Breeding the Fathead minnow (rosy red)

[Matt G]

What do the water conditions have to be?
Temp ph etc or what temp

 

[Gearhead]

For best breeding, keep them cool and use an oversized filter. They like to lay their eggs on rocks or underneith lily pads, so keep plenty of caves for them. You can keep about 5 or 6 per 10 gallon tank. I feed mine crushed cichlid pellets and flake food.

 

[Mario1994]

so in a 55 gallon tank 10-15 of them would do fine and the potential fry would feed bichirs??

 

[Fishoreel]

I have 10 in a 55 gallon. I think they're too small to breed though.

 

[anarchir]

Thanks for this info! I am sure it will come in handy. I'm gonna attempt to breed some for my Snapping Turtle, he does love them so. Also, they are so much better for him than goldfish I bet. I am still trying to stick to a more natural diet if I can for him.

 

[dcorreia]

I had about 30 in an outdoor 300 gallon pond. At any one time it only seemed like 1-3 pairs were spawning( 3 at most) . I was surprised at how agressive they get while spawning. These little minnows where chasing my goldfish that were 3-4 times their size all around the pond. They are actually really cool fish to watch. One thing I noticed was I bought 30 Rosy Reds and after about 2 months the fish lost their white/pink color and turned grayish/brown like a reg flathead. Not sure why, I thought that was weird.

 

[Rainman246]

Your article said that the minnows are hardy where toxins are concerned. What about diseases, ich specifically, I bought a dozen and lost 4 within a few days before treating the water.

 

[albertjavieraguilar]

I have7 fatheads with 7 goldfish in a 20 gal tank. I have had the fatheads for 7 months, i don't filter the water or do water changes but it is heavily planted. None of my fish have died but 1 fathead has had trouble breathing, loss weight and sits on the bottom. I thought he would have died 4 weeks back but he is still alive for now. So I would say the are hardy. BTW I don't heat up my apartment and the water fluctuates from 75 to 58 (presently).