breeding tank

[bmg07]

ok so i have a 75 gal tank im getting some cichlids ,some loaches and some other fish.i was going to get like a 5 gal tank and put some guppies some shrimp and some snails . I was going to try and breed them and use the guppy fry as live food. same with the shrimp.and i was just going to put like a few snails in the tank for loaches .Would this be a good idea. I just thought of it so i wold have my own fish food and wouldnt have to go buy food all the time

 

[HN1]

The idea is sound, but the tank may be a bit small for all three. A couple 5G tanks or a 10-15 would probably work.

 

[bmg07]

thanks that was just an example im going to get a bigger tank for them

 

[thatmagicguy]

ok so i have a 75 gal tank im getting some cichlids ,some loaches and some other fish.i was going to get like a 5 gal tank and put some guppies some shrimp and some snails . I was going to try and breed them and use the guppy fry as live food. same with the shrimp.and i was just going to put like a few snails in the tank for loaches .Would this be a good idea. I just thought of it so i wold have my own fish food and wouldnt have to go buy food all the time

You aren't going to be able to breed enough live fish and shrimp to feed your fish and get you out of buying food for your cichlids. 1st you're going to have to feed the feeders. Second, it will take more than one, two, or even three tanks to provide a constant supply of food. Guppys, unless you are breeding quality fish, aren't going to drop more than 20-30 babies every 30-40 days. 30 guppy fry will last you a day and a half even if feeding small to medium cichlids.

Shrimp, these can be bred, the larvae are very small and to raise out a bunch you will need to have space and food.

I'll leave the snails to you with no comment. They are easy.

The point is, if you are going to go to the trouble and expense and space to start a hatchery to feed a couple of cichlids in the big tank why not take the money you'd spend on all that crap and buy some frozen food and some quality dried food and be done with it?

Truth is, I sense a bit of a need for you to see your fish kill something. Not that this is such a bad thing. Why not feed commercial food, get the 5 gallon, put some guppies in there and use them for an occasional treat as opposed to a food replacement.

~sigh~
Bill

 

[HN1]

You aren't going to be able to breed enough live fish and shrimp to feed your fish and get you out of buying food for your cichlids. 1st you're going to have to feed the feeders. Second, it will take more than one, two, or even three tanks to provide a constant supply of food. Guppys, unless you are breeding quality fish, aren't going to drop more than 20-30 babies every 30-40 days. 30 guppy fry will last you a day and a half even if feeding small to medium cichlids.

Shrimp, these can be bred, the larvae are very small and to raise out a bunch you will need to have space and food.

I'll leave the snails to you with no comment. They are easy.

The point is, if you are going to go to the trouble and expense and space to start a hatchery to feed a couple of cichlids in the big tank why not take the money you'd spend on all that crap and buy some frozen food and some quality dried food and be done with it?

Truth is, I sense a bit of a need for you to see your fish kill something. Not that this is such a bad thing. Why not feed commercial food, get the 5 gallon, put some guppies in there and use them for an occasional treat as opposed to a food replacement.

~sigh~
Bill

Brilliantly spoken.

 

[bmg07]

ok first off i wasnt just going to be feeding them those live foods . It was going to be like a energy boost of nutrients it wasnt like i was going to just feed them all that i would never have enough. i just thought my fish would like a treat of live fooods .Im sorry with my question i mis rote it .I ment to have the live foods as an occasional treat. Also no i dont just want to see my fish kill something

 

[bs6749]

Shrimp, these can be bred, the larvae are very small and to raise out a bunch you will need to have space and food.

Most shrimp don't produce larvae, rather the young are miniature versions of the parents. They can grow pretty fast going from 2mm to 3/8" in under 3 weeks. They don't require any food other than biofilm provided on surfaces and they do like picking through vegetation as well so some Java moss would be great in the tank.

I agree that it would be in your best interest to purchase quality foods to get better growth rates out of your fry. Even buying frozen shrimp from the store and cutting it up into small pieces for them as they get larger would help. My discus love that in addition to bloodworms, brine shrimp, and blackworms.

 

[mgamer20o0]

agreed bs6749 other then the fact i do and you should feed the shrimp. no way a 10 gallon tank can support 100-200 shrimp with out feeding.

 

[bs6749]

I've had over 300 shrimp in a 10g tank that was loaded with Java moss, had no filter, and went a week at a time without feeding and I was constantly pulling young from the tank. Keeping them fed and making sure food is available if they need it is better for their growth rates though.

 

[bmg07]

i never said i wouldnt feed them. Thats sort of common sense to feed ur fish/shrimp. Also i am not going to rely on feeding my bigger tank just snails fry and shrimp. once again i just wanted it as a nutrition boost. Also thanks bs6749 i was going to get a 20 gal actually so i would have more room for everything. It seems like shrimp like java moss so ill get some for them. do ghost shrimp produce larvea? if not ill get a different type

 

[thatmagicguy]

Most shrimp don't produce larvae, rather the young are miniature versions of the parents. They can grow pretty fast going from 2mm to 3/8" in under 3 weeks. They don't require any food other than biofilm provided on surfaces and they do like picking through vegetation as well so some Java moss would be great in the tank.

I agree that it would be in your best interest to purchase quality foods to get better growth rates out of your fry. Even buying frozen shrimp from the store and cutting it up into small pieces for them as they get larger would help. My discus love that in addition to bloodworms, brine shrimp, and blackworms.

Larvae, miniature adults, semantics. 3 weeks to a quarter inch size is still impractical for what he said he wanted to do in the original post which was to replace store bought food.

But he's retracted that intention.

I've raised ghost shrimp in large capacities, granted, I did it in outdoor pools so your experiences would be more aligned with what the original poster wanted to do. Bill

 

[bs6749]

do ghost shrimp produce larvea? if not ill get a different type

Ghost shrimp do have a larval stage. Something like RCS would be much better since there are more offspring at once and they are generally much easier to breed.

Larvae, miniature adults, semantics. 3 weeks to a quarter inch size is still impractical for what he said he wanted to do in the original post which was to replace store bought food.

But he's retracted that intention.

I've raised ghost shrimp in large capacities, granted, I did it in outdoor pools so your experiences would be more aligned with what the original poster wanted to do. Bill

Not really semantics. Take into consideration that something like RCS, which produce miniature versions of the adults will have a higher survival rate of the young, not to mention that their numbers per clutch are higher and their breeding rates are faster. My RCS females are CONSTANTLY berried and they spit out 30+ young every 3 weeks or so. With ghost shrimp it's more like 5 weeks and the 15-20 young that are released are larvae at that stage. 50-75 females can easily keep a red cherry shrimp colony booming and producing offspring that could supplement the growth of fry.