[giovanni82]

I bought a 10G feeder tank today, and a sponge filter. 1st question is, one of my aqua clear 150's is due for a sponge change, if I just took that out and threw it in the tank, along with some of the water from my established tank, would that be enough to establish the bacteria/microorganisms needed? I wouldn't really care if I was just putting feeders in, which leads to my next question. I want to try to breed convicts so I can feed my P the babies, and maybe an adult here and there

I know convicts are easy to breed, but whats the best way to do so? i know you have to put in a pot or something for the momma to lay the eggs, is there anything else I should do? thanks for any input.

I forgot, do convicts need a heater?

 

[Croz]

i am interested as well and would like to know how to sex them. i have 4 but i have no idea what i got.

 

[Judazzz]

I'd start with goldfish until the tank is fully cycled (like you already said, who cares if some feeder goldfish die of intoxication instead of being torn apart by piranha's

) Just run the tank for a couple of days, perhaps with some filter media, plants, gravel (if possible, of course) and water from an already established tank, and drop in some goldfish. As soon as the water perimeters are within acceptable limits, switch to convicts.
I don't know nothing about cons or breeding them, but you'll find a shizload of info on the net, I guess. And I would place a little heater (50-75W must do the trick).

 

[giovanni82]

Ive read if their bellies are orange they are females, but Im not 100 percent sure on that.
Thanks Judazzz, I have 2 giant danios that have been in my P tank for like 3 weeks, my piranha won't kill them for some reason which pisses me off, so they can help cycle the tank for me

I really don't want to add gravel to this tank, though I guess I could spare some gravel from my current tank. I would only do this if convicts need gravel to breed, does anyone know? ty.

 

[Innes]

for the cons, I'm not too sure, but I would think it is good to raise the temp - 82
add bushy plants to one corner - kabomba is good
the plant pot is good, or another rock hiding place with a roof.

but if you want to feed your piranhas with them, you would be better off with guppys, because they give birth every few weeks, can breed in large groups, and hardly ever eat the babies.
just buy loads of them and you might never need to buy feeders again, if you have enough of them you could breed them in the piranha tank.

I have seen in public some aquariums that they have a sh*t load of guppys in all of their tanks.

 

[giovanni82]

thanks Innes, guppies did cross my mind, I just thought cons would be cooler and more fun. Ill have to think about it, If anyone has tried breeding cons and would like to talk to me about it, or just shoot the sh*t in general, IM me on MSN at bobdigital76, thanks

Hehe, here's a pic of how Its set up so far, gonna add more gravel, stop at Home Depot and get some pots, then Im set.

http://www.imagestation.com/mypictures/inb...6&id=4237762762

 

[SnowCichlid.]

just chuck convicts in it... only a pair though... just the one male and one female absolutly nothing else, not even a bottom dweller or else tehy will kill it come breeding time in that tank. They are not fussy about water conditions and will breed in just about anything. Once the fry has hatched you should take them out after about a week or so or else they will eventually eat all the fry. try getting a breeding net for this, or another seperate tank. Also the will breed again before your fry are large enough to feed to your Ps and make a meal so another seperate section would be needed for the newer batch of fry because the larger fry will eat the smaller ones

good luck

 

[giovanni82]

I decided to use guppies, i researched some more and they don't lay eggs, having a live birth instead. Cons would of been cool, but alas, too much work for what I had in mind. I would of needed to get another tank for starters which I don't have the room for, the one I bought today ended up on my dresser, the floor wasn't an option, my cats would of been too enticed and would of fucked with it constantly. I bought 20 guppies tonight, I think I am going to go put on "Lets Get It On" by Marvin Gaye, and keep my fingers crossed

. I bought a heater, anyone know a good temp for guppies to get in the mood? Thanks for all your help guys.

 

[bobme]

i got a 100 Gal tank for free, i was going to use that for feeders.

 

[GARGOYLE]

wow! 100 gallon tank for feeders. what are you gonna bred, and why 100 gallon?

 

[Judazzz]

I bought a heater, anyone know a good temp for guppies to get in the mood? Thanks for all your help guys.

Guppy's don't necessarily need a heater: my mom kept a bunch of them in an ordinary fish bowl with no heater for quite some time. They didn't breed, though, so I can't give you any advise on that, other than that Marvin Gaye could be the key indeed (or perhaps Barry White...)

 

[giovanni82]

Here's how I have it set up, let the humping commence

or here if that doesn't work Tank

Started with 20 of em last night, 2 have died, here is the lone female knocked up allready out of the bunch, at least from what I can tell.

or Preggo

 

[Judazzz]

Well, that should be enough for some sweet luvin'

 

[Innes]

yeah that guppy is pregnant, my guess is around 2 days to go. also you might not realise but guppys can store sperm, so if you have females which give birth and all the males died, you still might find the females getting pregnant, they can do this up to around 6 times, also I have found that 82 is a good temp for breeding guppys, you could also add mollies, as they are also livebearers and dont eat their fry, also you could add some neons to make it look nice, as they will not eat the fry either.
I would add more guppys if you want to use them as a regular food scource, but get them form a differant fish shop so you have less inbreeding.

and also you might want to add some kabomba(sp) because it is a bushy plant, ideal for fry to hide in, and also let some of the plants float at the top of the tank as fry love to hide in this kind of cover

can I also refer you to bobme's post in piranha discussion about feeders as it is a related topic, with advice that you might find usefull.

 

[giovanni82]

Thanks Innes, I in fact bought some mollies last nite, the LFS doesn't usually allow you to pick and choose, but I turned on the charm and the girl there picked out 5 pregnant mollies for me, then added like 9 more for free

I read that too about guppies storing sperm, I read up to 3X's but thats sweet. as far as the neons go, this tank is for 2 things, hopefully having a supply of healthy fish to feed my P,and to save me some money in the long run. I could care less how it looks, but thanks for the suggestion. Ill look for that kabomba plant tonight, any chance you have a pic of one?

 

[Judazzz]

Kabomba plant:

Another useful plant in breeder tanks is java moss (hard to get, though):

 

[luva40]

My Reds won't eat guppies anymore. I have breeders in my 120 with the reds and their numbers just keep growing. I do catch my crayfish gnawing on them every now and then. I am going to find another easy breeder that gets a little bigger. Any ideas. Not trying to wreck the thread or anything, just bring more ideas to the table.

-Kevin-

 

[Innes]

I am going to find another easy breeder that gets a little bigger. Any ideas.

-Kevin-

mollies are bigger than guppys and very easy to breed, also they don't eat their own young. - I would suggest if you get black mollies to add salt to your aqurium, as they are prone to fungus.

also you could breed swordtails and plattys, these can interbreed with each other but will also eat the fry - especially the swordtails, so you will need to seperate them.

you could also breed cichlids - kribs are easy

Danios are also easy to breed, but they will eat their eegs so you might want to have marbels instead of gravel, or have a net 1/3 of the way up the tank so the eegs can fall through into safety.

and it is supposidly easy to breed bettas (although I have never had any sucsesses)

 

[RHOM]

well in my eyes i had a feeder tank and 10g , i would find my goldfish floating all the time and there bones on the gravel and it was setup with a filter and everything , now i don't even feed goldfish to my p's anymore that introduce to many f**ked up disease's to the p tank help ur p's by not feeding them fedder gold fish anymore