henningc
Aquarium Advice Addict
- Joined
- May 26, 2013
- Messages
- 1,229
I did this project last year and decided to do it again this summer. Last year I kept a running thread, but I started half way through the project, so this year I'll be posting start to finish. I hope others will be encouraged and try this as it makes a very cool summer fish project.
Last year I used 1-10'x10'x15" deep pool, 1-110"x72"x24" pool, 1-125gal stock tank, 1-175gal stock tank. This year my plan is for 2-10'x10'x15" pools, 1-110"x72"-24" pool, 2-6' round hard plastic wading pools and both stock tanks.
Last year I stocked Endlers, Least Killies, Clone Crayfish and Jack Dempseys. This year I'm stocking Pumpkin orange and black Painted Swords, Koi Swords, REEA Swords, 4 different color Platys, Endlers, Least killies and corys.
Last year I just tossed the Endlers and Least Killies in the pools with a little duckweed, sponge filter and not much else. Niether of the fish eat their fry, so it was rather easy. This year, I'll be using breeding traps for the swords and platys as they will eat fry. Breeding traps will be made of large Rubber Made Plastic Storage Containers with holes drilled in the sides and bottom. (If you have a better idea let me know).
I will stock the Endlers and Least Killies as I did last year directly into the pools.
Last year I started with 50-60 brooder fish, likely less, thinking I would end up with a few hundred if lucky. I ended up with over 1,200 fish! Last year I decided to leave all the fry in the pools to develop and did not remove any until the last 6 weeks as they were way over crowded. That created an issue when everything had to come indoors. This year, I'll set up the traps in the 10'x10'x15" pools, one for swords the other for platys. I will begin removing fish after 3-4 weeks depending on production. Fry will be moved to 1-round pool and the vats to grow out. Some fry will be moved indoors for a quick two weeks of gorging on bbs. I will leave Endler and Least Killie fry in the sword / platy pools and remove on the same schedule. One round pool will be exclusive for my new line of Blond Endlers.
Instead of keeping everything, fry will be pulled, sorted, graded weekly and some sold after the first 60 days. This should help keep the over crowding down and mean some lucky folks will be able to purchase these guys at a discounted rate. I will also have two 55gal tanks ready to set up if need be and may buy another round pool if I need the grow out room.
A few facts and details about last year. First, I was invaded by frogs, tree frogs, and that resulted in over 1,000 tadpoles. I quickly learned cichlids love them, yummy. I did allow about 100 to grow into frogs and go about doing frog stuff. Next I learned that mosquito larva are a better fish food than even I thouht. There were several weeks during spring when there were so many mosquito larva I fed the fish 2 x wkly. The female Endlers and Least Killies looked about read to burst they were so stuffed. This year I will set up 3-4 good size Rubber Made Containers just to produce extra mosquito larva for the breeder traps. Most folks in the hobby don't know this, but most pet store fish are stunted to a great degree. This is because the environment is so size restricted. Swords will grow to 4"-5", platys 3"-4" and female Endlers 3". Keep in mind the larger the females the more fry produced. Another thing that is odd is that the fish raised outside tolerate wide temp swings without any ill effects compared to fish raised inside. At the end of the season, I still had Endlers and Least Killies outside when temps went from high 60s day-40s night.
Well this is a good start. I will post up some photos of the breeder traps and brood stock in a week or two and in mid-late March photos of the pools. Keep in mind the pools are not for looks, they are for production.
Last year I used 1-10'x10'x15" deep pool, 1-110"x72"x24" pool, 1-125gal stock tank, 1-175gal stock tank. This year my plan is for 2-10'x10'x15" pools, 1-110"x72"-24" pool, 2-6' round hard plastic wading pools and both stock tanks.
Last year I stocked Endlers, Least Killies, Clone Crayfish and Jack Dempseys. This year I'm stocking Pumpkin orange and black Painted Swords, Koi Swords, REEA Swords, 4 different color Platys, Endlers, Least killies and corys.
Last year I just tossed the Endlers and Least Killies in the pools with a little duckweed, sponge filter and not much else. Niether of the fish eat their fry, so it was rather easy. This year, I'll be using breeding traps for the swords and platys as they will eat fry. Breeding traps will be made of large Rubber Made Plastic Storage Containers with holes drilled in the sides and bottom. (If you have a better idea let me know).
I will stock the Endlers and Least Killies as I did last year directly into the pools.
Last year I started with 50-60 brooder fish, likely less, thinking I would end up with a few hundred if lucky. I ended up with over 1,200 fish! Last year I decided to leave all the fry in the pools to develop and did not remove any until the last 6 weeks as they were way over crowded. That created an issue when everything had to come indoors. This year, I'll set up the traps in the 10'x10'x15" pools, one for swords the other for platys. I will begin removing fish after 3-4 weeks depending on production. Fry will be moved to 1-round pool and the vats to grow out. Some fry will be moved indoors for a quick two weeks of gorging on bbs. I will leave Endler and Least Killie fry in the sword / platy pools and remove on the same schedule. One round pool will be exclusive for my new line of Blond Endlers.
Instead of keeping everything, fry will be pulled, sorted, graded weekly and some sold after the first 60 days. This should help keep the over crowding down and mean some lucky folks will be able to purchase these guys at a discounted rate. I will also have two 55gal tanks ready to set up if need be and may buy another round pool if I need the grow out room.
A few facts and details about last year. First, I was invaded by frogs, tree frogs, and that resulted in over 1,000 tadpoles. I quickly learned cichlids love them, yummy. I did allow about 100 to grow into frogs and go about doing frog stuff. Next I learned that mosquito larva are a better fish food than even I thouht. There were several weeks during spring when there were so many mosquito larva I fed the fish 2 x wkly. The female Endlers and Least Killies looked about read to burst they were so stuffed. This year I will set up 3-4 good size Rubber Made Containers just to produce extra mosquito larva for the breeder traps. Most folks in the hobby don't know this, but most pet store fish are stunted to a great degree. This is because the environment is so size restricted. Swords will grow to 4"-5", platys 3"-4" and female Endlers 3". Keep in mind the larger the females the more fry produced. Another thing that is odd is that the fish raised outside tolerate wide temp swings without any ill effects compared to fish raised inside. At the end of the season, I still had Endlers and Least Killies outside when temps went from high 60s day-40s night.
Well this is a good start. I will post up some photos of the breeder traps and brood stock in a week or two and in mid-late March photos of the pools. Keep in mind the pools are not for looks, they are for production.
