Pets Information


Tropical Fish Breeding for Beginners - Guppies and Swordtails


Breeding tropical fish can be a lot of fun. Try your luck at breeding livebearers such as guppies or swordtails.

Equipment Needed:
Breeder Box or Breeder Net
Breeding Grass
5 or 10 gallon tank for the baby fish or a tank divider that you can use for your main tank.
A pair - 1 female and 1 male, 2 females to 1 male works even better

Two of the more popular tropical fish for beginners has to be Guppies and Swordtails. Guppies and Swordtails are livebearers which means that their babies come out swimming. Like most livebearers, there is not much to getting your guppies or swordtails to breed. If you have a male and a female then you will eventually have a pregnant female. The gestation period for livebearers is usually 28 days but can range from 20 to 40 days.

Place the male and female in the same tank together and they will soon mate. You are probably asking, how can I tell when the female is pregnant? When a female guppy is pregnant she will develop a dark triangular shaped gravid spot near her anal vent. This will get larger and darker as the pregnancy progresses. While you are waiting on the female to develop the babies it's time to make sure you are prepared for the delivery. We use plastic breeder boxes and always have without any problems. A breeder box is a small box plastic box about 4 inches long by 3 inches wide and 4 inches deep.

There is a removable "V" shaped trap in it which serves to separate the mother from the babies. When the mother fish has babies they fall through the slot in the "V" into the bottom of the box. After the mother is finished having babies, you can remove the "V" trap and the mother so that they babies have more room to grow. Some people have had bad experiences with breeder boxes and now only use a breeder net. It is also a good idea to purchase some real or plastic breeding grass for the top of the aquarium. The breeding grass is just in case the mother gives birth before you have a chance to put her in the breeder box. The young babies instinctively will swim to the top of the aquarium and the breeder grass provides a great hiding place so they won't get eaten by the bigger fish in your tank.

To feed your new arrivals you can use finely crushed flake food. Using your fingers, you can rub the flakes into a fine powder. Some only feed live foods such as baby brine shrimp. Live foods would definitely be the best way to go, but for most this is simply not feasible. Crushed or powdered flake food will suffice. Try to feed the babies 3 very small meals per day. You will invariably feed too much and the excess food will drop to the bottom of the tank or breeder box. To clean a breeder box we like to take a 3 ft. length of aquarium tubing and a small bucket. Use the tubing as a siphon to clean the bottom of the breeder box. Be careful not to siphon any baby fish.

Try to perform 25% water changes weekly for your baby guppies. This will aid in the optimal growth of your baby tropical fish. After a few weeks in the breeder box your new babies will soon outgrow their home and you will need to move them either to a new tank or your main tank with a divider installed. By 8 weeks old your baby fish will most likely be able to return to the main tank without a divider.

For more tropical fish and aquarium information, please visit FishLore.com - Tropical Fish & Aquarium Information.

Mike is an editor at FishLore.com. Designed for beginners, FishLore.com provides tropical fish information, how-to guides, articles, fish profiles, FAQs, forums and more! FishLore.com - Tropical Fish & Aquarium Information


MORE RESOURCES:

A Happy Pet for the Holidays: Natural Remedies to Treat Animals ...
MarketWatch - 5 hours ago
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass., Nov 20, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Does your pet misbehave when you leave the house? Whether you're entertaining or traveling for ...


Holiday feasts are not for pets
Atlanta Journal Constitution,  USA - 21 hours ago
You’ll see our warnings about feeding repeatedly because around this time of year, every year, we see pets brought in with very preventable illnesses caused ...


Officials offer amnesty for exotic pets Saturday
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL - 8 hours ago
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will conduct one of its "pet amnesty days" on Saturday at the Jacksonville Zoo. ...
FWC to hold Pet Amnesty Day at Jacksonville Zoo & Gardens Chipley Florida Online Newspaper - Foster Folly News
Jacksonville Journal Florida Times-Union
all 3 news articles


Heartworm Disease Prevention Protects Pets, Wallets
MarketWatch - 23 hours ago
BATAVIA, Ill., Nov 19, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The American Heartworm Society strongly urges pet owners to continue year-round heartworm prevention ...


CNN

Long-distance puppy love
CNN - 36 minutes ago
Although a freshman like Chen is still adjusting to college life away from pets, Stone has learned that students must learn to deal with missing their pets. ...
Dog-greeting tips to help avoid a bite Newsday
all 2 news articles


City seeks to get more pets licensed
Storm Lake Pilot Tribune, IA - 1 hour ago
In efforts to get more pets in the City of Storm Lake properly licensed so they comply with City Code, the City Council is looking at passing an ordinance ...


Social Networking for Richmond Pet Lovers: Because 'Pets are Local'
Emediawire (press release), WA - 6 hours ago
It's Richmond's version of "MySpace for Pets." This Richmond-based site is part of a growing trend of niche social networking sites that target interest ...


HOLIDAY SHOPPING GOES TO THE DOGS!
Seattle Post Intelligencer - 15 hours ago
It's all to benefit the Seattle Humane Society and there will be professional holiday-themed photos for pets and their owners, several pets available for ...
Pet Food Bank helps four-legged friends in need Issaquah Press
all 2 news articles


Pets Feeling the Tough Economy
KWCH, KS - 15 hours ago
Caring for pets however, is getting tougher. Many Americans simply can't afford the costs. And area vets say they've noticed a change over the past few ...


IWON.com Awards $10000 to Both Wounded Vets & Rescued Pets as its ...
NewsBlaze, CA - 1 hour ago
The Society works with communities, groups and individuals across the US and around the world to address the issues that contribute to homeless pets with ...

Pets - Google News

home | site map
© 2007