Breeding project

[joecain97]

I have a spare 50 litre (13 US gallon) tank set up and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a good breeding project I could try, beginner to intermediate experience. Not necessarily looking to breed for profit just want to gain some experiences first. Thanks in advance. 

[Bill Smith]

The most recent easy and exciting fish breeding I've been able to do are the shell-dwelling multis: neolamprologus multifasciatus. These small Tanganyikan cichlids breed in escargot shells very easily, and they do the extra favor of raising and caring for the fry.

Definitely a great starter species, and a really nice payoff feeling when you see those little guys come out of the shells for the first time.

They would do well in a tank that size.

 

 

Edited July 15, 2020 by Bill Smith

[Bill Smith]

Sorry for the photo trouble. Trying again:

 

[Daniel]

My 2 favorite kinds of fish to breed in a small tank are Corydoras catfish and Apistogramma dwarf cichlids. Both are smallish, readily available (you can get Corydoras and Bolivian Rams at PetSmart - note that Bolivian Rams aren't actually Apistogramma, but they are a dwarf cichlid). If you can a group of juveniles of either Corys or Apistos and raise them together on good quality food, typically they will find a way to breed. The more Corys the better, but with the Apistos, after they pair off you probably will want to remove the other Apistos who aren't a member of the pair. And there are bazillions of different species of both Corys and Apistos, so if it turns out the first species was fun then there are 100 more of each you can try next. I am working on Apistogramma Nijsseni currently in a 10 gallon tank.

[Ben]

One of my favorites are rams. There are many varieties, including gold, german blue, electric blue, and black rams; all have longfin varieties, too. And all are fine in ~10 gallons. There are very easy to breed and the fry are fairly easy to raise as well. They only take about 3 to 4 months until they're ready to be taken to new homes. Keep them warm. Feed them live baby brine. Master breeder Dean has good video on them. these are my dark knight rams. 3 have the pitch black, the one up front isnt as hood quality.

Another easy fish would be the white cloud minnow. You can keep them in room temperature and they look amazing. The males will spar and show off to each other. I give them fruit flies to encourage breeding. They scatter their eggs and I see new little fry all the time. They're easy to raise too. I feed infusoria, live baby brine, and crushed Sera staple pellets. Here are some of mine. Sorry for pic they're fast.

Edited July 15, 2020 by Ben

[ChefConfit]

Livebearers are probably the easiest to start off with, but if you want something different corys we're the first fish to breed for me. That would also be a good size for shrimp. 

[Guppysnail]

Celestial pearl danios are super fun. It can give you easy learned egg harvest/hatch experience and a trio to start they will breed and lay basically every day.

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

Id vote for the Bolivian rams or the african butterfly cichlid both have been great fun for me and might be easily available