Breeding fish can be an extremely rewarding and enjoyable side of the fishkeeping hobby; it can teach you a lot about fish behaviour, the life cycle of fish and the natural world.
However, it is not always easy to do and some species can be extremely difficult to breed in captivity with large success.
In this set of guides, we will go in detail about what it takes to breed fish, things you need to know about breeding fish, and we will give some good tips on proper husbandry and raising of fry.
What to do if your fish have babies
You wake up and look in your tank to see tiny baby fish swimming around, but how did this happen?
In this series of guides, we aim to help you better understand what to do in the event that your fish have an unplanned spawn.
Types of fish that are easy to breed
Fish have a multitude of different lifestyles and alternate life cycles which can make them very easy, or very difficult to breed and raise to adulthood.
Learn the different types of life cycles fish have and what fish are best to start with if you are new to breeding.
Types of fish to breed for profit
Which fish are most sought after in the aquarium trade, that are easy to breed, easy to rehome and can earn you a little money or credit to help fuel your hobby?
How to select and condition fish for breeding
What do we mean when we say to “condition” a fish? Learn how to select good fish for breeding and how to provide the best care and support for fish that are spawning or raising young.
Care for eggs, wigglers and fry
Find out how to raise fry and ensure that they survive the first month of their lives. Also learn regular maintenance for fry tanks, how often to feed and things to look out for to give your fry the best possible care.
Livebearers
Find out about the livebearer family and its extended cousins, fish that do not lay eggs but instead give birth to their young like a mammal.
What are some of the best methods to breed livebearers? Find out how to raise young, how to properly sex ration livebearers and any individual requirements and recommendations for certain species.
Egg scatterers
Fish that simply drop their eggs over a surface and let nature do its thing, these guides will cover some of the many species which adopt the most classic reproduction method we see in fish.
How to keep eggs from fungusing? best ways to separate eggs and fry from parents? what to feed fry? and how to condition fish to breed?
Mouth brooders
Mouth brooders are fish that hold their young and eggs in their mouths and protect them.
In these guides, learn which fish adopt this method, how to tell when parents are holding, what to feed fry and how to properly support parents that are raising young.
Shell dwellers
How to set up and provide for shell dwellers, fish that live and breed within empty snail shells, what equipment and types of shells you need.
How to feed and raise fry and how to set up a tank to encourage your shell dwellers to spawn.
Nesting fish
Fish that will establish a territory to construct a nest, where they will stick their eggs to a surface and protect them until they hatch.
This guide will contain tips and advice for breeding fish that raise their young, how to condition and support parents, how to feed fry, when to separate fry, and how to set up an ideal environment.
Equipment
In this guide, we will discuss some key equipment that makes breeding fish a lot easier, types of filtration to use for fry tanks, breeder boxes, mesh or grid walls, egg tumblers etc.
We will discuss how to appropriately use such equipment, how it can be obtained or made and in what situations it is best used.
Feeding fry
Fry can be the size of a pinhead when they are first born and can be extremely difficult to feed. Because of this, certain species of fry can be very difficult to keep alive in captivity.
There are, however, types of food and methods of feeding that you can implement on different species, and can end up being highly successful in raising young fish.
In this guide, we will go over these different methods in hopes to aid you in rearing fry of your own.