Tropical Fish Farming

2023 Author: Molly Page | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 22:49

Sooner or later, every aquarist will want to breed their fish. It doesn't matter what the reason you are going to do this, but you will need a clear plan, time and additional aquariums. Below we outline the steps that will help you achieve your goal.

Viviparous fish

Our first acquaintance with young animals usually occurs through the fault of viviparous fish - guppies, mollies and swordtails are excellent examples of viviparous fish. The fry of these fish are very easy to raise. If you do not have a separate aquarium for fry, use a baby jar, you can buy it at any pet store. These plastic or mesh containers attach to the wall or float freely in the aquarium. The pregnant female is placed in a jig, and after the fry are born, the female is released back into the aquarium. Place a sprig of grass or other plants in the jar so the fry can hide and feel safe.

The fry can be fed with special food for fry or with regular flakes, ground into powder. The frequency of feeding is 4-6 times a day. After 4-6 weeks, the fry will grow up enough, and they can be released into the general aquarium, but it is better to use a separate "children's" aquarium for growing the young. For these purposes, a 15-60 l aquarium with a mechanical filtration system and a sponge, as well as with a bare bottom, is quite suitable. A bottom without soil will allow you to see the leftover food and easily clean it up with the dirt cleaner. Use plastic weighted plants to provide shelter for the young.

Oviparous fish

Our first encounter with oviparous fish usually occurs when we meet cichlids. The first sign that eggs have been laid may be a pile of soil dug out from under the rock and a couple of fish chasing anyone who swims close. Females usually have a bright red abdomen and are much smaller than males. The eggs usually lie on the rocks and the fry will hatch in about 3-5 days. Then the fry will be in the larval stage for a couple of days. During these days, you may notice that the parents gather their offspring by mouth and carry them from place to place. This is not unusual, so the parents are looking for a safer place for the fry. After the fry begin to swim on their own, the parents will make every effort to prevent them from scattering.

Again, if you want to purposefully breed fish, you must move the roe rock to a separate tank. The new tank needs to be filled with water from your main tank. Do not allow fresh air to get on the stone or caviar - use a sealed plastic bag filled with water during transportation. You can feed the fry with flakes crushed into dust or special feed.

Other oviparous - African cichlids can be housed in a species aquarium, often with excellent results. Yulidochromis and neolampologus can be placed in tanks with a capacity of 60-160 liters. You will need to place lots of rocks and rocks in the tank to provide cover for the spawning pair. It is best to start with at least 6 fish so they can pair up. The breeding pair will choose a shelter and hide for about 10-14 days, and then, suddenly, a cloud of small cichlids will appear in front of your eyes. Unlike other cichlids, African cichlids will not attack young animals, and soon your tank will be filled with fish of different generations.

Therefore, check what kind of cichlids you have, create the necessary conditions for them, and then sit back and enjoy your fish.

Fish Sergeant Major (Abudefduf Saxatilis)

Fish incubating eggs in the mouth

The next step in the complexity of fish farming, perhaps, will be cichlids, incubating eggs in the mouth. The main problem here is to prevent the males from killing the females and to provide the fish with a large enough aquarium where they can reproduce without problems. If we are already serious about African cichlids, then your task is to provide a sufficient number of shelters for the females in the aquarium. It is best to use PVC tubing that is suitable for females but too small for males. If the aesthetic moment is important to you, then you can easily stretch the PVC pipes along the bottom of the aquarium and sprinkle them with soil and sand in order to give a more natural look. You can also use epoxy and glue small stones to the tube to make it more irregular.

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Most of these fish require several females for each male. And usually there is only one male in the aquarium. After breeding, the female will hatch eggs in her mouth for 2 weeks. It will be most convenient to catch the female and put her in a separate aquarium about a week after spawning. If, while carrying, the female drops the cubs, she will collect them back into her mouth. During this period, females usually refuse to eat, although some of them manage to eat with fry in their mouths. Again, a bare bottom aquarium will help you clean up excess feed, but the soil will make the female feel "at home." Use PVC tubing and plastic plants to achieve this.

As soon as the female has released the fry, you should transplant her back to the general aquarium and feed her well for 1-2 weeks. This will help her recover from the forced hunger strike while carrying the fry. As a result, the cycle will repeat itself. The fry can now feed on bottom food. Frequent water changes will help the cubs grow faster.

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