What are you breeding?

[TheSmallFish]

Nice fry

 

[DreaminginBlue]

Aww, they're adorable! Congratulations

 

[BlueAura]

I'm also breeding platies. Mine are the yellow twinbar variety. Yesterday I posted a photo of my tank and there is a picture of them there. I have three females and one male. All three females are pregnant, but I have put the two most pregnant ones in a breeder box. When I get home from work I am going to take out the less pregnant of the two, that box is too small for two fish. Also under the main tank I have set up a 5.5 gallon to accommodate the fry once it is cycled.

This will be my second time breeding fish, the first time was velvet swordtails when I was about 11 years old. Talk about crazy -- I went away on vacation and while I was gone all my female fry turned male. The only female swordtail I had was their mother!

 

[TheSmallFish]

Nice very exciting

 

[DreaminginBlue]

That's awesome! Best of luck, let us know how it goes

 

[KhrisCross]

They're all very pretty ..... I haven't had the chance to yet, but I want to set up a live bearing tank and breed platies, mollies, and guppies ..... But for the time being I already have a pregnant Mickey Mouse platy and a pregnant creamsicle Molly

 

[BlueAura]

My platies are driving me crazy -- now I can't see any black in the gravid spot, it all looks reddish. Yet the female I have left in the breeder is still plump.

At this point, I'm thinking of taking away the breeder box and just letting nature take its course for a while.

Maybe I can get away with one small purchase of fake grass to float on top for the fry? Any suggestions that don't look terribly awful? The stuff I usually see looks like green tufts on a plastic frame and it just looks horrible. One part of me says well who cares what it looks like if it saves the fry, but still -- yuck!

 

[RonColle]

30+ eureka red peacock fry.

 

[coralbandit]

I have seen breeders use Christmas garland.. The green stuff just cut and rolled, maybe attached to piece of foam to float.
This was sent to me by lotsoffish with swordtails I won.

I let live plants float and roll around and have plenty of fry in all my LB tanks.
I prefilter filter intakes if there is more then sponge filter being used around fry.
Swords and platies are ok if fed enough and cover is provided to let fry stay.
I breed both as my Live Bearers [LB].
I breed GBR,EBR,Angels and a couple Apistogramma for egg layers.
You always need more tanks.
4 months till average grow out and 30 day breeding cycle says 4 tanks per fish type?

 

[BlueAura]

I have seen breeders use Christmas garland.. The green stuff just cut and rolled, maybe attached to piece of foam to float.
This was sent to me by lotsoffish with swordtails I won.

I let live plants float and roll around and have plenty of fry in all my LB tanks.
I prefilter filter intakes if there is more then sponge filter being used around fry.
Swords and platies are ok if fed enough and cover is provided to let fry stay.
I breed both as my Live Bearers [LB].
I breed GBR,EBR,Angels and a couple Apistogramma for egg layers.
You always need more tanks.
4 months till average grow out and 30 day breeding cycle says 4 tanks per fish type?

Wow, Christmas garland!? That's real ingenuity there. I just might end up using some of it!

The thing that worries me the most about having free-swimming fry in my tank is my 6 glass catfish. They are voracious carnivores and quickly devour any sort of food-sized items. It is amazing to watch them during feeding time, they eat a pellet, and then double back on themselves to catch a second one, then do quick turn to catch a third, etc. etc. The acrobatics are beautiful, but I can't help but imagine that little platy fry would be toast trying to make that long swim up from the bottom of the 29 gallon.

Perhaps I could solve the problem by temporarily moving the momma platies to the small tank, once it's cycled? Then I could put "fry grass" or Christmas garland in that tank, and there would be no glass cats to eat them.

BTW I saw your tag line "Got Rams" and wonder, what do you think about having a few rams in a community tank with other (non-cichlid) fish? When I was a kid I had two golden rams in my tank and I can't remember how it went. The only thing I remember is they were one of the most beautiful fish I'd ever seen at that point. I also had a very large, bossy angelfish but I don't think they fought.

 

[coralbandit]

Nothing will save fry from predators like a nocturnal cat or just a big eater.
Moving momma will be a huge help. Then any live plant floating also offers food to fry. They pick all day.
Rams look great in all tanks ,but IMO they need to be #1.
I see/know a lot of planted keepers with my rams and tetras and such.
But in other situations they are pansies IMO.
I am just a lucky ram breeder ,NOT keeper...
I have EBA in my 180 , they look like bigger rams ....

 

[lanasfishies96]

Unfortunately i came home to all 12 dead along with my precious betta kevin and a ghost shrimp ever since I brought home petsmart guppies my fish have been dying and they have been treated for everything with no success

 

[DreaminginBlue]

So sorry to hear that, Lana.