If I wanted to start breeding fish.......?

[katrinag]

You need to feed seahorse many times a day since they do not have stomach.

 

[Bock_Bock]

i havnt read the whole post but some nice fish to breed are angel fish, or certain breeds of cichlids you can choose the color you want as cichlids got so many breeds, i prob have around 50 or 60 baby cichlid in my take and they are easy to take care of, but what ever you chose please let me know i am a fish guy as well as chickens i prob got over 200 fish ranging from the largemouth bass to guppies to koi to loaches to cichlids, i even have 3 bullfrog tadpoles in one of my tanks

 

[oldchickenman]

cool Bock-Bock i have just started a cichlid tank i have and maybe 55 gallon and maybe 10 small cichlids in it right now. how old do they need befor they start breeding.

 

[patandchickens]

How much fish experience do you have already?

By far the easiest to start with is guppies. It is more or less impossible to *prevent* them from breeding <g> and in a heavily-planted tank you will get a good # of surviving fry. Be real careful of your source of guppies, though -- most feeder guppies from stores have fish TB (not communicable to humans, but not curable in the fish either), and a goodly number of the fancy guppies aren't so healthy either.

There are a lot of otehr good starter fish after that that could be recommended, but it would depend on your experience level.

Also, what do you intend to *do* with the ones you breed. Make sure that you have somewhere to raise them up, and a plan for what to do with them (like, *ask* the fish store if they will 'buy' them in trade for merchandise, don't assume they'll take them

)

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Bock_Bock]

Quote:
cichlids it depends on the actual breed of cichlid but there is so many placed to go to see all the cichlids and breeding of them just let me know what types and i will ge tthe info for you

 

[Solace]

Before anyone starts breeding fish they really need to think it through first. Being a breeder is time consuming and can easily go from being fun to more like work.

Weigh your skills as a keeper vs realistic expectations. You can make a profit selling fish. Use the web and specialize on a unique fish or few unique types. Currently the shell dwellers like Multifaciatus or Lamprologine's are doing well and have for some time. There are places like Aquabid that acts similar to ebay out there. On the down side if you're not very disciplined it can quickly become a money pit for you.

When you step off into that side of fish keeping it can also quickly burn you out... it's why I keep chickens now. Not long ago I had around 100 tanks with 5 of them being 210 to 360 gallons and have bred/sold pretty much anything you can think of and plenty the average person hasn't seen. Before long I know I'll go back to breeding fish again. Now I just wonder if I'll have both fish and chickens. I do still have a few tanks here and there going, but nothing like before.

Think about it long and hard before you get into it. It'll help you in the end.

 

[katrinag]

The above post is so true. It is to get burned out. That is why I am down to 3 tanks too.

 

[Riocotesei]

I bought a pregnant guppy female from wal-mart one time, and on the way home she started having babies. She tried to eat them so I had to pinch of a corner to keep the babies in till we got home. I raised them in a large bowl and they lived for a long time until my sister watched them when we went on vacation. She put too much food in there and the water got excessivly dirty and even if we cleaned just a small amt of water many died.
she had 20 that she didn't eat and only 3 lived to adulthood b/c of my sisters misunderstanding. No biggy though. I would suggest guppies though. They are very fun to raise. and easy. Good luck with your choice. I've never raised mollies but they are pretty awesome.

 

[Teach97]

swordtails are really cool...real easy to breed...but I agree about making sure about your out sources (customers) first...most pet stores operate on a thin line and some have strict rules about who they will buy from...and remember if you breed an easy breeder then the people you sell to are not likely to want more because they just might end up breeding them themselves...I have 4 tanks going myself...cichlids in one...two community tanks...and one with oscars and those wanna be piranahas...name is not coming

 

[Bock_Bock]

Quote:
the piranaha wanna be are you talking about the red belly pacus? but anyways like i said dont just look at what fish breed look at the color you want as guppies of color patterns while platies have picture patters ex: guppies are bred for colors like the teal/blue/green coloring gene where the fish changes colors, while the mollies and platys have design patters like the mickey mouse platy or the dalmation mollie so you have to decide what color/ design you want but dont forget you can inter mix these breeds just becareful as they will interbreed as well, i do like the bubble belly mollies tho i got guite a few of those also depending on the tank size i would look into getting a pleco/ plecotamus/ algea eater/ sucker fish it does help keep the tank clean and eat extra food as it floats to the bottom, but like other people said before you even think about getting fish just make sure you have enough room for the set up, so just wondering what size tank do you have along with decorations and plants inside if so you have a pic i would love to see