The Next Step From Livebearers

[KobaBetta]

I've been playing with some live bearers in planted tanks for the last few years. I started off breeding some pet store platies and then played around with a strain of purple dragon guppies. I'm ready to try something new besides just livebearers that is relatively easy to breed. I'm looking for a fish that could be bred and grown out in a 40 gallon or under tank. (I have several 10s lying around and have no problem removing fry from parents.) I'm personally not a pleco/shrimp fan but am open to most other things. I love bettas but don't have an efficient way to keep growouts. I have a pH of 8.0, GH between 30-60, and KH around 240 ppm. What are your suggestions? 

 

Please with your suggestions let me know if they require live foods as fry (I know most do) as I have never dabbled in raising live foods for fish.

[CalmedByFish]

I'm very close to deciding whether to try medaka. Among egg-layers, they appear to be one of the less-difficult to breed, often needing no assistance except to be given a ton of plants. From what I hear, the fry can eat whatever microstuff is already growing in the tank, and very fine powdered food. 

One of the main appeals to me is that the species is super hardy. From the research I've done, your pH, GH, and KH should be fine. I even saw a joke one time that the parameters needed for medaka are "Yes." 😂

Maybe check out YT videos by one of the forum members who breeds them, @Ryo Watanabe.

FYI, there are at least 2 other species called "rice fish," and though they all breed the same way, I think medaka are at least a little more tolerant with parameters.

[KobaBetta]

I will take a look at them. I've seen talks on them but have never given them much consideration. I appreciate the reccomendation!

[Wingman12r]

White Cloud mountain minnows are supposed to be fairly easy to breed.

[drewzero1]

I'll second @Wingman12rs WCMM suggestion. I simply put mine in an established 10 gallon with a sponge filter and some java moss, and (eventually) started seeing little swimming shards of glass just under the water's surface.

Similar to what @CalmedByFishssaid about rice fish, WCMM fry can often live off of the 'aufwuchs' (naturally occurring microorganisms) in an established aquarium until they are old enough to nibble crushed flakes. With a removable yarn spawning mop and a dedicated 10gal grow-out tank, I'm sure you could do much better than I have without much effort.

[gardenman]

"Breeding" most egg laying fish is actually pretty easy, it's the collecting/protecting the eggs and raising the fry part that gets challenging. The fry typically require lots of very small, often live food, on a very frequent basis. Keeping the water quality good and the food plentiful is where things tend to break down. Fish fry like plecos are easier to feed as they just eat whatever the parents eat. They're very easy to feed and raise from fry. Very small fry like neon tetras are far more challenging to feed. That's really where the issue comes with breeding most fish. Meet the parents halfway with water quality and they'll breed. Getting them to breed is the easy part. It's everything else that's more challenging.

[KobaBetta]

I just noticed that my betta tank has some sort of tiny little white critters crawling around which might be good fry food. He may be moving to a new tank soon if that is the case. 👀 

[CalmedByFish]

On 12/24/2021 at 3:35 PM, KobaBetta said:

I just noticed that my betta tank has some sort of tiny little white critters crawling around which might be good fry food. He may be moving to a new tank soon if that is the case. 👀 

If you do move the betta, keep feeding the tiny little white critters. 🙂 

[PedroPete]

I know exactly what you mean,  @KobaBetta, as I have done platys, guppies, and medaka ricefish. My next project (not in 2022, but someday) would be shelldwellers, like "multis," kribensis, or corydoras. As for your water parameters, I feel like the shelldwellers would do well (although I have never kept them myself).

[Levi_Aquatics]

The first non live bearing fish I bred were Bristlenose plecos and they were very rewarding to breed and it was fun to watch their breeding behavior. If you don’t want to go down that route I would suggest some kribenesis or apistos. 

[Guppy Guy]

I have been wanting to try breeding angelfish for awhile now. The pairs are hard to establish, but once they are, you can’t stop them from spawning. A bonus to this is that with the profits/store credit you will earn from the young, it is usually enough to support a fishroom. 

[HH Morant]

On 12/24/2021 at 8:01 AM, gardenman said:

"Breeding" most egg laying fish is actually pretty easy, it's the collecting/protecting the eggs and raising the fry part that gets challenging. The fry typically require lots of very small, often live food, on a very frequent basis. Keeping the water quality good and the food plentiful is where things tend to break down. Fish fry like plecos are easier to feed as they just eat whatever the parents eat. They're very easy to feed and raise from fry. Very small fry like neon tetras are far more challenging to feed. That's really where the issue comes with breeding most fish. Meet the parents halfway with water quality and they'll breed. Getting them to breed is the easy part. It's everything else that's more challenging.

I recently removed two batches of angelfish eggs from my 120. The eldest is now 2-3 months old, and the next batch is 2 weeks younger. As @gardenman intimates, what I considered an interesting experiment was actually a months-long commitment, including a fairly long period of hatching brine shrimp and daily water changes.

By coincidence I was getting ready to start up a new 115-gallon tank. I recently moved 229 baby angels from a 20-gallon to the 115, so my new tank's first assignment is to act as a grow-out tank. Simultaneously I moved the second spawn from a 10-gallon into the 20-gallon.

This is not what I planned to do with the 115-gallon tank, and not what I really want to do with it. It has been an interesting experience and I have learned some things, but I look forward to selling the little angels and using the 115 as a display tank.

I have not saved any eggs recently. My ex-wives might say that is because I am afraid of commitment.

 

Edited January 3, 2022 by HH Morant

[Irene]

Albino corydoras were my first fish to breed and raise up into fry. 👍 The eggs escaped the adults' notice because they were laid on a leaf that broke off and floated to the top of the water.

 

[WhitecloudDynasty]

I raise 1000s of white cloud every year with powder food, it's great for the first 3 weeks then you'll need a bigger size food. 

Egglayer aren't hard, you just got to protect the eggs and make sure the fry find food