Breeder box suggestions

[Shaeff]

Hello all, 

My female dalmatian molly is pregnant (early stages as its been a week with a larger belly) and currently I do not have a quarantine / hospital tank  established. I am limited with space and my current set up is a 10 gallon, so my thought is to go with an external HOB breeder box as anything inside would cut down the space. I would like to hear what your experiences with breeder boxes are and suggestions for one or would it just be better to invest in a 5 gallon tank and hope to cycle it intime? 

[Odd Duck]

I like the HOB breeder boxes for some things, but the fry can slip right out of the little grids that go over the outflow.  That don’t usually immediately slip out, but they can.  I have some guppies hanging out in one right now while I try to catch the last 2, very wily adults.  🤦🏻‍♀️ They had some babies yesterday.  I know this because I have one partition in place so the adults can’t get to, and jump over, the tiny outflow grid that ought to be a little taller, closer to the margin of the breeder box lid, or both.  🤦🏻‍♀️  I think I’m going to be catching guppies out of this tank for a while.  🤷🏻‍♀️ 

A breeder box or breeder net might be better.  Best would be a homemade breeder net made from plastic craft mesh pieces with momma inside and no fish on the outside that could eat the fry.  @Fish Folk has pics of his posted somewhere.  I’ll see if I can find it before he does and links it for me.  Will edit again once found.

Edited February 25, 2023 by Odd Duck

[Fish Folk]

1. Buy large piece of plastic mesh at JoAnn Fabrics, or similar.

2. Curve a sheet inside your 10-gal, creating a bowed curve from back corner to corresponding front corner, and put your adult brooders in here…

 

3. Fry will escape predation by swimming through the mesh holes. Use lots of plants to help them hide, feed well for a week or two, and then remove the mesh.

4. Shhh!!! Don’t tell the internet… 😎

 

 

[Odd Duck]

@Fish Folk, I was thinking of your floating one with the styrofoam.  That was you that posted pics of yours again not too long ago, right?

[Fish Folk]

On 2/25/2023 at 2:04 PM, Odd Duck said:

@Fish Folk, I was thinking of your floating one with the styrofoam.  That was you that posted pics of yours again not too long ago, right?

This can be done too. Use Plastic mesh + tiny zip ties + Styrofoam pieces around top to build whatever size you want. It just costs a tad more, and takes time to make…

[lefty o]

never under estimate the power of zip ties, they can do anything!!

[Shaeff]

Sounds like ill be stopping by JoAnne Fabrics / Michaels  tomorrow. As always i appreciate the feedback everyone.

[Odd Duck]

On 2/25/2023 at 2:03 PM, Fish Folk said:

This can be done too. Use Plastic mesh + tiny zip ties + Styrofoam pieces around top to build whatever size you want. It just costs a tad more, and takes time to make…

That’s the one I was thinking of!  😆 

[Fish Folk]

@Shaeff here is the thread for how to build this…

 

[Theplatymaster]

@Fish Folk

very clever livebearer setup, doesnt look like it will work too well raising fry though, they'd easily fall through the bottom.

[Fish Folk]

On 2/25/2023 at 9:17 PM, Theplatymaster said:

they'd easily fall through the bottom

Ah, but that is the goal. Adults stay _in_ the mesh area, but fry escape _out_ through the holes. The design is meant to avoid Livebearer predation. 

[Theplatymaster]

On 2/25/2023 at 9:21 PM, Fish Folk said:

Ah, but that is the goal. Adults stay _in_ the mesh area, but fry escape _out_ through the holes. The design is meant to avoid Livebearer predation. 

ah, as appose to something like a ziss breeder box where you move the fry in once they are hatched.

I might build on of these myself as a large version for some platies...

[Fish Folk]

As opposed. Indeed. 

[Cinnebuns]

I absolutely love the hob breeder boxes. I will caution you tho. If you are asking as a means to isolate the female, please don't. It can cause far more issues than it helps. The only people who should be isolating females are people highly experienced and only concerned with maximizing yield. Isolating can lead to increased stress which can cause her to hold the fry in, abort them, or even die. 

There are much better options:

1.  Provide places to hide for both mom and babies. Live or fake plants are amazing for this. Especially consider some floating on the top. They like some cover over them so they can hide while giving birth. 

2.  Remove any fish harassing her. They can be returned later. The ones to watch the most is the males. A little bit of harassment is actually good and can encourage her to drop. Watch that it doesn't get too intense and stress her out. If it does, remove him until she gives birth. 

3.  Turn the lights down and avoid watching her. It can be tempting to watch this miracle happening buy try to resist. She will be stressed out and not feel her babies are safe if a large predator is watching her. She and her babies are vulnerable. She needs to feel safe. 

[mynameisnobody]

@Shaeff It also should be stated that with a 10 gallon and limited space, liver bearers may not be the ideal species. You can only breeder box for so long before those fry are old enough to get pregnant. If you have a means of getting rid of them, then problem solved. Good luck to you, and this is only meant to have you thinking a bit ahead. 

Edited February 28, 2023 by mynameisnobody

[Shaeff]

So I went with the mesh for now as it will give the female more room than a breeder box. I moved her now as she seemed aggressive but she is not that big yet so I do not know how long she will be there (little concern) until birth but may create stress with the other fish.

@mynameisnobody i plan to sell/trade them with my local store.

@Cinnebuns i would think with this set up it should be less stressful for her.

[Odd Duck]

The barrier used like that is meant to have the mother on one side and no fish on the other side so the fry can go to the other side away from the mother and be safe from predation.  If you have fish on the other side the fry most likely will be eaten.  If you have only one tank, you will need to do a double breeder net that has very fine mesh in a large outer net and a smaller inner net that is coarse mesh.  This is so the mother is inside the smaller, coarse inner net and the fry can escape out into the larger outer net but are still contained inside the outer net of fine mesh so the fish in the rest of the tank don’t eat the fry.  At least if you want the maximum fry survival.

Or you can have very heavy growth of floating plants like Java moss, guppy grass, pearlweed, etc, to help some fry survive.  You are unlikely to get as many fry this way but far better than just letting the fry escape from the mother as predator to the rest of the fish in the tank as a whole group of predators.

[Shaeff]

@Odd Duck i realized that after I read the additional comments that were  posted. I will need to stop bubthe local store to see what additional plants and protection i can find.