Fishkeepa Posted November 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 I think one of my dwarf boys is building a bubble nest - him and the other male have been quarrelling a bit but the other male is swimming sideways around a female under his patch of uprooted hair grass. Because these two fish are brother and sister should i let them try to breed. From what Zev said they were the first generation so will it be okay. I may even move them into another tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 letting them breed is up to you remember inbreeding (even if its only first generation) is weakening that specific line of fish to some degree- this is why alot of the colour strains and morphs are weaker than normal. its not too hard to find a healthy unrelated fish to breed from Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 I really can't understand that statement Sharn when you take into consideration that some killifish species live in their own small area, so therefore inbreeding all the time. Laying their eggs into the bottom of the pond then it drying out, raining and the eggs hatch, and then the siblings going for it all over again. Maybe in such a small environment of an aquarium that problem could arise. Alan 104 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 have a look at the newer strains of discus- they are often alot weaker because they have been heavily inbreed to bring out the nicest roundest fish that have the desired colours. another example of inbreeding problems is rams- they are so weak these days especially the golds. inbreeding might not effect killies as much but it effects alot of other species including other animals (dogs etc) in the long run if it is done too much. first generation inbreeding isnt gonna do all that much but when those babies get inbred and then those babies get inbred- well you get the picture :lol: people often purchase stock out of the same tank at the shop which means they often come from the same place and are siblings. i can understand when people that keep rarer fish get really excited about new blood lines coming into the country cause its helping keep the species strong. unless you are line breeding for colours, morphs etc there isnt really any reason to inbreed IMO. sorry fishkeepa for hijacking- your fish are your fish and you are totally entitiled to do with them as you wish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishkeepa Posted November 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2006 its all good sharn I think i may have to do sumthing about this as i have exams comming up in two or three weeks time. I can let them breed then if they still want to is it best to just remove the nest by shaking the floating stuff away or by removing the whole structure at once. No doubt hell just go build another one :-? What would the babies eat anyways? would they take crumbled flake or would they need microworms or something? Thanks for the help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted November 8, 2006 Report Share Posted November 8, 2006 Move the whole nest, scoop it out with a plastic container and float the container in the other tank. I used a Gladware see through one that takes about 500ml of water. Fed them Liquifry No.1 for egglayers to get the infusoria going, but don't give them too much of this if you leave them in the little container, it fouls the water quickly. See if you can get them some Riccia to float on top, this will help with somewhere for them to hide and can house lots of critters for them to eat. When they are a bit bigger they like baby brine shrimp (BBS), which you will have to hatch yourself. I just used a couple of 500ml jars and punched two holes in the lid and fed an airline into one hole, put an airstone on the end and sat this in the brine mix, let the air vent out of the other hole. Used Sanfrancisco brine shrimp packs for a while, but had a better hatch rate with JBL Novotemia. I just sat these jars in the spare side of my divided fry tank with water and the heater in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becc4 Posted November 8, 2006 Report Share Posted November 8, 2006 Let em breed I say! I had 3 males with nests in one of my community tanks. I found the easiest way was to lift a container up from underneath the bubble nest. The first time I did it too early and the nest fell apart becsue I didn't include the male to keep adding bubbles. 2nd time I had fry, but lost em. Since I have moved the gourami into a asian species tank they have not built a nest. About the inbreeding - what I think, if you have healthy strong fish then offspring may not have any inbreed illness/defects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishkeepa Posted November 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 the male gourami appears to be popping the bubbles does this mean that there is too much stress on him from other fish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becc4 Posted November 9, 2006 Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 the male gourami appears to be popping the bubbles does this mean that there is too much stress on him from other fish? I'm not sure. My males whose nests weren't used, kept defending them even though they were breaking apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishkeepa Posted November 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 he is still defending if but not quite as aggressive After exams i will set up a nice quiet tank for him to build a next in with a female Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becc4 Posted November 10, 2006 Report Share Posted November 10, 2006 Heres a site I found when my lot were going at it...had some interesting bits. http://www.gourami-breeding.co.uk/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishkeepa Posted November 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2006 I dont think they are a year old yet like that site reccommends Maybe they just werent ready The male has pretty much destoyed the nest now anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becc4 Posted November 10, 2006 Report Share Posted November 10, 2006 practice makes perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishkeepa Posted November 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2006 Betta has suffered lately from the territorial gouramis i think. There are a few tears in his fins. I have increased the surface agitation so it would be hard to build bubble nests on. I also went to animates and picked up 8 Harlequin rasboras. I have moved the Danios into my other tank (70L). They were $5.40 and the 2 for 1 special applied. I noticed they had bumped up the prices. Bettas were going for 17 instead of 15 but I noticed guppies (1-2cm) were going at $12!!!! (usually 6 from what ive seen) So it wasnt really a buy one get one free on those. :lol: Thanks for your help on the gouramis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimTam22 Posted November 12, 2006 Report Share Posted November 12, 2006 and some of the platties had fin rot and most were clamping there fins and didn't look good at all. So i brought plants instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishkeepa Posted November 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2006 yeah its sad that. I saw a tank full of white spot oand one with a number of dead bodies of fish in it. The harlequins look great and are hanging in a nice school Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishkeepa Posted November 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 the male has decided to build another nest and this time its pretty stable. But im unsure of how to tell when there are eggs in it. I have seen the female under there but havent seen any egg laying she is ussually chased away before too long. Any thoughts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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