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5 Gallon Breeding Suggestions

Ragnarok12

By Ragnarok12,
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Ragnarok12

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Just finished setting up a new 5 gallon desktop and am thinking about stocking possibilities. I'd like to try a breeding project in here, but I'm not sure what would be a good fit for something this small. I have plenty of larger tanks that I could move fish into if they get too cramped, so consider this a low risk set up with no love lost if it fails. Could something like apistos or gudgeons work well in here? I've got a few weeks of cycling left before it'll be time for stocking, so I'm in no rush. I'm not looking to do shrimp or livebearers. I'd love to do something like scarlet badis in here, but I've read about it being impossible to get a pair in the US, so I'm not holding my breath. Does anyone have thoughts?

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TOtrees Mentor

TOtrees

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If you're looking for something to breed and raise in the same tank as the adults, your options are limited. What I mean is there are lots of fish that will breed/spawn in a 5 gallon, but the fry will be toast as soon as they hatch, if not before. 

First thoughts are the easy ones: cherry shrimp, habrosus cories (hard to get, easy to breed), endlers. 

A few rice fish would work, if you get a lot more cover.

I have a few tuxedo koi guppies and they would also work. They are super small for guppies, and I'm finding no problems with adults eating fry. 

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Ragnarok12

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Having both fry and adults able to coexist in this tank would be ideal, but I have other tanks I can move fry into and have them grow up there. I know five gallons is not a lot to work to start with. with My priority would be having fish that could live comfortably enough in this tank to spawn successfully. It being a desktop aquarium, I'm mostly interested in observing breeding behavior and achieving spawning conditions. I'll cross the bridge with the fry if/when I get there 😅

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Jess Community Regular

Jess

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On 9/27/2022 at 4:14 PM, KBOzzie59 said:

Habrosus Cory would be my first choice.

 

I had my 6 habrosus corys in my heavily planted 7.5-gallon cube and they hid all the time.  They were not happy.  I moved them to my 45-gallon and they're out and about much of the time.  Still naturally a bit shy even after I added 4 adolfoi corys, but I bet if I added a dozen more (like what Cinnebuns suggests) they'd be less shy.  They really didn't lie the small tank at all.  Pygmies are smaller...I've considered giving them a try but I don't know.  They'd be mega-hard to catch if I decide I need to move them to make them happier.

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TOtrees Mentor

TOtrees

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On 9/27/2022 at 4:16 PM, Cinnebuns said:

Tbh, I feel like even the 2 smallest species of cories, habrosus and pygmy, would require at least 10. 

 

On 9/27/2022 at 4:18 PM, KBOzzie59 said:

I've done them in a 2.5 gallon.

 

I started with 15 in a very well furnished 5 gal set up for breeding. Sand substrate, LOTS of java moss, sponge filter, some upright rocks. Nothing else in there except snails. They bred very quickly, and 15 became 50. Yes, 50 habrosus in a 5 gal. Full size or nearly so. Bear in mind this is a fish room setup. Central air, auto water change doing about 75% tank volume per week. And to be honest, even with those 50 it never seemed full. There were lots of places on the floor without cories. 

Once they hit 50 (though I'm skeptical as to whether they actually did a head count) no more breeding. I've divided the colony, and all went into larger tanks.

PS it was a room-temp tank, so that's another plus!

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Ragnarok12 Collaborator

Ragnarok12

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Awesome suggestions, thanks everyone! I'll do some more research into the habrosus corys, I hadn't considered them at all for a setup like this. Although I'm not sure I would ever get any work done at my desk with 50 corys swimming around in front of my face 🤣

Also, big fan of the clown killi recommendation. @Joey1991 how many would you start out with to colony breed? Just a pair?

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SugarBassJoe Collaborator

SugarBassJoe

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When I had my colony going I started with 2 males and 4 females in a 5G, they are so small though you could probably start with more, but if your planning on breeding I would start with less, 2-3 females per male would be an ideal ratio. I used spawning mops for them. NO SNAILS. After a while I decided to use some anacharis from another tank in there, didn't even think about the pond snails I brought in with it, after that no more fry until the ALL the snails were gone, basically had to start over after that.

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