New Breeding Project Recommendations

[Tihshho]

As I've since purged my 40 breeders from their old breeder inhabitants I'm on the hunt to see what I should pick up and restock them with for breeding projects. 

Tanks are barebottom, running dual oversized sponge filters, have 'planters' in there with some substrate and plants, but can easily pull them (why I went with planters), still have pleco caves (which can be pulled though not necessary) and individually heated. 

Previous projects in there have been various ancistrus, smaller SA cichlids and oddball live bearers. Looking for something different, considered getting back into Discus, but wanted to see what else was out there for a new challenge. Don't really have limitations besides space, have RO/DI and really good well water so can run tap friendly species or remineralized RO/DI for finicky ones. 

[Colu]

I would recommend red lizard catfish or rice fish

Edited August 29, 2021 by Colu

[Tihshho]

Funny you mention those. The Medaka line has been something of interest for a while, but I figured a tank thats setup for heat and 40 gallons was going to be overkill for the species, am I wrong? I thought they were more suited for temperate environments, and even then more so on the cooler side. As for the Red Lizards, they have definitely been on the list of species to try, I just need to be able to find them by volume to get a small colony going. I had two colonies years ago in two different discus tanks that spawned constantly, but the fry ended up being discus food before I noticed it was time to pull them. 

[CalmedByFish]

Medaka were actually my first thought as well. I hear they can take a very wide variety of parameters, so I don't think heat would be a problem. (But couldn't you turn the heaters off?) I hear they breed very easily and often. It's also noteworthy that I seem to never be able to find them for sale, so there might be a market for them.

Maybe it would be interesting to try cardinal or neon tetras, if you want a little more of a challenge. 

[Taco Playz]

My white clouds had about 20 fry and are very cute and not hard to breed. Very fun to watch fish too!

[Tihshho]

On 8/29/2021 at 4:08 PM, CalmedByFish said:

Medaka were actually my first thought as well. I hear they can take a very wide variety of parameters, so I don't think heat would be a problem. (But couldn't you turn the heaters off?) I hear they breed very easily and often. It's also noteworthy that I seem to never be able to find them for sale, so there might be a market for them.

Maybe it would be interesting to try cardinal or neon tetras, if you want a little more of a challenge. 

I see them pop up every so often, and a few varieties are on the list especially for next spring once I pull my tubs out of the shed and get those going. I figure it's a bit too late in the season on the east coast to start them to just pull them in a few months when the temps will be past freezing. That said, I've seen some species kept out in the cold and even in tubs that iced over. I just would prefer to get a strain from someone who has successfully kept them out in the elements for the winter season.

As for pulling the heaters, sure. Always an option, but then I'm dedicating the tank to a cool water species and could be using the tank for a species that would prefer the space and the heat of a medium sized tank. Something like... Altums...

In the case of Neons and Cardinals, I've had them spawn over the years. The issue I ran into was keeping the eggs from fungusing or catching the sunken spawning mops/moss in time before they were picked clean by the inhabitants. Based on the condition I'm seeing Cardinals come in these days, and experiencing Cardinal disease first hand, the issue I have with trying them out again is getting a large school of them at once. Anytime anything new touches a Cardinal tank you're always rolling the dice. That said though, if I can find some good cardinals that have been sitting for a while I might be tempted...

 

On 8/29/2021 at 4:13 PM, Taco Playz said:

My white clouds had about 20 fry and are very cute and not hard to breed. Very fun to watch fish too!

White Clouds, Zebra Danios and Giant Danios were some of the first fish I spawned and raised the eggs and fry from. Definitely a fun species, but I think at this point I'm looking for something a little more oddball and challenging. That said though, I appreciate the recommendation!

[Taco Playz]

Well since you want something oddball I would try to breed some Golden panchax killifish. My guys haven’t spawned for me yet but they have had tons of spawning behavior. 

[Tihshho]

On 8/29/2021 at 4:32 PM, Taco Playz said:

Well since you want something oddball I would try to breed some Golden panchax killifish. My guys haven’t spawned for me yet but they have had tons of spawning behavior. 

A friend keeps offering me mops of eggs from his spawning group and I've shied away from them since I'm used to be part of a Killi Club and dealt with annuals and had my fill, even though these are a perennial species. The only experience I've had with these guys were when I ran an LFS, a pretty specimen for sure, but if I remember correctly they are pretty feisty.  

[Taco Playz]

They are very mean! Only to each other though. The females usually bully my one male that is smaller. It’s a really pretty species because there isn’t a ton of bright yellow fish.

