breeding info

Hi wirralbull, welcome to the forum!

There are probably as many ways to spawn these fish as there are hobbyists spawning them. Over the past several years this is the method I’ve been using…

I put 2 males and 3 or 4 females into a 5.5 US gallon tank. The tank is unheated and has a small sponge filter with just a bit of water movement. I use a generous portion of Java or Christmas moss as a spawning site, the moss takes up around 1/4 of the tank volume and I push it down so it is in contact with the bottom of the tank. I have used bare bottom tanks and tanks with gravel substrate with equal success.

I leave these adults in the breeding set-up for 7 days feeding live foods the entire week. At the end of the week, I remove the adults into another breeder set-up and wait for fry to appear. Depending on the age and condition of your brood stock you can expect anywhere from 15 to well over 100 fry in the next couple of weeks.

I feed my fry green water and 5-50 micron sized Golden Pearls prepared food for the first week to 10 days. After that they move on to micro worms for another week to 10 days and finally on to baby brine shrimp. I normally leave the fry in the breeder set-up for the first 30 days doing daily water changes. At the end of 30 days I move groups of 65 fry into 20 US gallon long tanks for the grow-out process.

With quality water and food your fry will be sexually mature at around 12 weeks of age. I like to keep my water parameters around neutral pH 6.8 – 7.2 and hardness around 8 dH, but I don’t fuss with it too much. These fish are very hardy and will spawn under a variety of conditions.

Best of luck with your breeding project!

Dennis

Hey Ball Aquatics,

I read in one of your past posts that you use pure spirulina to create your green water. This sounds like alot less hastle than leaving a bucket out in the sun (exspecially when you live in a climate like me and thats only possible for half the year). I was wondering if you still did that and where you got the Spirulina? I have found it for humans but the only stuff I have found that was created for fish that I can find is usually mixed in with brine shrimp or something. Is the stuff they sell at the nutrition stores the same? Also I was wondering about Daphnia; at what age do you thing that would be an option? I’m having a hard time finding anything to feed the fry, I dont know why but the only thing I’m really finding is Hikari First Bites and I’d Like to get them on live food as soon as possible as everyone seems to agree that makes them grow faster/ healthier.

Thanks!

Ben

@wirralbull wrote:

…temp is 23/24 in the day but goes down to 18/19 over night. is that too cool.

My CPD’s spawn the best for me when the tank temperatures are in the upper 60’s to low 70’s F, (20-22C).

Dennis

@BallAquatics wrote:

There are probably as many ways to spawn these fish as there are hobbyists spawning them. Over the past several years this is the method I’ve been using…

I put 2 males and 3 or 4 females into a 5.5 US gallon tank. The tank is unheated and has a small sponge filter with just a bit of water movement. I use a generous portion of Java or Christmas moss as a spawning site, the moss takes up around 1/4 of the tank volume and I push it down so it is in contact with the bottom of the tank. I have used bare bottom tanks and tanks with gravel substrate with equal success.

I leave these adults in the breeding set-up for 7 days feeding live foods the entire week. At the end of the week, I remove the adults into another breeder set-up and wait for fry to appear. Depending on the age and condition of your brood stock you can expect anywhere from 15 to well over 100 fry in the next couple of weeks.

I feed my fry green water and 5-50 micron sized Golden Pearls prepared food for the first week to 10 days. After that they move on to micro worms for another week to 10 days and finally on to baby brine shrimp. I normally leave the fry in the breeder set-up for the first 30 days doing daily water changes. At the end of 30 days I move groups of 65 fry into 20 US gallon long tanks for the grow-out process.

With quality water and food your fry will be sexually mature at around 12 weeks of age. I like to keep my water parameters around neutral pH 6.8 – 7.2 and hardness around 8 dH, but I don’t fuss with it too much. These fish are very hardy and will spawn under a variety of conditions.

I use essentially this method. I’ll transfer 5 or 6 fish into a tank with lots of moss and other plants (and often red cherry shrimp, BTW) and transfer them out up to a week later. I don’t necessarily feed them live food, however, which may explain why I don’t end up with as many babies as Dennis.

After the adults are removed, babies appear a few days later. Be patient.

Like Dennis, I feed them infusoria, microworms, and the smallest size of Golden Pearls. After a couple of months, the babies are big enough to avoid being eaten by adults, and I transfer them to another tank and start the process over.

@mostlydave wrote:

Would mind describing your 20 gallon grow out tanks? What do you use for filtration, lighting and canopies?

They are very basic set-ups, with one or two sponge filters and some black gravel for substrate. I always have some live plants, vals, moss, crypts, etc. For lighting I use DIY canopies with daylight CF bulbs.

Here’s a short video showing some fish in one of the grow-out tanks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7qOdGTKfYo&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Here’s a link on my DIY lighting.
http://arizonainverts.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2113

@mostlydave wrote:

Is there any significant advantage to using long tanks as opposed to regular?

There are several advantages to long tanks. They provide more surface area for a given volume of water. As CPD’s typically occupy the bottom area of the tank, width as opposed to vertical height is a good thing too. With the extra width, I think you can house more fish in the same volume of water without making them feel crowded.

Dennis

Best of luck with your project Dave! I’ll be watching your thread for updates.

Dennis