I'm going to set-up a tank for livebearer breeders to supply me with tasty little fry for my big guys. What is the best to use: mosquitofish, mollies, or swordtails? Or is at just a matter of preference? Which species has the biggest upon delivery fry? The setup will be one male and a small harem of females in a twelve to twenty gallon tank.
Live food breeding
Started by
Guest_catfish_hunter_*
, Oct 07 2009 09:24 PM
11 replies to this topic
#2
Guest_jblaylock_*
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Posted 08 October 2009 - 09:07 AM
I haven't done a lot of dedicated breeding, but I once had 2 Platys in a 10gal and they bred to no end. I had them for a while and they didn't breed, one day I added a small piece of driftwood and then they went crazy, I had babies all over the place.
#3
Guest_gzeiger_*
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Posted 08 October 2009 - 12:26 PM
Mosquitofish fry are comparable in size to guppies. Both are enthusiastically cannibalistic and will require quite a bit of vigilance on your part to save enough fry to be useful. In my experience a 20 gallon tank will be too small to save a significant amount of Gambusia fry if you have several adults.
Molly fry are slightly larger, easier to care for and I've seen no significant cannibalism. Depending on what your "big guys" are, some strains of swordtails may get large enough that you could just keep the adults in the main tank where they would provide snacks at random intervals.
If you can set up multiple tanks though, I really recommend convict cichlids over any species of livebearer. I've been keeping a pair in a 20 gallon for a couple months now. They are egg layers and their fry are quite a bit smaller, but they spawn at very regular intervals and produce much larger broods. My pair are fairly young, only about 2" right now, and they give me about a hundred babies every two weeks. The fry do need to be raised separately from the parents until they're big enough to be good feeders. That can be 4-8 weeks depending how big you need them to be. By 2 weeks they're bigger than newborn livebearers though. The parents are extremely undemanding and will spawn without any conditioning.
Molly fry are slightly larger, easier to care for and I've seen no significant cannibalism. Depending on what your "big guys" are, some strains of swordtails may get large enough that you could just keep the adults in the main tank where they would provide snacks at random intervals.
If you can set up multiple tanks though, I really recommend convict cichlids over any species of livebearer. I've been keeping a pair in a 20 gallon for a couple months now. They are egg layers and their fry are quite a bit smaller, but they spawn at very regular intervals and produce much larger broods. My pair are fairly young, only about 2" right now, and they give me about a hundred babies every two weeks. The fry do need to be raised separately from the parents until they're big enough to be good feeders. That can be 4-8 weeks depending how big you need them to be. By 2 weeks they're bigger than newborn livebearers though. The parents are extremely undemanding and will spawn without any conditioning.
#4
Guest_UncleWillie_*
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Posted 08 October 2009 - 12:37 PM
I will second everything that gzeiger said. I have used Gambusia before, but the numbers are are probably not going to be what you want (depending on your fish). I have used sailfin mollies and Gambusia in a similar fashion as gzeiger said - I have kept a male and a few females in the actual tank where other fish are. When they drop their fry, they are quickly eaten with 2 days. This is great for the occasional spike in live snacks. But if you are wanting to control when and what size fish they eat, you must raise in a different tank.
I have never had cichlids, but it sounds like the way to go.
I have never had cichlids, but it sounds like the way to go.
#6
Guest_gzeiger_*
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Posted 09 October 2009 - 08:53 AM
They can get up to six inches, with females typically a little smaller, but they are consistently reported to be ready to breed as small as 1.5 inches.
They like to breed in caves, so the optimal setup includes something like a flowerpot or cup turned on its side. Then, when you have eggs or larvae, you can just set it upright and remove the whole nest to the growout tank.
They like to breed in caves, so the optimal setup includes something like a flowerpot or cup turned on its side. Then, when you have eggs or larvae, you can just set it upright and remove the whole nest to the growout tank.
#7
Guest_fishlvr_*
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Posted 14 November 2009 - 12:39 PM
I think convicts are a good choice for the most part, but I've heard instances where they will lodge their spines in the predator fish's throat, resulting in death of both fish. I have never had this happen, but the possibility is there.
#9
Guest_fishkeeper1_*
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Posted 24 May 2010 - 05:32 PM
Fathead Minnows-
Reach 2-4"
Breed MaD fast
VERY Hardy
Mollies-
4-6"
Breed fast
Hardy
Gambuse-
Breed Fast
VERY Hardy
Get a Rubbermaid Tub in 100-300 gallons. Get it at a tractorsupply shop or used on craigslist for cheap. You can rasie a TON of forage for your fat cats
P.S. I would get fathead minnows for the tub, but thats just me.
Reach 2-4"
Breed MaD fast
VERY Hardy
Mollies-
4-6"
Breed fast
Hardy
Gambuse-
Breed Fast
VERY Hardy
Get a Rubbermaid Tub in 100-300 gallons. Get it at a tractorsupply shop or used on craigslist for cheap. You can rasie a TON of forage for your fat cats
P.S. I would get fathead minnows for the tub, but thats just me.
#10
Guest_JamesH_*
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Posted 30 May 2010 - 10:57 PM
I think that I would go with Mollies over the other options that you offered. They tend to have large clutches of fry when the drop. You should be able to get some nice already prego females from any fish store and get a nice group going that way.
I would second the suggestion on the Rubbermaid tub. Get some hornwort or other aquatic plant, put in like three males and ten females and you should have more young then you know what todo with in a month or so. I do that with my swordtails and many of my killifish and when I break down the tubs in the fall I have more fry then I know what to do with.
I would second the suggestion on the Rubbermaid tub. Get some hornwort or other aquatic plant, put in like three males and ten females and you should have more young then you know what todo with in a month or so. I do that with my swordtails and many of my killifish and when I break down the tubs in the fall I have more fry then I know what to do with.
#11
Guest_gzeiger_*
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Posted 31 May 2010 - 04:41 AM
If you have the space, an inflatable kid's wading pool is a great way to breed fish outdoors (down south where it's warm enough). I put a pair of gravid Gambusia, both females, in my pool outside. I haven't fed them in a month, but now I have dozens of babies at least in two distinct cohorts. Lots of little invertebrates swarming about.
#12
Guest_mikez_*
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Posted 31 May 2010 - 09:37 AM
Unless you go with the big tub pond, I doubt you'll ever achieve more than supplement levels.
I've bred all the mainstream livebearers and still breed sailfin mollies and although I always have enough to keep the colony going, I rarely have so many fry about that I use them for feeders.
I believe, IMO, fathead would be the choice in a commercial volume project. Correct?
I've bred all the mainstream livebearers and still breed sailfin mollies and although I always have enough to keep the colony going, I rarely have so many fry about that I use them for feeders.
I believe, IMO, fathead would be the choice in a commercial volume project. Correct?
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