What fish should I breed

[FishLuver14]

I was assigned a semester-long project for my animal companions class and chose to breed fish for my project. I have a 40 gallon tall aquarium and was planning to breed angelfish. If I get the large ones from Petsmart will they pair up and breed before the semester is over? All I can afford is to get some plants for the aquarium, not the rockwork and hiding places cichlids need. I've already bred all the livebearers and was hoping for something new. Any suggestions would be great.

 

[IHaveAquariums]

I believe you could try German Blue Rams, all they need is a flatter area with some plant cover. I would get coralbandit to advise as he breeds and ships them. I feel like Angelfish would be a harder one to breed, especially in a 40b because it's shorter.

 

[coralbandit]

Look into Apistogrammas .All you need is terracotta flower pots and the right water.
IMO they are the best parent fish next to kribensis .
Any other I would think you will need to pull eggs ,artificially hatch and raise separate from parents. Angels will give you a headache IMO.. You may see some nice fry right before they eat them !

 

[FishLuver14]

I wish I could do those but no pet stores near me carry them and I don't have the cash to ship them. I heard convict cichlids might work. I also read that you can make rockwork for cheap out of expanded polystyrene boards and cement but that would take a long time. What would you suggest I do?

 

[Angellove78]

If you get a breeding pair you should be ok. Molly's, platy's, guppies, and swordtails are easier. Angelfish would, but you'd have to get a known breeding pair for them to breed. (A known pair will run you more money most the time) you might get lucky by just picking a couple out if you know male from female and they get along. But I don't think that happens to much. Alot of people will go with 5 smaller size and get pairs that way. But, you don't have much time. What ever you decide just do some research before hand to know what's involved in breeding the fish you choose before you get them.

 

[smallfry53]

You might be able to work something out with ApistoShane if you decide to go the apisto route. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...low-and-apistogramma-starter-kits-363056.html

 

[coralbandit]

Convicts are known to breed like rabbits so I think you could successfully do your project with them.
I have never owned convicts but besides being prolific breeders they are also very good parents I have read...

 

[FishLuver14]

I think convicts sound like the best option for me. How many can I keep in my lightly planted aquarium without them battling each other to death? I have three large flower pots for them and a divider for when they breed.

 

[Andy Sager]

I was assigned a semester-long project for my animal companions class and chose to breed fish for my project. I have a 40 gallon tall aquarium and was planning to breed angelfish. If I get the large ones from Petsmart will they pair up and breed before the semester is over? All I can afford is to get some plants for the aquarium, not the rockwork and hiding places cichlids need. I've already bred all the livebearers and was hoping for something new. Any suggestions would be great.

If you are on a time crunch, I suggest going with fish that don't need to form mated pairs and go with fish like Barbs, Tetras , Danios and the like so that the introduction of any mature male and mature female should result in a spawning. These are going to be egg scatterers so plant life ( plastic or live)for the fish to spawn in and something along the bottom ( from marbles to eggcrate) to hide the eggs that fall, are all you really need. And you only need to have this in a smaller spawning area so you don't have to do the whole tank. Also, these don't need as large a tank as a 40 to spawn in ( I do these species in 10 gal tanks and smaller) but the fry will do better in the larger tank for growing out. The fry will need a different food source than most Cichlid fry so you will have the added science of making infusoria and other microfoods until the fry are large enough to handle baby brine shrimp.

Hope this helps.