First post: breeding

My name is MJ and I have decided to write and provide in depth aquarium information for those who are interested. I have experienced a variety of events, and to me, the most fascinating aspect of keeping an aquarium is breeding. I've only been fishkeeping for a little more than one year, and I have already bred 5 types of fish. As a first blog post, I would like to share some of my experiences of breeding fish.


Albino Bristlenose Plecos
My profile picture is a 20 g long tank that houses my albino bristlenose plecos and some fancy guppies. These were my first fish that produced offspring for me. I started out with an adult pair that was given to us from a friend in Beaumont. We bought a bunch of plastic plants from ebay and it came with some decorations, most notably a hollowed log. I had researched ABN plecos previously and knew that they would breed in logs. My intentions were not to breed them, I had a main focus on cichlids. After being in the tank for about 2 months, they produced off spring. The male would go into the log (with the female) and stay in their for days. I never saw the eggs, but apparently the father is suppose to guard and "fan" the eggs to protect them. I had a total of 14-16 babies, they were very small and hard to catch. I put them in their own small 2 g tank and threw in a cucumber slice (with the innards/seeds pitted out) with a "veggie clip" and they were soon devouring it. Months later, they are now in their adult stage, it seems I have many more males than females.

Orange Peacocks (Hybrid)

I couldn't find the picture on my computer of these guys. I started out with a 1 m /3 f ratio in a 55 g tank. These guys are mouthbrooders and the females hold the eggs in the mouth. I've had plenty of offspring from these guys, they don't stop breeding. The fry are fed crush up flake.

Sunshine Peacock

The sunshine peacock has only bred once for me. I keep them at a ratio of 1 m / 2 f. The offspring are very beautiful and sunshine peacocks are mouthbrooders as well. I got about 15 fish from my first batch, but after trading some away and other natural causes, I am only left with a few. They are very beautiful when they get older. The fry are fed crushed up flake.

Neolamp. Leleupi

These guys are perhaps my most successful and are the cream-of-the crop fish. I started off with 1 of them, then made a long trip to Austin to add 10 of them to my collection for a total of 11 leleupi. After a few deaths while I was out of town and a water disaster, some of my leleupi have paired off. They have spawned a total of 3 times, and each spawn produced about ~15 fish. To breed them, I get some terracotta pots and then i use a circular file to make the hole at the bottom of the pot bigger. The leleupi go in the pot themselves. They love to eat baby brine shrimp and crushed up flake. The juveniles currently reside in a 10 g tank.

Guppies
I love guppies! They are currently in my 20 g long with my ABN plecos! They are currently the only livebearers and community fish I keep. The largest spawn I have had is about ~20 guppies. They eat all sorts of food (algae wafers, crushed up flake). I have all kinds of fancy guppies. I keep an even male/female ratio which some people disagree with, as it can put stress on the female. When I see the round black spot on the females get very dark and their tummies get big, I place them in a clear plastic breeder, and let the female drop the eggs into the breeder.