First time breeding minnows?

[z3n]

Hey! I buy a lot of rosy red minnows as feeder fish since they're cheap, but I really want to start breeding them myself. Mostly because if I'm the one doing it, I don't have to stress out over if they're gonna make my fish sick or something lol. I have a 30 gallon tank set up right now, and 7 minnows in there, a number of rocks/caves, and plants. If anyone can offer advice on parameters that'll make them breed faster/at all, that would be much appreciated!

I also was thinking of making that my community fish tank. I specifically want to put my glass catfish in there too, since there's plenty of room and I really don't want to risk them getting eaten. I'm starting to get attached to them lol. They've been fine in my normal tank but it's a just Incase thing. Would the minnows breed still if there were a few other peaceful community fish in there?

 

[Andy Sager]

Hey! I buy a lot of rosy red minnows as feeder fish since they're cheap, but I really want to start breeding them myself. Mostly because if I'm the one doing it, I don't have to stress out over if they're gonna make my fish sick or something lol. I have a 30 gallon tank set up right now, and 7 minnows in there, a number of rocks/caves, and plants. If anyone can offer advice on parameters that'll make them breed faster/at all, that would be much appreciated!

I also was thinking of making that my community fish tank. I specifically want to put my glass catfish in there too, since there's plenty of room and I really don't want to risk them getting eaten. I'm starting to get attached to them lol. They've been fine in my normal tank but it's a just Incase thing. Would the minnows breed still if there were a few other peaceful community fish in there?

For starters, your minnows will want a much cooler temperature ( 60- 70 degrees F) than the glass cats will do well in so if you want to breed the minnows, I wouldn't have them with any other fish in the tank.
As for the rest of it, this has a good description of what is needed and done to breed Rosey Reds: Breeding the Fathead minnow (rosy red)
I would suggest that if you want to raise more of them than not, keep the adults in a larger tank then set up a small tank ( 10 gallons +) as a " breeding tank" as described and where the adults will be removed from once spawning is complete. You will also need to raise the temperature for the actual spawning period so the smaller breeding tank will be easier to do that in.
There are also some youtube videos on breeding rosey reds that may also help. Just search " Breeding rosey red minnows."

Hope this helps

 

[dcutl002]

@z3n I just had something weird happen last week. I keep Black Tetras, Serpae Tetras, and Silver Dollars in a 75 gallon tank and because of the Silver Dollars I keep fast-growing floating plants. Well, I noticed some baby fish swimming amongst my anacharis and hornwort and was puzzled how they got into that tank. I thought my wife may have been into my Livebearer tank, but no. They are Black Tetras! On accident, I now have baby Black Tetras. Anyway, heavy planting may help to breed some Rosy Reds.

 

[Andy Sager]

@z3n I just had something weird happen last week. I keep Black Tetras, Serpae Tetras, and Silver Dollars in a 75 gallon tank and because of the Silver Dollars I keep fast-growing floating plants. Well, I noticed some baby fish swimming amongst my anacharis and hornwort and was puzzled how they got into that tank. I thought my wife may have been into my Livebearer tank, but no. They are Black Tetras! On accident, I now have baby Black Tetras. Anyway, heavy planting may help to breed some Rosy Reds.

Tetras spawn in frilly plants so it's not really too unusual to have baby Tetra fry in a well planted tank. The thing is this: Most Tetras in the medium size slot ( Serpaes, Black skirts, Phantoms, etc) have about 200-300 eggs per spawn. If you find only 10 or 20 fry, think about how many of those hundreds of eggs didn't survive. If the parents were removed after the spawn, the hatch rate is usually about 80%-90% ( at least that was my rate.) So if you are looking to make a lot of them, doing it in a community tank is not the best method. In the case of Rosy Reds, they are not plant spawners so it won't really matter how well the the tank is planted.

 

[z3n]

For starters, your minnows will want a much cooler temperature ( 60- 70 degrees F) than the glass cats will do well in so if you want to breed the minnows, I wouldn't have them with any other fish in the tank.
As for the rest of it, this has a good description of what is needed and done to breed Rosey Reds: Breeding the Fathead minnow (rosy red)
I would suggest that if you want to raise more of them than not, keep the adults in a larger tank then set up a small tank ( 10 gallons +) as a " breeding tank" as described and where the adults will be removed from once spawning is complete. You will also need to raise the temperature for the actual spawning period so the smaller breeding tank will be easier to do that in.
There are also some youtube videos on breeding rosey reds that may also help. Just search " Breeding rosey red minnows."

Hope this helps

That does help, thank you!

 

[z3n]

@z3n I just had something weird happen last week. I keep Black Tetras, Serpae Tetras, and Silver Dollars in a 75 gallon tank and because of the Silver Dollars I keep fast-growing floating plants. Well, I noticed some baby fish swimming amongst my anacharis and hornwort and was puzzled how they got into that tank. I thought my wife may have been into my Livebearer tank, but no. They are Black Tetras! On accident, I now have baby Black Tetras. Anyway, heavy planting may help to breed some Rosy Reds.

LMAO I love how that kind of thing happens when you least expect it, but when you're actually trying to breed them it's a pain in the butt. I'll definitely add more plants in with my minnows! Hopefully I have as much luck with them as your tetras. Fingers crossed