Newbie Questions…

[Lissa]

I’ve recently become the new owner of a group of six CPD (3 male, 3 female). I work at a local LFS, and one of our fish suppliers brought them in instead of the Harlequin Rasboras we’d wanted; oops! Well, I didn’t want them going to someone who wouldn’t appreciate them, so I set up a tank for them myself, and they are living quite happily in my bedroom.

Here’s the set up:

10g tank
I ended up cycling it for four weeks (I borrowed one of my many bettas), as I couldn’t get my hand on mature filter media, and I didn’t want to take any from work (ew). It’s also divided; about 1/4 of it is reserved for the fry. I know that’s not a lot of room, but I’m not looking to breed four million babies, and I am willing to make as many water changes as required.

Substrate: Flourite (regular red)
Temperature: 23C
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 32 ppm (I usually change the water when it reaches 40 ppm)
Filter: Whisper Canister 10-15g (I’m very cheap), with added sponge behind the filter cartridge for greater surface area for bacteria.
Plants:
Val. Corkscrew (very tiny one, so far)
Acorus
Java Fern
Crypt. Wendtii (bronze var.) x2
Plants I will be adding this week:
Java moss
Barclaya longifolia
Watersprite
Water Lettuce or Giant Duckweed (I haven’t made up my mind yet)
Light: 6500K Fluorescent
Food: New Life Spectrum Small FIsh, Hikari Mini Pellets, SFBB Variety Pack Frozen Food. Tthey really like the bloodworms- I chop them up very fine- and the cyclops. Two of my males really like blanched broccoli, as well (I was curious, lol); it is okay for them in tiny amounts?

I’m fertilizing with Seachem Flourish. So far my CO2 is fine, but with so many plants, I may set up an injector later.

Now, I have a few questions. Should I attempt to spawn the fish in the part of the tank I want to stick the fry, or just let them go at it in the larger portion and siphon later? If I leave them be, should I siphon the eggs out, or just the free swimmers? Should the Java moss be in a big clump, or spread out in a carpet?

Should I see if someone is willing to trade me a female for one of my males? Wouldn’t a better breeding ratio be 2m:4fm?

And, how in the world do I tell when a female is ready to spawn?

I’ve only bred guppies before (which was almost embarrassing, because I never had to do anything special), so most of this is new to me. I know these questions have probably been asked a million times before, but I’m having a hard time fining the answers on this forum. That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it!

[BallAquatics]

Hi Lissa, welcome to the forum!

@Lissa wrote:

Should the Java moss be in a big clump, or spread out in a carpet?

And, how in the world do I tell when a female is ready to spawn?

Your tank setup sounds fine.

You want the moss to be arranged so they can burrow into it. I usually just keep mine in a very large ball, about 1/4 of the tank.

You’ll notice your girls being chubby. It’s kind of hard to explain, but they will look well rounded when compared to the males.

I never had much luck raising any fry until I put a trio into a completely overgrown 10 gallon tank. They are easy fish to get to spawn, but they will eat the eggs and the fry almost as quick as they produce them.

I just started a tank with guppy grass floating above java moss that takes up one half of the tank. I’m hoping the fry will stay on the planted side until I can remove them.

Also, I always move the fry into a grow-out tank that is full of java moss. Simply catch them in a small cup, I use an empty yogurt cup. They are very fragile and don’t take well to netting.

Hope this helps, and good luck with your breeding project!

Dennis

[Lissa]

Thank you so much for your advice!

I have a bit of time yet, before my tank is “overgrown”; most of the plants I could find were tiny babies. And I’m having trouble finding Java Moss; no one in my city seems to be carrying it right now. Oh, well, I’ll find some eventually!

Thank you again!

[Author]

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