How do you breed yours?

[Tom2006]

I have a 45 litre tank which is full of java moss and nice and mature. I’ve just got five CPDs (which are quite expensive in these parts). I hope to breed them to increase the numbers of these beautiful fish for my display tank. What parameters do you guys keep yours at please? Temp GH PH etc? Also what do you feed them on.

My fish are around 1″ in length so I just crush tetra pro crisps which they seem to like. They are very timid though.

In the long run would I be better with another small tank to try and breed them in i.e. to add a pair to spawn and then remove them to allow the eggs to hatch and grow?

[chr15_8]

When i was breeding mine i use to feed them on live daphina. I dont have a clue about the water parameter as i used what ever came out the tap. if i remember rightly they prefer a lower temperature than most tropical fish.

I have heard that a cool water change can help the towards spawning if they look ready,

if you have the space i would set up another tank so when they spawn as it will will alot easier to gather the fry.

[Tom2006]

I’m keeping mine at 25-26C and they seem to like it. I do have a couple of other tanks but they have fish big enough to eat the fry and in some cases probably a small adult. :shock: I’ve seen a nice small nano (about 20l) might try and sneak that in somewhere as a spawning tank and move the adults back to their current tank when they are done.

[BallAquatics]

I’ve got 3 groups that spawn regularly. They are notorious for eating the eggs/fry.

If you’re interested I can elaborate on how I set them up.

Dennis

[Tom2006]

I am VERY interested. I’ve fallen for these little guys, would love to get them breeding and into a nice large shoal.

[BallAquatics]

@Tom2006 wrote:

I am VERY interested. I’ve fallen for these little guys, would love to get them breeding and into a nice large shoal.

Ok, here’s the first set-up I used to spawn these little beauties.

I use a 10 gallon tank with java moss covering about 1/2 of the bottom of the tank. The moss is probably 3 or 4 inches thick top to bottom.

The top of the tank had a thick covering of java/guppy grass. About 3 or 4 inch thick covering the complete surface of the water.

I use trios of breeders with 1 male & 2 females. It’s been my experience, that if you have more fish in the tank, those that are not engaged in the spawning activity are engaged in eating the eggs as fast as they are produced.

In 2 weeks or less you should start seeing fry at the surface. I use a plastic container to collect the fry, it’s a single serving old yogurt cup. They are very fragile and don’t deal well with being netted at this young age. With a little practice, you can get 10 or 12 fry in the plastic cup and then transfer them to a “grow out” tank.

The fry are tiny! Get a bucket and fill it about 2/3 full of old tank water. Add a small hand full of grass clippings and in 3 or 4 days you will have a supply of green water to feed the new fry. Be sure to start this before you have fry! I usually give them 3 or 4 cups of green water per day. In about a week they can start eating golden pearls or powdered flake foods along with the green water.

Good luck with your breeding project & have fun!

Dennis

[Tom2006]

Thanks Dennis….spot on just what I was after. Can’t beat hearing how others have done it. Will report back if and when I succeed!

[BallAquatics]

Hey Tom, you’re very welcome!

One thing I left out, put your green water bucket outside so that it gets lots of sunshine.

Dennis

[Tom2006]

Thanks…thats good to hear, not sure if the wife would have allowed it inside anyway. lol

[AquaGirl]

Two questions I need to ask.

Do your remove the trio from the tank? I assume that you don’t since you remove the fry. Also….did you ever hear of using dehydrated split green peas to make green water?

Someone told me it is something that a Killie breeder does to create green water, just wondering if it will work?

Thanks in advance!

[BallAquatics]

@AquaGirl wrote:

Two questions I need to ask.

Do your remove the trio from the tank? I assume that you don’t since you remove the fry. Also….did you ever hear of using dehydrated split green peas to make green water?

Someone told me it is something that a Killie breeder does to create green water, just wondering if it will work?

Thanks in advance!

My post above is about 18 months old and I have seriously modified my breeding set-ups since then.

The absolute easiest way to increase your population without using multiple tanks and moving fish around is to use the egg trap.

I set-up two 5 gallon tanks, one with dark substrate and one with a bare bottom. In the bare bottom tank add a large portion of moss, java, christmas, etc.

I put 2 males / 4 females into the tank with the substrate and place the egg trap in with them. Now when you first set them up, it may take a bit for them to settle in and start producing eggs.

When you see eggs in the trap simply remove the trap and dump the eggs into the moss in the bare bottom tank. Once the fish are settled, if your breeders are young and healthy they should produce eggs on a regular basis.

Over the course of 2 or 3 weeks you should have enough fry to fill your 5 gallon fry tank. If you want more fry, start another tank.

Any of the info above can be changed around and still get good results… different ratio of M/F, different tank sizes, etc.

As for the green water, I’ve never heard of using split green peas. :lol: :lol:

I’ve started purchasing pure spirulina algae powder. It works for fry, daphnia and anything else that you would need green water for. Just a tiny amount mixed with 20 ml of water goes a long way.

Dennis

[AquaGirl]

Thanks for the updated information Dennis. I appreciate you help and advice. It sounds like a uncomplicated method to keep the parents from eating the fry and keeps me from worrying about moving the adults to different tanks.

I’ll let you know if the dry peas work. :lol:

[snail]

In this thread Monica says how she breeds her fish, she seems successful breeding in large numbers for those interested:
http://www.celestialpearldanio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=855
she says:

On my attick i have 12 tanks in different sises, not nice to look at, but functional.
I always take 5 well fed fish, 2 female’s and 3 males (the alfa’s), and i put them in a tank with java moos , and very much plants.
The waterlevel is only 25/30 cm, no filter, only a airstone (is that the right word?)
In the time they are in the breeding tank, i feed them with live food like brine shrimp, and red muscito larve (the black one’s stay to high by the waterlevel, and so do the white one’s to).
That on a dayly base.
These fish aet mostely from the bottom off the tank while spawning.
Feeding them while spawning prefent them from aeting most of the eggs and fry.
The fry that make it to the watersurvase wil therefore survive

After 5 til 7 days i take my 5 fish out the tank and than i wait.
My newest experiment is breeding in a bucket…that also works fine, and is a nice low budget solution

The biggest spawn i had was over 180 fry from 5 fish in 5 days….yes i’m addicted

Here a few pics, sorry for the bad quality, its a simple camera, and i’m not so good in making pictures

This is a 80 cm tank and in these tank are 240, 8 and 10 week old fry on the picture aeting brine shrimp.

An ugly photo, but these where the 180+ fry, from 1 single spawn.

[mack]

excellent info dennis thanks :wink:

i wil start to try a breeding program with my fish,using some of the above advice

although space is very limited,to start i plan to use a bredding trap/hatchery in my main tank,and use the moss in that to start with

as for the green water i use spirulina in my home made mixes for my discus (seperate tank to the c.p.d),i would have thought it would be too strong & rich for fry,unless diluted in miniscule amounts

i have succuessfully used old iceberg lettuce heads in my green water,just squash it down,mix with mature tank water and add sunlight :wink:

i’ll lwt you all know if i have any joy with the c.p.d & how i did it

[Author]

Posts