anobody raise rosy reds?

[stingray4540]

I was just wondering if anyone has ever raised rosy reds for feeders. I just want to find as much info as I can on them, especially on how easily or difficult it is to get them to breed. If I'm not mistaken they are just a color varient of the fathead minnow. right?

[Honda12]

Yeah they are a color varien't of the flathead minnow. I haven't bred them in a tank, but my uncle puts them in his Koi pond and they breed every other two weeks, and he gets tons of fry from them. I believe they are egg scatterers and I am sure that the paren'ts eat the eggs like most other fish. I am sure it can be done in the aquarium, but I just haven't tried. That and I can just get them from my uncle.

[sandtiger]

Yup, they are fatheads. I wrote an article about breeding them. It's somewhere on this site, a few pages back I think. I'm too lazy to look for it here so I'll get it off another site where it is part of the articles section.

Here is it.
http://oscarfish.com/cms_view_article.php?aid=568

[Bassman89]

yea they are a variation of fatheads..ive never bred them either but i hear therye pretty easy though

[Jighead]

They are very easy to breed and the parents will not eat the eggs. I would be happy to answer any other questions on this awesome little minnow.


- Jighead

[lil_blue]

i got one, how big of a tank do i need, and do they need anything special?

im thinking just a 5g?

do they need a heater?

[Jason]

I'd be interested in breeding them for the experience, if i need feeders i just breed white clouds or danio. easier for me to breed more or less when i need them and the left overs i can pass off to stores.

jason

[sandtiger]

i got one, how big of a tank do i need, and do they need anything special?

im thinking just a 5g?

do they need a heater?

Read the article I posed. ;)

[fishyz]

:iagree: take a look at sandtigers articale on them.

[Jason]

Well that explains why i didnt have much luck breeding them the first time i tried. i failed to check into the breeding biology and offer caves. I took a guess that they scattered eggs so i set them up to do so...and they didnt :D.

Well now i'll have to try again, the first time i tried i just went to the bait shop and picked up four dozen and pulled out six males and 12 females and hoped for the best. The rest got the stock tank treatment until needed for stubborn preds and small water snakes.

How many females have you seen nest with a male? Would it be possible to get four or five to deposit before removing the cave to a hatching/growout tank?

Just wondering since i've never bred anything native before, just the bread and butter tropicals and some cichlids.

Jason

PS these might be a fun replacement to watching danio school around for ages and do nothing of use between breedings other than fatten up and give me something to watch in my hospital/quarentine tank.

[DarthLungFish]

Good Thread. They are good for feeders when you can control the living conditions to reduce stress and disease.:)

[stingray4540]

Sweat! thanks for the link sandtiger.
jighead or sandtiger or anybody: so, if I had a handfull in a 10 gallon with sponge filter and some caves, I should be able to get fry without haveing to move anybody to another tank. basically I just want to put them in 10 gallon and take some out everyonce in a while for a snack without haveing to worry about running out.

[Bassman89]

take a look at sandtigers article...it will be of much assistance for you

[fisher12889]

Sweat! thanks for the link sandtiger.
jighead or sandtiger or anybody: so, if I had a handfull in a 10 gallon with sponge filter and some caves, I should be able to get fry without haveing to move anybody to another tank. basically I just want to put them in 10 gallon and take some out everyonce in a while for a snack without haveing to worry about running out.
I would probably just put 1 male in the tank and 2 or 3 egg-bearing females and make sure there is one or two good caves for them to lay eggs in. After the eggs are laid take out the females and let the male do its thing!

[sandtiger]

After the eggs are laid remove the females, after they hatch remove the male.

[stingray4540]

Ok, so when they lay eggs, the females become the first snack, then after they hatch, the male becomes snack, then I have to wait for them all to grow up.
If I were to remove them, this is how it would have to be, 'cause I don't have another tank to "move fish to and from"
Is there perhaps a fish that is less maintanance to breed, and breeds fast, like guppies, or danios? Thanks for all the help so far.

[Bassman89]

just buy a cheap storage tub..wash it out and throw some water in it then put the male and females into the tub

[fisher12889]

Ok, so when they lay eggs, the females become the first snack, then after they hatch, the male becomes snack, then I have to wait for them all to grow up.
If I were to remove them, this is how it would have to be, 'cause I don't have another tank to "move fish to and from"
Is there perhaps a fish that is less maintanance to breed, and breeds fast, like guppies, or danios? Thanks for all the help so far.
Convicts breed like roaches lol. When their fry become free swimming feed the parents to your fish and soon you will have dozens of babies, just make sure to save at least one pair!

[stingray4540]

would I be able to keep convicts in a 10 gallon? do convicts even eat there babies, I didn't think they did?

[sandtiger]

No, I would suggest a 29g for convicts or at the very least a 20g long. Truthfully there is not much you can do with breeding in a 10g. A 10g is rather small so you would either be overstocked or have to raise tiny fish that wouldn't even be worth the trouble.

[stingray4540]

This might sound cruel, but I'm not really woriied about being overstocked, just as long as they live long enough to be snacks. they are going to be lunch eventually anyways, so as long as they do there thing and make more lunch before they become lunch I'll be happy. Maybe I'll look into a 20 though, if you think that the convicts will breed like rabbits, and only if I don't have to remove them when they breed.

[fisher12889]

Most of the babies should survive in the tank w/ convicts. They have really small mouths so they wont be able to eat the babies once they start growing

[stingray4540]

interesting, thanks for the help everyone.

[fisher12889]

No problem. I know I like to get all the advice I can get too!

[Bassman89]

yea i like this website....everybody has such good advice and are willing to help

[sandtiger]

This might sound cruel, but I'm not really woriied about being overstocked, just as long as they live long enough to be snacks. they are going to be lunch eventually anyways, so as long as they do there thing and make more lunch before they become lunch I'll be happy. Maybe I'll look into a 20 though, if you think that the convicts will breed like rabbits, and only if I don't have to remove them when they breed.

It's not so much an issue of cruelty. When kept crammped together you will have aggresion issues, stress and lower water quality. By the time you get those fish to eating size they will be more than you or the tank can probably handle and you may even see disease break out. IMO all fish, even feeders should be kept in the best possable conditions. If you want healthy fish, feed them healthy feeders. Otherwise you might just better go out and buy them from the LFS.

[fisher12889]

Right now I have about 150-200 feeders in a big tub, and I use a bio-wheel 350 for it, along w/ salt, carbon, water changes, and regular feedings. Thats the best I can do for them!