Fish Breeding Technique – How to breed your freshwater fish

Fish Breeding, Parents and their fry

Fish breeding technique is very important for the aquarist especially for the people who want to be a good breeder. Before you set up to breed your fish, you should read this article as the basic information of spawning behavior, and breeding techniques.

Natural reproduction in fish is usually stimulated by a variety of biological and environmental conditions. If you intend to become a serious fish breeder, you need to simulate the natural environment of fish that stimulate fish breeding.

Fish Breeding in the Aquarium

Egg-Layer-Fish - fish breeding in Aquarium

Fish Breeding techniques for aquarium is vary according to the different families of fishes, however, we should know some general precepts as below :

1). Spawning substrates.
Breeding efforts are successful only if the conditions in the breeding tank correspond to the species environment. All fish need some sort of substrates to deposit their eggs. Adding plants or rocks ornaments can create a setting for spawning.

2). High Quality Parent stock.
Parent fish should be healthy, appear strong, energetic with flawless form, coloration, and fins. In most cases, it is best if the parents are not related, since indiscriminate inbreeding results in inferior offspring.

3). Compatibility of the sexual partners
Sympathy between the partners plays an important role with all fish, regardless of whether they form extended pair bonds or come together only briefly to spawn. That is why you should pick partners that get along well in the regular tank or that may have already shown sexual interest in each other.

4). Food to spawn
The right kind of food. Some undemanding fish will spawn on a diet of just dried flake, but many others will spawn only if they are given special food that closely reflects their special dietary requirements. Experience has shown that Characins spawn especially well if they are fed Black Mosquito larvae.

5). Spawning rhythm
In nature, most tropical fish spawn only during the rainy season. Even in the aquarium, certain signals are needed to bring about the spawning behavior of certain species. The rainy season affects the water temperature, salt content of the water, water level, and PH. By manipulating these factors, it is possible to simulate rainy season signals

6). Fish Breeding Tank
Set up a spawning or fish breeding tank, a special tank that can trigger spawning and also isolates the parents and the fry so can increases the survival of the young fish. The tank should be set up according to the type of fish you intend to breed. Tank size, gravel, plants, decorations, heating, and filtration requirements vary with species. In general, the types of plants and gravel depend on whether the fish is a livebearer or an egg-layer.

Livebearers
A live-bearing female can produce multiple broods from one mating because she is able to store sperm in her body for several months. Young can be produced every few weeks and brood sizes can be quite large, up to one hundred fry.
Mollies, Guppies, Swordtails, and Platies are live-bearing species that you are likely to have in your first aquarium since they are very easy to care. Pregnant females are easily recognizable by their bulging abdomens.

Livebearers can be breeding and giving birth in the community aquarium. However, most of the young are likely to be consumed by other fish. The best way to prevent this from happening is to place the pregnant female into a separate spawning tank. The tank must be heavily plants to protect the fry from immediate consumption by the mother. In general, floating plants are ideal for this. Young fish should be kept isolated from the larger fish until they reach comparable size.

Egglayers

On this group, fertilization of the eggs occurs outside the female’s body. In general, the eggs and sperm are deposited or released into the water, where they are fertilized by the male. The eggs of these species contain large amounts of yolk that sustain development. The embryos develop within the egg for a period of time ranging from days to months, depending on the species.

There are five groups of egg-layers : egg scatter, egg depositors, egg buriers, nest builders, and mouth-brooders. This determines how you set up your breeding tank

Egg Scatter
These fish usually spawn in schools or pairs. After mixing with sperm in the water column, the fertilized eggs float in the current or fall to the bottom among the gravel and stones, where they remain unguarded. Unfortunately, this is the most difficult group to breed because the unguarded eggs are rapidly consumed by the parents as well as other occupants of the aquarium. Common egg scatter include Characins, such as the Cardinal Tetra and some of the Barbs.

The breeding tank for the egg scatter should be modified to reduce egg eating by the parents. This can be done in a number of ways.
- You can cover the bottom of the tank with glass marbles so that eggs fall between them and cannot be eaten.
- Feathery plants also provide suitable substrate for these fish while protecting the eggs.
- Drape a piece of fine-mesh netting in the water. The spawning fish are placed above the netting, and the eggs fall through the mesh and away from the mouths of the parents.

Egg Depositors
Egg depositors lay their eggs on flat surfaces or on plants. Flat rocks and fine-leafed plants are ideal spawning substrate for these species. After deposition by the female, the eggs are fertilized by the male. In most cases, egg depositors guard their eggs and fry. This group includes some of the Cichlids, such as the Angelfish, Killifish, Rainbowfish, as well as Catfish, such as the Corydoras. The breeding tank for egg depositors varies with species.

Egg Buriers
Egg buriers lay their eggs and bury them in the soft substrate. Killifish are the most well-known of the egg buriers. The best way to accommodate these fish is to provide suitable soft substrate, such as peat, so they can bury their eggs.

Nest Builders
Nest builders deposit their eggs in a nest. Many Cichlid species build nests, which they defend. Males construct the nest by expelling air from the mouth. In the case of the Siamese Fighting Fish, the female releases her eggs and the male deposits them into the bubble-nest, females should be removed after spawning. The eggs hatch within forty-eight hours and the male tends the nest and the fry for up to ten days. He should be removed at this time, before he eats the fry.

Mouthbrooders
Mouth-brooders actually hold the eggs and fry in their mouths for days or weeks, depending on the species. This is a very high level of parental care that results in the successful rearing of well-developed fry. The most popular species of mouth-brooders are the African Lake Cichlids. The fertilization takes place either on the flat surface or in the female’s mouth. After hatching, the fry may continue to seek shelter in her mouth.

Those are the important points for a success Fish Breeding