[Tihshho]

On 8/29/2021 at 4:45 PM, Taco Playz said:

They are very mean! Only to each other though. The females usually bully my one male that is smaller. It’s a really pretty species because there isn’t a ton of bright yellow fish.

There's a good bit of bright yellow African Cichlids, but as for community non-high pH the Egyptian Mouthbrooders turn a nice yellow when breeding.

 

[WhitecloudDynasty]

How about some rosy barb?

You can mop spawn them and pull the mop.

 

Edited August 30, 2021 by WhitecloudDynasty

[Hobbit]

On 8/29/2021 at 4:29 PM, Tihshho said:

That said though, if I can find some good cardinals that have been sitting for a while I might be tempted...

I got some cardinal tetras from Aqua Huna that did great. No diseases observed in quarantine, and they made it into my 55 gallon without ever needing any med treatments. I lost three to jumping out of the quarantine tub though. 😅

Do I read correctly that you haven’t tried bubble nester anabantoids yet? As you can tell from my profile pic I’m into breeding honey gouramis. You could put a male and female honey in a 40 breeder with lots of plants and never have to remove either of them. As long as the female can get out of the male’s line of sight, he won’t harass her all the time. Not sure if that’s true for more aggressive gouramis though.

Just pull the fry when they’re a few days old and put them in a breeder box. The challenge is that the fry are too small to eat bbs for about 3 weeks and they will not (in my experience) touch prepared food. They need green water or infusoria.

If that sounds fun to you, I’d recommend it! There are so many neat kinds of gouramis.

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

Congo tetra would be my vote big colorful cool colony set up. Even aquahuna'able usually

Edited August 30, 2021 by mountaintoppufferkeeper

[Tihshho]

On 8/30/2021 at 1:55 AM, WhitecloudDynasty said:

How about some rosy barb?

You can mop spawn them and pull the mop.

I've spawned these in the past with great success. Barbs in general seem to be pretty straight forward by just having a tank with good water params, a spawning bed of stone or moss/mop and feeding them blackworms or microworms. Great fish, but looking for something a little more oddball. Thanks for the recommendation though!

On 8/30/2021 at 10:45 AM, Hobbit said:

I got some cardinal tetras from Aqua Huna that did great. No diseases observed in quarantine, and they made it into my 55 gallon without ever needing any med treatments. I lost three to jumping out of the quarantine tub though. 😅

Do I read correctly that you haven’t tried bubble nester anabantoids yet? As you can tell from my profile pic I’m into breeding honey gouramis. You could put a male and female honey in a 40 breeder with lots of plants and never have to remove either of them. As long as the female can get out of the male’s line of sight, he won’t harass her all the time. Not sure if that’s true for more aggressive gouramis though.

Just pull the fry when they’re a few days old and put them in a breeder box. The challenge is that the fry are too small to eat bbs for about 3 weeks and they will not (in my experience) touch prepared food. They need green water or infusoria.

If that sounds fun to you, I’d recommend it! There are so many neat kinds of gouramis.

Labyrinth's I've spawned previously include Bettas (your common B. Splendens, B. Imbellis, B. Rubra, and B Macrostoma), Gourami's (T. Leerii, S. Osphromenoides, and T. Pumila), as well as Paradise Fish (M. Opercularis.)

I might be tempted on some Licorice Gourami's (P. Deissneri) if I could find them.

On 8/30/2021 at 10:46 AM, mountaintoppufferkeeper said:

Congo tetra would be my vote big colorful cool colony set up. Even aquahuna'able usually

Hrm, now this is a thought. I've had them in a display years ago and never thought about breeding them. I might be mixing them up with something else, but I thought I remember seeing a black variant years ago that had a better contrast on the body. Or maybe it was just a super blue line. I'll have to look. Thanks!

[Patrick_G]

-Spotted Congo puffers! You’ll definitely level up if you breed them. 
-Mascara Barbs are so cool and so will you be if you breed them! 
photo from seriously fish

photo from Reddit

 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2021 by Patrick_G

[Tihshho]

On 8/30/2021 at 11:05 AM, Patrick_G said:

-Spotted Congo puffers! You’ll definitely level up if you breed them. 
-Mascara Barbs are so cool and so will you be if you breed them! 
photo from seriously fish

photo from Reddit

 

 

 

Now this is what I'm talking about! One concern with the Mascara Barbs is their size. Last person I saw working on breeding them had a school of about 8 in a 125, that might be the limiting factor, but those are darn cool!

These spotted congo's look like a mix of two species I've kept in the past and one I bred. T. Leirus (Target Puffer) were fun to keep and were always active, but they have the iridescent eyes of the C. Irrubesco that I've actually spawned and raised young from. Now I'll be on the hunt to find these guys. I'll have to look into these guys more and get more info. Do you know if these guys are your standard territorial species or are they a little more communal like the South American Puffer (C. Asellus)? 

