How many people have had their tropical fish breed for them?

United States
November 23, 2007 11:19pm CST
I raise tropical fish especially cichlids and find it very interesting that the parents will take care of the eggs and young. I have right now five different kinds of cichlids that have either just spawned or are in the process of tenting their eggs or young. I have breeding pairs of Geophagus brasiliensis, dwarf golden eyed cichlid, firemouth cichlid, Cichlasoma oblongus, and Honduran Red point cichlid (blue convict cichlids). In all of these fish they will clean off a spot where they are going to place the eggs. Then the female will do a few "dry runs" (she will go over the spot without laying any eggs) and the male will follow , going over the same spot. Then the real business will start, she will begin laying eggs in a row (from a few to up to 10 or more at each run. The male will follow and fertilize the eggs. This process will take place until the female is empty of eggs. Then the female (usually() will fan the eggs with her fins and the male will protect the area from other fish and anything that approaches. It will take between 2 and 4 or 5 days for the eggs to hatch. Once they are hatched it will take a few days more for them to absorb the egg sack and then you need to start feeding them fine food such as newly hatched brine shrimp or other fine foods that the babies can get into their mouth and has a high enough protein content. If the parents are about to spawn again then you need to separate the parents from the babies unless the tank is large enough. Make sure to do your regular water changes so that the babies will be in clean and unpolluted water so that they can grow faster. Some fish are easier to spawn than others. How many and what kinds of fish have you been breeding?
2 responses
@Seraphine (385)
• Finland
24 Nov 07
I used to have guppies and platies in my early fishkeeping days and they kept breeding non-stop. Now I don't really have any fish that breed, just a couple of angelfish pairs that keep laying eggs but since they're in a big community tank all the eggs get eaten. Still interesting to watch them guard the eggs though.
1 person likes this
• United States
24 Nov 07
If you wanted t have baby angelfish you could get a 10 gallon tank set up and when the pair of angelfish spawns , you take the eggs out of the big tank and put them in the smaller tank. Make sure that the water is close to the same (or even use water from the big tank) and put a heater so that the temp stays at between 78 and 84. The eggs will hatch in about 2 to 3 days and will be free swimming after another 3 to 4 days. When they become free swimming you need to feed them small foods like newly hatched brine shrimp and make sure to keep the tank clean . As far as a filter you can use a small sponge filter to keep the babies from being sucked up and killed. When they are a few weeks old you can start putting in some finely crushed flake food and other small foods that they can eat. Good luck in raising them. There are a lot of local fish stores that will buy angelfish from hobbyist.
@Fishmomma (11658)
• United States
24 Nov 07
I agree some fish are easier to breed than others. My Endlers have many babies easily. We put them in our pond during the summer and had a lot of babies. We sold over 500 of them this year.
1 person likes this
• United States
24 Nov 07
Endlers live bearers , like guppies are virtually a no brainer as to having them breed for you. As long as you have a male and a female or just a pregnant female you can get a colony going for you. It only takes about a mouth between broods and the broods can average between 20 and 40 per brood. The young females can become pregnant after only about 3 to 4 months so you can easily become overrun with them in a short amount of time.