Breeding wild caught minnows for feeders

[Owain4]

Hey guys, im looking at having a 55gallon with various minnows in it, i was wondering has anyone ever bred minnows for feeder fish. i've gone out once or twice and caught many spot tail shiners, brassy minnows, sticklebacks (probably not the best feeder) and other types of shiners. anyone ever been succesful at breeding them?

(I know that guppies, mollies, and what not are easy to breed, but i want a NATIVE tank, i dont like the idea of feeding different species to my fish, i just want to feed them native minnows)

 

[Noto]

Some folks on the NANFA forum have bred a number of native minnows; you could try looking there. Most native minnows are substrate spawners and require clean gravel of a certain size to spawn in. They may need a change in temperature or day-length to initiate spawning.

Fathead minnows (tuffies) are easy to breed and are common in much of Canada. They are cavity nesters and will spawn happily in a flowerpot or piece of plastic pipe. They are also less seasonal than many minnows. If you want sufficient numbers to serve as feeders, though, you'll need multiple tanks or a pond.

 

[Owain4]

awesome thanks alot for the info, i'll have to give it a shot, i have a heavily planted tank at the moment with driftwood, but i think ill need more then 30 minnows in it. i'll also need to get some small caves. i have a 500 gallon pond that we have had minnows breed in before but its hard to catch the small ones and there is also koi in the pond so its not the best idea haha