the soda bottle, screw the cap onto the top part, and nest the two together so that the air line runs through the hole in the bottom:


BBS like a temperature of around 80-82 degrees for hatching. You may find it helpful to float this hatchery in a larger tank. I had to fully immerse and get all the air out, then pour water out of the top part until it stayed level. However, the bottom of the soda bottle makes a perfectly nice stand, as well.

Connect the air line to a pump, and turn it on to aerate.


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

*Older Fry Food: Beef Heart Mix*

So, your fry have gotten a bit bigger. They've gotten a _lot _bigger, in fact, and you have a lot of mouths to feed. What to do between BBS hatchings?

How about some beef heart? It's cheap, nutritious food for your fry, and they'll go nuts for it. You can find beef heart at most Hispanic butchers, but if all else fails, _very _lean beef or even lamb heart may work as a substitute.

Recipe found in a variety of places on the web, but mostly from Linda Olson.

*You will need:*

Food Processor (this will burn out a blender)
_Very_ Sharp Knife
Beef Heart (about 1 lb)
Resealable Plastic Baggies
Conditioned Water
Fish or Shrimp (about 1 lb)
Garlic (roughly 2 cloves)
Unflavored, 100% Pure Gelatin
+ Anything fish food related that your heart desires. You can use krill, different types of fish or shrimp, blood worms, ect. I do recommend supplements, if you can get them.

A note on substitutions:
Beef heart is used because it is high protein, low fat, and cheap. However, you are not limited to beef heart; other meats may be used. Lamb heart can be an acceptable substitute if you are an individual prohibited from using beef, or very, _very _lean beef can be used, if you cannot find beef heart. Whatever you use, it needs to be _lean_. Fat is not good for your fry.

Trim all of the fat, valves, sinew, ect. from the beef heart. You want only the meat. Do the same with the fish product - you want only meat, free of bones, skin, or fat. Peel & de-vein the shrimp.

Peel and finely chop the garlic. It's easier to peel it if you leave it in the skin and then crush it between the side of your knife and the counter. That loosens everything up. You can also buy diced garlic at the grocery store.

Chop the meat into roughly 1 inch cubes and add it all to the food processor, along with the garlic. If your food processor isn't big enough, add it in portions.

Add dechlorinated water, enough to allow it to process smoothly.

Blend, adding a little water until it is the consistency of ketchup

Make the gelatin according to package directions. Instead of letting it set, add it as a liquid to your food processor. This will smell disgusting.

Blend until it is mixed thoroughly.

Add this pinkish goo to plastic baggies. Squeeze out all the air and try to get it to lay in roughly 1/4th inch flats, much like the bulk frozen fish food you find at most grocery stores. Refrigerate until it sets - keep note that the center may take longer to set than the edges. Once it is fully set, freeze it.

Feed by shaving pieces off into the aquariums. It will slowly dissolve, and the fry should take it eagerly if you have been able to get them to eat other frozen foods. The gelatin should keep it from fouling your water if you over feed...although with how crazy my fry went, overeating is a bit more of a concern! :lol:

_A note about beef heart - this WILL make your fry grow like crazy, but it will also make the water quality go down the dumps. Keep up with your water changes and test the water regularly._


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

*DIY: Artificial Hatching*

An artificial hatchery is quite simple. Take a shallow dish, or in my case, not having one, a small plastic QT tank, float it in a larger, heated tank, place the eggs in, and just barely cover them with water. Cover the top of the chamber to keep humidity high. I had to wedge the container to keep it from tipping.


Every 6 hours or so, I very gently agitated the eggs by using an eyedropper to squirt water around, causing them to move and rotate. This was to mimic what poppa was doing in the other tank - taking the eggs out, mouthing them, spitting them back up in the bubbles, picking them up as they fell. Even though the guides mentioned nothing about this (aside from warning that aeration would chill and kill the eggs), I figured leaving them still left opportunities for fungus to grow.

Methylene Blue can be added at a rate of 1 drop/gallon to the hatchery as a fungus preventative.

Here's a picture of the hatchery from the side, so you can see the depth. I used maybe a centimeter of water.


