Fish Breeding

All these fish have different modes of reproduction. Linebackers live fry, cichlids deposit eggs on a substrate and either guard them or take them up into their mouths, whereas catfishes may deposit eggs and abandon them or guard them. Tetras and barbs usually scatter their eggs, and anabatic make bubble nests and deposit the eggs within these floating rafts of bubbles to hatch. Nevertheless, there are many practical points common to all these fish when it comes to inducing them to spawn.

How to Spawn Fish

Simulating the fish's natural environment is the first and most important factor in getting them to breed. If a fish comes from a soft acidic river, it will (in most cases) require soft acidic water in the aquarium if it is to breed. There are exceptions to this rule, and with the constant breeding of fish in the aquarium they are gradually evolving to accept breeding conditions that are further from their natural ones .Generally speaking, however, if you get the water right you are halfway to breeding success.

Next, consider the surroundings. If a fish is used to living in densely planted waters where the sunlight is filtered through overhanging branches, then a heavily planted aquarium with subdued lighting is likely to be just right. These fish may be very timid in other condition sand unless they can settle and feel comfortable they are not going to breed. Too much activity near the tank will also be a deterrent to spawning, so keep things peaceful.

In the wild, fishes are usually induced into spawning by some natural stimuli, such as heavy rain. This swells and cools the rivers, increases the oxygen content and washes an abundance of insect and animal life into the water. You can imitate the effect of heavy rain by making slightly larger, more frequent water changes using cooler water. You can make this even more authentic by lowering the water level gradually over a period of a few days. To mimic the high degree of organic matter washed into the water during heavy rain, add an aquarium tonic, and increased feedings of live foods such as brine shrimps will act as the abundance of insect life that becomes available at this time. After this cooling period of rain, the waters warm up and you can simulate this by turning up the adjustment on the heater/thermostat a degree or two.

Among the cichlids,angelfishes are particularly easy to breed in the aquarium. first signs of ap air developing are two fish snatching brief moments with each other away from the pack, pecking at a rock or leaf together and making strange little flicks of the head. It is bet to place this pair in a tank of their own. After anything from a day toga few weeks, the female starts to develop a small tube just in front of her anal fin. This egg tube, or ovipositor, is visible in the photograph. The male develops a tube, but this is more pointed and not as broad. The pair select and peck clean a small patch Mona vertical rock or leaf and eventually the female will start laying eggs on it.

The male follows and fertilizes the eggs. The female fans them wither pectoral fins and pecks off any infertile eggs that have turned white with fungus. Fertile eggs hatch after two or three days and the fry are then stuck by little filaments to another leaf or rock until they can swim freely. Feed them on newly hatched four or five times a day until they can eat crumbled flake food. The parents should guard the fry for several more weeks, but due to constant inbreeding they are often bad parents and eat their own young.