Western Mosquitofish Breeding

[Native Keeper]

Hello everyone! I recently started a Western Mosquitofish breeding project. I currently have 7 females and 1 male that are sexually mature, and 5 fry that I got from a friend. Does anyone have experience with breeding them? If so, any tips?

[Wingman12r]

As part of the poeciliidae family like guppies, Molly's, platys ect I suspect that they will readily breed.

Mosquito fish are also known to having a voracious appetite, not only for mosquito larvae but most kinds of aquatic insects and invertebrates.

So keeping live foods readily available may be key to ensuring the fry don't become prey.

[StevesFishTanks]

I had a colony of wild caught gambusia for a little while. They bred similar to a guppy.

[Gator]

@HydraSlayer; I tried breeding Mosquitofish back in the '80's while I lived in Orlando, FL., @s1_ and @Wingman12r are correct, they breed like other Livebearers and will also eat their young, but then again most of the fish in our hobby will also eat their young. I tried breeding a male fancy-tailed Guppy to a female Mosquitofish with disastrous results, she nipped his tail to the point of no longer having a tail and he died overnight. Then I tried a male Mosquitofish with a female Guppy and the results were better, but the babies didn't turn out as nice as I'd hoped, then I discovered that Mosquitofish made a great food for my Jack Dempsey's.

Instead of one male and seven females, I think it would be better to have one male and one female so there will less predation of the babies.

Good luck and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

[Native Keeper]

On 12/29/2021 at 10:26 PM, Wingman12r said:

As part of the poeciliidae family like guppies, Molly's, platys ect I suspect that they will readily breed.

Mosquito fish are also known to having a voracious appetite, not only for mosquito larvae but most kinds of aquatic insects and invertebrates.

So keeping live foods readily available may be key to ensuring the fry don't become prey.

Of course! I mainly feed them brine shrimp, just recently got them to eat bloodworms.

@Gator; Don't worry, I already have a plan for that. I recently ordered one of those livebearer containers that have mesh halfway through them. If I ever notice one of the females is pregnant, I will move her into the container, though I've never done anything like this, so let me know if there's a flaw to this plan.