This is a shot of the hatchery from the top. The eggs are beginning to hatch. Sometimes an egg would dance around, which was quite interesting to watch. Most of the dark ones appear to be dead, but I didn't want to remove them until I was pretty sure the hatching was complete:


Once I was pretty sure hatching was complete (I waited 24 hours), I used an eyedropper to remove the dead eggs, and placed them in a white dish so I could check for fry. None of the eggs that I removed were white; most were a golden brown color. I had to be very careful, and even then sucked up a fry by mistake. He got deposited back in the tank. A few dropperfuls of aged, heated water were necessary to retain water depth.


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

*Poor Man's Drip Acclimation*

You can buy yourself a drip acclimation kit, or you can save a bunch of money and make one yourself.

You will need:

1 clean vessel
Conditioned water
Air line tubing
Binder Clip

Get yourself a nice, clean vessel, and fill it with conditioned water. Stash it somewhere above your tank. Put one end of your air line in the vessel, with the end right down at the bottom, and attach it with a binder clip:


Start the siphon in the traditional manner...but have a bucket ready. Once the water's flowing, you need to tie a knot in it.


Tighten the knot until the water flow slows down to a drip, and let the end dangle in your tank.


Use this method for acclimating brand new fish (especially imports), and changing water for fry.


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

*How To: Heat Tape*

You will need:

Sharp scissors
Electrical Tape
Pliers
Flex-Watt Heat Tape
Power cord with clip set
Rubber insulating tape set
Thermostat

NONE OF THIS EQUIPMENT IS OPTIONAL. Do not try to short-cut or go cheap. You'll regret it. When assembling and operating any type of electronics, there is risk of shock or fire. So do it right, or don't do it at all.

Heat tape:


Power cord with clips:


Insulating strips:


Thermostat


*STEP 1: MEASURE BEFORE YOU BUY*

Flex Watt heat tape is sold in 1 foot increments. So measure your space, and round up when you purchase your equipment. It will be sent to you in a roll, all of the "units" that you purchase will be a single piece. Don't worry; you can cut it.

Heat tape is sold in two sizes: 11 inches wide, and 3 inches wide. Plan accordingly.

*STEP TWO: TRIM AND PROTECT*

Once you have your heat tape, trim it down to the desired length with sharp scissors. The material is stiff, especially at those two metal bands along the border, so don't use old, crappy scissors. They need to be sharp or you won't get an even cut.
Determine which end you want the power cord to attach. Line the opposite end with electrical tape - those metal strips will conduct electricity, and you need to get that insulated before it gets plugged in:


*STEP THREE: ATTACH POWER CABLE*

The wicked looking little metal clamps that come with the power cable get attached to the metal strips next to the border of the heat tape. Position a clip so that it nests nicely over the metal, and then clamp it shut with pliers. The "teeth" of the clip needs to pierce the metal strip. You're probably not going to be able to do it by hand.


*STEP FOUR: INSULATE*

That power attachment needs to be insulated, along with the exposed copper of the clip. Cover the attachment _completely_ with the insulating tape that you purchased. Conveniently, it's sold in sets of two.


*STEP FIVE: CONTROL*

When plugged directly into the wall, Flex Watt heat tape can reach a temperature of 120 degrees. You can control this with a thermostat. Set the thermostat to the desired temperature, plug that into the wall, and plug the heat tape into the provided power attachment.

The thermostat will come with some kind of temperature probe. Be sure to read the directions - many probes cannot be immersed in water. The type I bought had a suction cup and is supposed to be stuck on the heat tape itself:


In order to determine the temperature to set the thermostat, I put a jar on the heat tape, filled it with water, and floated a thermometer in it. The heat tape needs to be set higher than the desired water temperature - remember, the heat has to travel through the bottom of the jar, and will diffuse in the water. I think I ended up setting my thermostat to 88 degrees.

*STEP SIX: PLACEMENT*

If you want to line a shelf, Big Apple Pet Supply sells this "foil tape" to attach the heat tape to a surface. I didn't bother using that - that is the only piece of equipment that appears to not be mandatory. Its function was not explained. I just rested my heat tape on my shelf...the weight of the jars holds it down.


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## caffanne (Dec 27, 2014)

This is just the post I needed: all that info from your old spawn log in one place! Thanks~!


