Well you have gone through all the pains of buying and setting up your tank, picking out your fish and probably even gone through a few too many unexpected deaths. So "What's next?" you ask. Breeding, the ultimate achievement in keeping an aquarium. The highest prize in this regard is the successful breeding of Discus or some other hard to breed personal favorite species. I will not be discussing breeding for individual species, but in generalities. If you need specific information, please click on the link in the blue column to your left
Terminology:
Well before I start getting to technical I think I better give you some definitions of the words I am about to besiege you with.
BIRTHING CHAMBER
A plastic or other container that will keep a live bearing female away from the general population, and will also separate her from the fry as they are born to prevent them from getting eaten.
BROOD
A family of fish, little older than fry but not yet considered adolescent fish.
EGG LAYER
Generally a female will deposit eggs on a surface ( leaf, lift tube, gravel or even on the surface of the water) the male will swim by and fertilize the eggs, soon after you have fry.
FRY
This word commonly refers to young recently hatched fishes.
FRY CAGE
A small open netted box that allows for the separation of fry from other fish in a community tank, usually clips to the top rim of a tank.
LIVE BEARER
Species of fish, where the female retains anywhere from 1 to 500 eggs inside of her, and then when the time is right, give birth to her brood.
MOUTH BROODER
A species of fish that will lay eggs, then intake those eggs into their mouths until they hatch, sort of like a chicken sitting on eggs, this fish just use the other end.
Once you decide to start breeding fish you must realize there is a lot of time but even more, a lot of money involved. Some of the things you have to consider when you want to breed fish is a safe environment, specialized foods, more attention to your fish and also even finding a pair of fish that will want to breed!
Generally it will first start out obtaining up to two additional tanks, one tank for your pair to mate in and one for your fry after they hatch. "WHY?" because usually fish need a very specific environmental settings to initiate the breeding process and the fry will need their own tank so the adult s and other fish will not eat them, some species do make excellent parents, but many more (especially live bearers) are indeed cannibalistic when it comes to their young! Also the tank for the fry is generally different as far as filtration, plus you want a nice safe place from the other fish to allow the fry to grow. As with every rule their are exceptions, Some adults actually tend to their fry and feed them nourishing foods that they excrete from their bodies.
You may want to start out with something easy like Guppies, Convict Cichlids, or Mollies (who all breed like rabbits!). I do not recommend starting out with more complicated fish unless you can deal well with disappointments and heartbreaks. Also some breeds have never been able to breed successfully in captivity so always check with your fish professional before starting out.
OK, enough of my rhetoric, lets start breeding...
the steps to making little fishies:
1.) Visit the library, Internet or bookstore and read up in-depth on the breeding requirements for the species you want to breed. The more information you have, the less time and money you will have to spend in the long run.
2.) Setup an existing tank or new tank to the right breeding conditions for the fish you wish to breed. Purchase fry cages/birthing wells.
3.) Find a mated pair, or at least a male and female of the species you want to breed.
4.) Maintain the lighting, water and feeding conditions that the pair require for a successful breeding attempt.
5.) Let the fish do what comes naturally, look out for egg nests, enlarged bellies in the female, unusual swimming behaviors, especially look out for fighting between the male and female ( sometimes a pair just isn't made for each other ).
6.) If required by the species, separate the male from the female after breeding.
7.) Just prior to giving birth, If required by the species, place the female in the birthing tank, so she can be separated from the fry as soon as possible.
I know this is very general, for more specific information on your species, see the list below or the breeding section in DaFishNEWs free e-zine.
