Fish for duckies!

[featherfinder]

My ducks love thier weekly fishy treat but even though they are really inexpensive i really do not like running to the pet store every week and spending money one the fish. Anyone here raise there own fish to feed to their ducks? lol I would love to start breeding my own goldfish tank so i have a ready stock of fish waiting for my duckies. My only problem is I have never actually kept fish before in my life. Only beta's but they are pretty simple and dont require a pump or anything like that.


So can anyone share with me how you breed your fish for your ducks? If anyone does breed their own fish? Tank setup, pump, no pump, food, care...ect.

Any help is much appreciated

 

[thekid]

with goldfish you will need a HUGE tank since there will be a lot gold fish are in the carp family so they grow really big. You could just buy a 55 gallon tank you will need gravel, a filter, i like tetra goldfish food so use that, live plants, some decorations and the tank lol. It is difficult to tell the difference between males and females except during breeding season you can read about that on this website aquariumfish.net look around a little it should be there. Go buy maybe 60 to keep in that tank OR buy feeder guppies since they breed way faster. The males are tiny while the females can get as big as a adult female guppy. In a 55 gallon you could probably keep easily over 700+ dont jump on me for saying 700+ becasue they are so tiny and she could probably feed each duck about 10 each. My local pet shop keeps over 50 in a ten gallon and my other LFS keeps probably in 30 gallon tank a couple hundred. I would go with feeder guppies if I was in your situation. oh and feeder guppies are about 3 cents each. - Brian

 

[featherfinder]

I dont want fish that are going to get really huge. I only have 5 ducks so i think a couple hundred fish should do them just fine since they only get them once a week. I have a 20 gallon tank already just needs a pump and stuff. I also have a 65 gallon i had one of my snakes in but i think that would be to much up keep for me. The feeder guppys sound like my best route cause from what you said i can keep more and they breed faster. Hmm... I have alot of reseach to do on taking care of fish lol. I really have no idea even where to begin with fish.

 

[thekid]

yeah goldfish keep growing... Feeder guppies are awesome... Ill pm you a number you could call that could give you a lot of info on feeder guppies

 

[featherfinder]

Got it. Thank you

I will probably go with the guppies

 

[FeatheredObsessions]

The feeder goldfish are usually young. If you were to raise thwm you would have to have larger ones doing the breeding to get smaller ones. I have seen them in horse through type tank ponds instead of in the house aquariums as well. They are a slow breeder I believe.

 

[thekid]

Quote:
Except for goldfish their pee is more acid

and their tanks require a lot of cleaning same for a pond

 

[nes]

Goldfish are NOT difficult to breed. You do need lots of filtration for them because they are messy, you'll need to maintain a constant temperature, but you can certainly do it outside/in garage/etc. in a large feed-tube/water-trough set up. I used strong rubber-maid containers for awhile. You'll need to place gravel, then a plastic-netting barrier of some sort over the bottom of your tank (to protect the littlest guys) but a couple goldfish can give you tons in a few months. Easy Peasy.

HOWEVER.

Goldfish are very high in fat. I don't know a thing about feeding them to ducks, but when it comes to larger carnivourous fish you usually don't feed goldfish because of the high fat content. A good alternative is something like a Rosy Minnow. Far more healthy.

 

[Kevin565]

Also make sure that you buy feeders from a reputable seller. Many feeders live in terrible conditions which can harbor many diseases that can be passed on to your fowl. Even though I personally don't give live food to my animals I would suggest If you have the time and the money to look into breeding for your supplies. Because over time weekly trips for bait can add up fairly quickly. You might want to look into convicts. They raise their young,breed very rapidly, and can be purchased for a very low price.

 

[Pickaduck]

Quote:
I hadn't thought about the fish passing diseases to the ducks. I had been considering getting some live fish for treats but now I'm going to have to do some more research. Thanks for the info!