Ben C. Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 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! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 On 6/24/2021 at 10:53 PM, benchilton said: 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! Awesome! Do you plan to move the mop? Move the adults? Move the eggs? Or leave it all in? I think you'll see more fry if you separate them all. Take care with your infusoria. Unless you've got it perfect, it's easy to add in a bunch of rotting, ammonia-producing muck that really isn't what they need. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben C. Posted June 25, 2021 Author Share Posted June 25, 2021 @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. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 On 6/24/2021 at 11:01 PM, benchilton said: @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. If you run sponge filters, you can feed your fry infusoria from sponge filter squeezings. I can try to describe the process if you'd like. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 Here you go. This short article is pure gold: http://www.nanfa.org/ac/feeding-killie-fry.pdf 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben C. Posted June 25, 2021 Author Share Posted June 25, 2021 @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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 On 6/24/2021 at 11:13 PM, benchilton said: @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. The bad smell is normal. It's just that unless you're sure that your water is loaded with infusoria . . . it could be a mess. Green water is always a better option. Take a large glass jar and fill it with tank water. Leave it outside until it turns green. Done! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben C. Posted June 25, 2021 Author Share Posted June 25, 2021 @Fish Folk Just washed a glass jar, and I'm gonna start that now! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 (edited) On 6/24/2021 at 11:17 PM, benchilton said: @Fish Folk Just washed a glass jar, and I'm gonna start that now! Long ago . . . here was a small jar of ours hung near a window . . . Edited June 25, 2021 by Fish Folk 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben C. Posted June 25, 2021 Author Share Posted June 25, 2021 @Fish Folk now that's GREEN water. The symbolic flag of a true nerm... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben C. Posted June 25, 2021 Author Share Posted June 25, 2021 First little hatchlings coming out today! 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 On 6/25/2021 at 10:57 PM, benchilton said: First little hatchlings coming out today! As well as Green water you can feed your fry hikari Frist bites Sera micron 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben C. Posted June 25, 2021 Author Share Posted June 25, 2021 @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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 (edited) On 6/25/2021 at 11:39 PM, benchilton said: @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? I have never used aquarium co-op fry food so I don't no if it's ok for newly hatched fry you can also feed crushed flake maybe some one else can chip in Edited June 25, 2021 by Colu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sliceofnature Posted June 26, 2021 Share Posted June 26, 2021 On 6/25/2021 at 3:39 PM, benchilton said: @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? Full disclosure ive never used the coop fry food myself but i can still say no its too big for freshly hatched leopard danios. I bred mine about a year or so ago and they are so tiny that honestly the first bites is too large at first. My advice would be bring in some water/substrate or plants from very established tanks so that the smallest fry have stuff to eat and just start feeding small amounts of the first bites that you have on hand as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben C. Posted June 27, 2021 Author Share Posted June 27, 2021 @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... 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sliceofnature Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 On 6/26/2021 at 7:33 PM, benchilton said: @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... Hopefully that breeder box works better for you than it did for me. The fry are so tiny they kept swimming out throught the cracks when i tried to use it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben C. Posted June 28, 2021 Author Share Posted June 28, 2021 Update: I now have a small army of microscopic fry. Excited, but nervous about getting them through this stage! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben C. Posted June 28, 2021 Author Share Posted June 28, 2021 @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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben C. Posted July 4, 2021 Author Share Posted July 4, 2021 Update: it's been a solid week since the last of the fry became free swimming, and while around 10-20 easily spottable ones are going strong, some are becoming weak and floating around. I've been using lettuce jar infusoria, and I'm going to start giving Hikari first bites in hopes to boost their strength. Here's to hoping they make it to baby brine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben C. Posted July 6, 2021 Author Share Posted July 6, 2021 Update: Sadly down to 4 fry. Not sure what went wrong, as parameters have consistently been in check. Squeezed infusoria jar in about 4 times a day, and have been adding hikari first bites but seems the numbers keep dwindling. Guess I will try again and see if I have better luck.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odd Duck Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 @benchilton Do you have vinegar eels and microworms? I got cultures of both thinking I’d have baby pea puffers to feed (not even close, yet). I find them both very easy to culture, especially the vinegar eels. I’ll attach a little chart I made when I was researching sizes of different live foods that I thought I might need for baby pea puffers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben C. Posted July 6, 2021 Author Share Posted July 6, 2021 @Odd Duck sadly I don't - thought the infusoria would tie them over until BBS. Guess that's where I went wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odd Duck Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 @benchiltonDo you have any local fish club members or lfs that might have some? Local Band that might have some for sale? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben C. Posted July 6, 2021 Author Share Posted July 6, 2021 LFS only has blackworms 😞 I see a lot of live foods on aquabid, so I might order there for the next batch. These last few seem to be taking the Hikari, so that should tie them over until BBS hopefully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now