livebearer_breeder

It can be really frustrating! I picked up some beautiful wild colored lyre tail swordtails over a year ago that i was keen to breed, Within a couple months the males were useless, as there gonopodiums grew to long to be useful, but they were pretty so i kept them, grew the females out and got some pineapple swords to hopefully packet the females, the males (and females) were genetically weak and eventually karked it, i only have one female left to this day, and she is a giant, she gets huge, you would expect hundreds of fry, but she only ever once produced 9 babys, every four- five weeks shes skinny again but never any fry. I grew the 9 babys out, 2 males the rest females, none of them where fertile, so gave them away. Pineapple swordy males still going hard though. The wild types originally came from a friend who had, had the same stock of swordtails breeding over in the same large tank for over 8 years! She said she used to get hundreds every month in the beginning and how she would give them away to other hobbyists, but now she only gets one or two fry every now and then and that 50% are deformed. This is the result of inbreeding and is becoming more and more common

I wouldn't turn the filter off, your just asking for trouble, you need another small glass tank, put them next to each other, separate the male from females, leave the females in your current, get a gentle bubble filter, about $13 off trademe and put it in the new one, the male should go in here so he can see and flash to the females and build a successful nest, separation gives you time to fatten the females up with high quality foods. When you think hes done a good job and the females display vertical bands and are nice and fat with eggs, you know they are ready, place the females in the males tank and put on some Barry white, maybe close the curtains, give them some privacy, ya never know :slfg:

got heaps of indian fern that anyone is welcome too, it just re grows

wow, one killie i never owned, on the want list

Whats the filtration like? he will need still ish water to build a proper nest

im over 6f btw and my shoes are mens 12, jedi's a big lil boy

Doesnt really show him well but this was taken last night when they were cuddling together, but as soon as jedi saw the camera he moved! jerk! was super cute, he is a half german shepherd half rotti

The breeder didnt like them lol, hes has show dogs, so i was more than happy to take him, when hes running around with Jedi my other dog, it almost looks like he can take off, his ears are much bigger and flapier (is that a word?) now. I will find a photo of them both

Dogs are the best This is Titan, hes a pure bred welsh corgi that i got cheap because he has over sized ears 8) Hes a bit bigger now

With fish like this the only thing you can do is supply them with optimum conditions, make sure there are various males that can supply fertile packets, then wait and watch. Every month they will re fertilize, this means a new chance for potential life, sometimes it may fail, other times you may get one or two viable fry, other times more. The issue then becomes, how fertile are the fry? this is where outcrossing is neccesary.

animates and the pet centre are right next to each other in lower hutt and last week neither of them had anything like that, mainly just big hunks, i want like a sawn off root system to make a spawning area with moss

Dammit i want driftwood like that, wish our beaches were better stocked, its the missing link in my tank

Something also to be aware of is that on the occasion a female livebearing fish can choose to re absorb her fry. Also and especially with guppys, sometimes something has gone wrong as the guppy has growen (genetically) and it is actually unable to release or fully gestitate the fry, so gets heavy and then re absorbs, not by choice, but threw nessecity (sp?) This can be a result of poor outcrossing which has left a genetic blunder as far as breeding potency is concerned and can be seen in but not limited to, a lot of albino livebearers. There are two sure fire ways to increase fry drops, regularity of these drops and health of the fish. IMO NEVER use a breeding trap unless you want to increase your chances of loseing your breeding fish. Have plenty of floating water sprite and well fed fish and you should be fine depending on specie your stocking. Firstly as already stated, plenty of high qaulity foods, live foods are the best, and through previous dealings i would say specifically, white worms and baby brine shrimp. Secondly as also previously stated, its all down to your conditions! Plenty of clean fresh water, smaller but more regular water changes, and when it finally comes time that she looks so huge shes going to pop, increase the water temp by a couple degress, then do a large water change and leave over night. Livebearering fish will often release there fry over night and the ignition for this can be the large tempreture swing. When your fish does release, record the date, expect fish in optimal condition to release a good amount of fry if mature every 4 weeks, at the lastest 6 weeks, sometimes it depends on the specie aswell.

where are you from, my friend wants to buy an oscar

Would be good to get some good bettas breeding again in wellington

be cool if your account was for the doggy though, i wish my dogs could talk almost everyday

lol Iras just pulling your leg! :sml1: good stuff, glad theres atleast one other person my age keeping fish in wellywood, Ive manage to get a couple of my mates into it but its a slow process :thup:

Ira are you seriously 50? I doubt it.. :sage: Im 21 and male :happy2:

Platys are cheaper and tougher and can start producing decent batches quite early Mollies are a bit more sensative, they can grow a lot bigger though, sometimes this means bigger fry, sometimes it means a LOT more fry, depends on the fish.

can i ask where you got the driftwood from?

Its hard to get rid of once you have it, some fish will eat it

Don't they pick up?

NOT THE JULIIS!

The price tag on that is not cool lol

mossy fish are illegal to keep and breed im pretty sure, your only aloud to have them if your going to kill them straight away. Leapord fish would do well but dont breed in big numbers WCMM could do, im not sure they are a good feeder fish but you can also get the golden variety, they require no heating or filtration if left outside. Takes time to establish a breeding colony though. IMO get 2 cheap 300w heaters of TM for $20-30ea and start breeding huge amounts of livebearers! Why not just the standard comet gold fish? They can lay HEAPS of eggs, little gold fish are good feeders. Slow growing though