Ben C.

This is so cool! I really wanted these guys, but my order got delayed and temperatures soared into the upper 90's so I cancelled it for fear of their safety. So jealous!

I have 12 in my 20 gallon aquarium, also with eco complete for half of it - the other half is sand. They pretty much only hang out on the eco-complete ironically. Mine are almost always out now though - I think the greater numbers and time are a factor (had them for about a year). I would definitely get more than 2 if you can manage. I started with 5, and they were still pretty shy, but settled after a while.. Now that there's 12, it's a party.

@Sliceofnature it's working okay so far, bit unfortunately visibility is really hard with the mesh and floating plants. Sometimes I see more fry, sometimes it's only 1..who knows.

Update: I now have a small army of microscopic fry. Excited, but nervous about getting them through this stage!

@Sliceofnature I agree. The first fry began to swim today, in the QT tank (eggs I put in a breeder box a day before I deliberately spawned these other ones). They are so tiny. I'm squirting water from my lettuce infusoria jar but I'm not sure there's really anything there...

@Colu I do have some hikari first bites, kinda old though...have some of the aquarium coop's fry food too, that's unopened - is that small enough for these?

First little hatchlings coming out today!

@Fish Folk now that's GREEN water. The symbolic flag of a true nerm...

@Fish Folk Just washed a glass jar, and I'm gonna start that now!

@Fish Folk That article is great, thank you so much! I run HOB's, but with intake sponges, so I will trying squeezing it out when they start becoming free swimming if the lettuce container still has a smell.

@Fish Folk I moved the adults out, so it's only eggs in there right now! I don't want any more massacres lol. I am worried about the infusoria though, I only put one leaf of romaine lettuce in, and the stench has...settled. But I didn't realize I need to stir it for a few days, so some scum had initially clogged the surface. I saw a seed shrimp today I believe, and there's some algae taking root, along with the floating plants I put in. Still a little cloudy, but appears to be larger particles than a bacterial bloom.

Hello all! So a few days ago was my birthday, and like any nerm would do, I woke up, grabbed a cup of coffee, and watched some fish spawn, lol. For context, I've never deliberately bred fish before, but I fell in love with these leopard danios and their goofy attitudes, and saw how easy they are to breed, and decided to give it a shot! The danios are still in QT, so it is easy to net them out and move them around. I fed very heavily with live baby brine, and a mix of xtreme flakes, spirulina flakes, bug bites, etc. that I feed to everyone. Within a couple days, the female was BIG, and they were already spawning. So I set up a 5 gallon, made some spawning mops, and moved a pair over one evening after feeding BBS. The 5 gallon sits at around 6.8 pH, crazy hard water, and around 78-80 degrees without a heater (yay Texas summer). Not really sure the parameters matter though, since these guys seemed ready to go at a moment's notice. In the morning, I noticed the male was a bright, bright yellow, but the female was...not having it. So I grabbed the other large male, and POW. Crazy show, and they mostly spawned within the floor mop, the hanging mops were largely ignored. After about 30 minutes of this, I moved them all back over....where they continued their spawn. I left that though, as I'm not ready to move them to their main tank. Now the eggs look to have begun to develop (about 48 hours now), and I have infusoria cooking up for about a week now ready to go. I will update once they become free swimming! Let me know if you have any tips about successfully raising these guys up!

Gotcha! I did use tank water, but it was just straight from the tank. I will get another container and try the sponge approach, my sponges could use a good squeeze out anyway lol...thanks!

I started an infusoria culture 3 days ago with a piece of boiled lettuce and a glass bowl, and placed it on my window shelf to grow infusoria. Day three and its just moderately cloudy and has a thick film on the surface. Am I on the right track or has it stalled? Thank you!

@Fish Folk Yeah, the female is super chunky and they've been having spawning behavior every morning, so I hope I can catch a batch for real soon. Can't believe I didn't think of the box sooner. Oh well. Poor guy.

Well, RIP little guy. Stepped away for a second to grab the box, became a snack. Ugh.

I'm an idiot. I have a breeder box. 😂

Thats a good idea! Unfortunately I don't have any moss or spare air pumps... 😞 Would a mop and a quart cup work? Also, for moving it, should I suck it up with a pipette or just move the whole pvc it's on?

Long story short, I got a shipment of leopard danios a week and a half ago, and it was a bloodbath. 10 arrived, and only 4 remain, 1 girl and 3 boys. I'm planning on breeding them to replenish the herd, so I've been hatching BBS and feeding heavily, and I set up a separate tank with spawning mops and began an infusoria culture. Well, they beat me to it - and I spotted one little fry in the QT today. Question is, should I move it out? The breeding tank still has .25 ammonia in it to clear, although I put seeded media in there. The water is largely the same, but with all tanks, not EXACTLY the same. Will the lil one survive the move? Surely he will get eaten soon anyway. Thanks guys!

If you're in the DFW area near Carrollton-ish, I've seen the store Dallas North Aquarium advertise tank moving. I haven't read any reviews, but I've visited their store multiple times for dry goods and they've always been very professional with me!

@Guppysnail I wouldn't worry about workload, and everything said above is great advice! It takes me maybe less than 5 minutes to set it up, and maybe 5 more to collect some after 24-36 hours and feed 3 tanks. I just fill the hatchery with tub water, mix the salt, add the eggs and air, and forget about it for a day or so. The fish love it and I've noticed even greater coloration and behavior in my fish since I've started feeding it every other day. I also just add the water directly to my aquarium - with the salt in it and all - and have never noticed any adverse affects, but if you are worried, you can always rinse them down.

@quikv6 unfortunately things are deteriorating quick. Worst shipment of fish I've ever gotten...I keep all fish I receive in a seasoned QT tank that I've had set up for over a year (keeping the cycle going between usage by feeding the resident snail colony), with floating plants for cover and nutrient control, feeding live food, the whole nine yards..and they've just dropped like flies. The rasboras that came with them were all gone within 4 days. All parameters in check despite the meds. One danio has lost motor control this morning and the one with columnaris has it spreading. I'll look into combining antibiotics, but I might just have to chock it up as a loss. This why you QT I suppose...

@quikv6 thanks for the thorough advice! I will definitely pick up the sulfa meds, and if I can't find those, maracyn 2. The columnaris is not progressing, and everyone is still eating like pigs, so I will wrap up this treatment and begin the next one as long as it holds / doesn't get worse. Really hope he pulls through.

@quikv6 well poop, the package itself says it treats columnaris. Thanks for the advice!

Hello! Unfortunately I've spotted a small patch of columnaris on one of my leopard danios in QT - I've already dosed Ich-X (was already treating for it) and put one treatment of maracyn in today, although I'm still concerned because..well I've never hard anything survive columnaris unfortunately. Would it be helpful to supplement with a low amount of aquarium salt, or do you think the meds are enough/salt would add just more stress? Thanks!