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

I had one a few years ago on the spotted Congo puffers  (Tetraodon schoutedeni) are often more communal but still puffers so could go end times on a tankmate if they decided to get too rowdy. Mine just happily ate snails, shrimp,  and frozen foods. My single specimen was a very relaxed puffer species for me.

Spotted congos are definitely one I plan on trying a colony setup with in the future either before or after dragon puffers. I think they are probably a fun species to keep in a group. 

Similar to my pao palustris mekong river puffer colony (1 male 3 female and not for the faint of heart attitudes when breeding), or my 3 hairy puffer colony (2 male 1 female) breeding set ups.

[Tihshho]

I've been looking for sources all day and reached out to two places so far. Just need to wait to see what they say and get my air system up so I can them in a QT and dewormed. Definitely a species I'm excited to try if I can get some. Issue is just the price, hate to know how many I have to get to get the right M:F ratio.

[Patrick_G]

@Cory did some videos on them a few years ago and Oliver Knott has a large school.

 

[Crabby]

On 8/31/2021 at 1:05 AM, Patrick_G said:

-Spotted Congo puffers! You’ll definitely level up if you breed them. 
-Mascara Barbs are so cool and so will you be if you breed them! 
photo from seriously fish

Oh mascara barbs are seriously the coolest. They're the sole species of barb that I'm really into. And all puffers are just amazing.

@Tihshho if you go with either of these species, please keep us in the loop!

[Tihshho]

@Patrick_G Thanks for the links, I'll be watching those later on. I don't want to get too psyched on them and have them be my white whale in terms of finding them. I reached out to a LFS I've done a ton of business with over the years and know the owner and he said he'd email me his vendors stock lists so I can keep an eye out for them and to give him a call when they pop up. Here's to me being hopeful.

On 8/30/2021 at 10:41 PM, Crabby said:

Oh mascara barbs are seriously the coolest. They're the sole species of barb that I'm really into. And all puffers are just amazing.

@Tihshho if you go with either of these species, please keep us in the loop!

I plan on documenting them if I can find them to breed, the puffers that is. As for the Mascara Barbs, I'd have to look into them more to find out more about space requirements. I have a feeling for the Barbs, I'd need a 6' tank to do it right to get the school of them in place as well as dithers. I'm sure I can get a trio of the puffers in a 40B just fine with over filtration and keeping up with the large water changes I do, just might have to add an additional water change in the middle of the week to keep up with the little poop factories.

[Patrick_G]

@mountaintoppufferkeeper are you in the loop as to how many people in America have bred these? I think I remember Cory mentioning at least one person in the US. 

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

@Patrick_GI believe @Preston John is the spotted Congo SME of SMEs. I do not know of another off hand. 

Edited August 31, 2021 by mountaintoppufferkeeper

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

On 8/30/2021 at 9:14 PM, Tihshho said:

@Patrick_G Thanks for the links, I'll be watching those later on. I don't want to get too psyched on them and have them be my white whale in terms of finding them. I reached out to a LFS I've done a ton of business with over the years and know the owner and he said he'd email me his vendors stock lists so I can keep an eye out for them and to give him a call when they pop up. Here's to me being hopeful.

I plan on documenting them if I can find them to breed, the puffers that is. As for the Mascara Barbs, I'd have to look into them more to find out more about space requirements. I have a feeling for the Barbs, I'd need a 6' tank to do it right to get the school of them in place as well as dithers. I'm sure I can get a trio of the puffers in a 40B just fine with over filtration and keeping up with the large water changes I do, just might have to add an additional water change in the middle of the week to keep up with the little poop factories.

I use a lot of plants to keep the water quality up myself. 6 mekong in a 75 with livebearers  they allow to live with them. That tank gets 20% a week and I have to thin the plants every 2 weeks. Male top females bottom non spawning colors

Spawning colors 

First mekong fry 

[Tihshho]

After seeing the lighter colored females I'm thinking I might have had these when I was running a shop. We had an import order come in from an import distributor and somehow got a bag of puffers that were not on our shipping list. We couldn't identify them and the store owner didn't want to risk putting them in a tank to find out whatever we were QTing with them were destroyed by the morning so I ended up taking them home. Unlike a Target Puffer which gets an obvious target spot on the side, these were more olive and gold bodied with spots and on the side one of the spots had a red dot in it. Still to this day we never found out what they were, but for a medium sized puffer they were very chill and did well in a 75 for years until I had to give them up when I went away for College.