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## Nimble (Aug 31, 2014)

I do declare, this needs to be stickied.


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## BettaBoy51 (Nov 13, 2013)

this helped so much with my heat tape
..... now time to go but the thermostat that i never knew i needed.... ugh


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## PetMania (Mar 28, 2013)

And subbed!  

This is amazing!


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## JayM (Aug 4, 2013)

Fabulous info.


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

Awesome!! So many secrets for begginers or advanced breeders!


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

Nudged by request.


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

*Emergency Food: Egg Yolk*

Sometimes a culture fails, or you find yourself with an accidental spawn that you'd like to raise, but it's going to take you time to get yourself some live food. Egg yolk is a reasonable substitute - most fry will eat it, if it is prepared correctly, and it is high in protein. You will suffer some starvation-related fatalities from the fry that are not willing to eat this stuff, but it's definitely better than nothing.

*You will need:*
Plastic baggie
Hard Boiled Egg
Conditioned water
Eyedropper or pipette

Remove the egg shell and eat or discard the whites yourself; the fry won't be eating them.

Cut off a small portion of egg yolk, and place it in the plastic baggie. Add an equal volume of conditioned water, spring water, or tank water. Squish the egg yolk and the water together thoroughly, until there are absolutely no lumps. It should create yellow water.

Use the eyedropper to measure out your egg yolk mix. Feed your fry no more than a couple of drops, unless it is a very large spawn. It may be necessary to dim the lights in the room and shine a flashlight on the area where you have dripped the yolk in order to help the fry find it.


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## Nimble (Aug 31, 2014)

Just got my Vinegar Eel culture that you sent, Hrutan. I've got them stashed in a half-gallon jug/bottle that used to hold sour mix. Poked a hole in the neck for fresh air, and I'm stashing it in my room, since it's the warmest room in the house. Wish me luck!


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

Awesome!


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## sharkettelaw1 (Mar 6, 2013)

I've lost over 400 fry from my black on black spawns because there were way too many for the daddy to keep up with. I never succeeded with artificial hatching, but after seeing this I'll give it a try


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## Warhawk (Feb 23, 2014)

Very good information here, thank you.


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## Nimble (Aug 31, 2014)

I need this real quick.


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

It's been a while since this has been updated. I thought I'd mention some new information.

There are those who cannot get beef heart, whether because there are no stores that stock it, or because of religious reasons.

You can substitute other things in place of beef heart, such as: 

Lamb Heart
Liver
Cod (be sure to remove pin-bones)
Peeled, de-veined shrimp

Whatever you substitute, make sure that it is very, very lean, and as high in protein as possible. Heart and Liver are ideal due to how nutrient-rich they are, but I used cod in the latest batch, and the fry are happy to gobble it up.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

I use a natural method in 5-10gal full to the top with water-soil based heavy planted tanks with great success-depending on the plan either both male/female will stay long term for multi spawns or the male will stay long term or I remove both male/female at varied time-lines.

I feed fry NHBBS and microworms-as the fry get bigger I will feed older BBS that I have supplement with HUFA to prevent fallers, spinners and sudden mass death due to HUFA deficiency-by 3 weeks of age they are usually big enough to start eating mosquito larva.

I artificially hatch when needed by using a small container that i can scoop the eggs/nest from the tank-then cover with plastic wrap and attach to the inside of the heated tank-I add 1 med size pond snail to help keep any dead fry, unhatched eggs remove to prevent fouling of the water. Generally I have hatch within 24h anyway and then another 2 days I have free swim so they only stay in the small container for a max of 4 days at most.

I personally don't like to use beef heart since I don't keep my water temps high enough to help with digestion of it. It is great to use if you keep your water temp in the upper 80's but be careful at lower temps-This is why beef heart is used with Discus more than a lot of other species since they need such high water temps.

I make a home made fish food that I have used for decades with all species, age and water temps-Only 3 human grade ingredients used-Shrimp, spinach and garlic-contains the needed protein, roughage, vit/min and antifungal/bacterial/wormer properties with proper feeding.

Lots of great ways to keep, feed, spawn and rear fry of this species-it finding what works best for you IMO/E......


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