# Medium difficulty to breed fish



## pillowfighter (May 29, 2010)

I have a 10gal tank and in the past i have bred guppies. I want to breed another kind of fish, but not common live bearers such as sword tails and mollies. These fish must fit in my 10 gal and hopefully will not eat their young.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

Kribensis


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

Try an apisto pair maybe? You'll need a divider given the tiny tank to seperate male and female when not attempting a spawn IMO.


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

I've actually been wondering the same thing, I have a spare 10G tank in my room that I want to breed something in but I don't know what. Right now, there's a tequila guppy and a few red cherries with 2 preggers in there.

Apistos look cool, how often do they breed? How much do they sell for at the LFS?


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

White Cloud Mountain Minnows are fairly easy, and don't require a heated tank.


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

Apisto breeding frequency comes down more to your skill in keeping them. They run anywhere from $10-50 each.


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

How difficult are killifish to breed?


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

The spawning is pretty well guaranteed with a lot of species. Amphyosemion australe, for example, all you have to do is maintain quality water and good food and they will spawn often. Using the 'mop method' or a similar method, you can easily spawn them. (Google killifish mop)


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

Which species is this?

http://www.nbrooksdesign.co.uk/Aqua Life web site/images/noth_rachovi.jpg

How much do they cost and where could I get some? They look like saltwater fish. xD

I've heard of dry killifish eggs, could you shed some insight on this?


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

No idea, probably from Frank though, and no idea. 
Call Frank's Aquarium. He breeds Killis privately.


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Best as I can tell that killie in the pic is a notho and therefore an annual killie. The annuals are a little more work than most people are willing/able to do. Unfortunately, outside of Franks there isn't a good place to get killies in this city and franks is small and can only carry so many types. Most of the really cool varieties you wont see outside of Europe, Germany in particular.

Also, apistos are probably an easy to breed fish in the grand scale of things. If you are looking for a bit of a challenge, try an intermediate egg scatterer or something. Cichlid breeding isn't really a badge of honor, they kind of do it themselves.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

I don't breed fish....they do it themselves.


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

There are some Aphyosemion spp that can maintain a population in a 10 gallon tank. The older fry will eat some of the younger fry, but you'll have a steady-to-increasing population of fish. You need a lot cover, like java moss and guppy grass for the adults to lay in and the fry to hide in. Or you can put in a spawning mop made of acrylic yarn, let the adults lay eggs in it for a week or so, then take it out and hatch the fry separately.

Killifish eggs usually take at least 2 weeks to hatch, although for some species it can take months. You can buy eggs and have them mailed to you. One source is the auction at aquabid.com. Take into account shipping charges. You can find just about any killifish species in captivity there. Note that your results from mailed eggs can be quite variable, however. Last fall I bought four packets of eggs. One arrived with 100% dead ready-to-hatch embryos. One produced no fry despite repeated efforts. One gave me 45 nice big healthy fish -- all females. The last gave me a few pairs of Nothobranchius foerschi from which I'm now collecting eggs. Or I think I am. I see the females fill up, the males spawn with them, and collect the peat. I can't see the eggs, but have to wait 3 months to try hatching them, so time will tell....

At any rate, for some other interesting but not too common fish that will do well and even breed in a 10 gallon tank:

(1) unusual small livebearers. I have some Heterandria formosa, native to the southern US. The females get to about 1 1/4" (~3cm) and the males are 3/4" (~2cm). These tiny fish produce one or two fry every few days, and don't eat them.

Endler's livebearers would also make a pretty little colony in a 10 gallon tank.

(2) bumblebee gobies or peacock gudgeons. The males spawn in caves like bamboo tubes and protect the eggs (but not the fry).

(3) pea puffers. IIRC, a pair will get along with each other, and spawn. They aren't fast enough to catch their own fry, especially if there's plenty of plants like java moss for them to hide in.

(4) Badis spp. I like to have a go at this one day.

(5) smaller gouramis and other labyrinth fish -- species bettas, Trichopsis gouramis, etc.

(6) small cichlids. One idea is a Lake Tanganyika shelldweller. There are many species, and they have different habits. Some pair bond and some are harem breeders. Some, like N.multifasciatus, form colonies of pairs that pull their shells together into a group.

Presently I have a ridiculous number of Julidochromis malieri Gombe (also known as J.transcriptus Gombe) in a 10 gallon tank. I was given 5 juveniles and just dropped them in there until I could find better place. They have bred like crazy and I have dozens of fish of all sizes up to adult in the tank. In complete contradication to their native habitat, the tank is stuffed with guppy grass (Najas guadalupensis) which seems to keep territoriality to a minimum since the fish can hardly see, much less chase, each other. It also seems to keep the water quality in great shape considering the massive overcrowding and demand of these fish for good water. NB: I am not recommending this "method" to anybody. And if anyone would like to buy or trade for some of these fish, let me know.

Hope these ideas help!


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