General Care Discussion :: Breeding Feeder Fish

[josephkr]

Have any of you tried this? I was at PetSmart buying some feeder guppies and the attendant asked me why I don't just breed my own so I don't have to keep going in to buy them every week. I have an extra 25 gallon tank from when my turtle was smaller, the filter was pretty cheap, and right now I'm cycling the water to build up the bacteria. I was just wondering if anyone else has tried this, and what was your experience like? What kind of fish should I breed?

[steve]

A few people do this. They usually breed minnows in a spare tank. One thing to consider is that you don't have to offer fish every week.

[slider_keeper]

I breed guppies in my males tank. Guppies are easy to breed put four females for every male and boom you will have tiny fry swimming around in no time. When I built the new tank I bought a few more females and got the pregnant ones. Within a day I had fry in the new tank. Now I have a new batch of fry swimming in there. To do this in a tank of course, requires alot of space for the turtle and the fish. I have a 150 gal, with one 5-6 in. male slider, and a couple dozen fish (bala sharks, flathead minnows, two algea eaters and guppies). Only the guppies breed in the tank. I think the water is too warm for the minnows to breed. Minnows like colder water, but are doing fine in 76 degree water.