I have always wanted a mated pair of cichlids but I don't know what I would do with all the fry. Could anyone shed some light on this? If I get a mated pair do I need to be prepared to set up a bunch more fish tanks in my house for the fry or try to sell them or give them away every month? Is it a lot of work to have a mated pair?
What do you do with the fry?
- Thread starter bhfautsch
- Start date
Depends on the fish is it is a rare fish go for it. But I have breed a few different types of fish (all common) and I now avoid breeding at all costs. I raised the fry to the age I see in LFS only to find out nobody wants them. Cichlids breed so much there is a pleathera of them. Also breeding fish are psychotic attacking everyone in the tank. So I do every thing I can to keep fish from breeding.
That being said. I did get a group of HRP both normal and leucistic and they are very uncommon in my area. So I may let them breed I am not sure yet.
That being said. I did get a group of HRP both normal and leucistic and they are very uncommon in my area. So I may let them breed I am not sure yet.
I've bred many different types of fish over the years and never had a problem getting rid of the fry. Give them to your fish friends, sell them at a fish club auction, sell to local fish stores, etc. With many fish, you will need more than one tank to raise the fry (that is how you end up with a fishroom LOL!).
Two steps:
1) Get a large tank/pond to grow out fry
2) Fish dinner
I had a friend who had a tilapia pair and he had to do something with the fry.
1) Get a large tank/pond to grow out fry
2) Fish dinner
I had a friend who had a tilapia pair and he had to do something with the fry.
Raising and selling fry is alot of work to be honest. To be able to sell the fry u will need to raise them to a sellable size and that might take anywhere from 6 to 8 months. Also like Justin said if they're too common u'll have a hard time even giving away the fry for free like convicts for example. I got rid of my pair of convicts after they mated 5 times cuz I was having trouble selling the fry. Also a cichlid pair will mate approx. once a month so u will need to set up many small tanks to house each generation separately until u get them to a size that u can sell, and if that takes 6 months then u will need 6 or 7 tanks.
Another option is keeping the pair alone in their own tank and leaving the fry with them till they are large enough to sell and that will keep the pair from mating very often. However once they start laying eggs again u need to pull out the older fry or they will be chased and killed by their parents.
U can also keep the pair in a community tank and leave the fry with them if all u want is to observe mating behavior and don't want to worry about the fry, let the fry get eaten by bigger fish with time. However be prepared for alot of aggression and fighting in this case.
Another option is keeping the pair alone in their own tank and leaving the fry with them till they are large enough to sell and that will keep the pair from mating very often. However once they start laying eggs again u need to pull out the older fry or they will be chased and killed by their parents.
U can also keep the pair in a community tank and leave the fry with them if all u want is to observe mating behavior and don't want to worry about the fry, let the fry get eaten by bigger fish with time. However be prepared for alot of aggression and fighting in this case.
I can speak first hand as I am currently in this situation I have 100 +jag fry that are around 1/2 " and another spawn that just hatched. Jags are great cool fish but very common.and this pair won't stop breeding. Most will probably become feeders
Sent from my SM-G900T using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Sent from my SM-G900T using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
