I'm breeding feeder fish, and I've never seen fish breed this well for me until I tried Dalmatian Mollies in brackish water. I didn't start out to do it though. I didn't think they'd breed at all, but some fry went thru the overflow to the sump, and I decided to let them live there. They decided to live it up. 
Of course feeding my monsters is a big deal, and dried pellet foods have their limitations, not the least of which is appeal. Cost is the big one. This is something I've addressed 3 ways: feeding various live worms, frozen market shrimp, veggie scraps, and feeder fish.
I didn't plan on ever using feeders, as I was always talked off it by folks who know how poor the commercial feeder fish can be; but I was too successful as a breeder of fish that sell for pennies.
The feeders are Dalmatian Mollies and various Guppies, who all go to my Oscar, and my mixed African Cichlids. This seems to be a great addition to their diet. It also adds interest to the tanks, as I will simply add 50~100 feeders of various sizes. It looks nice to see the monsters with a school, and I think this makes hunting fun for the monsters too.
I've had poor success with all breeding attempts in the past. I had successfully raised exactly one betta fry. (Zed the Betta survived by consuming his 300 tiny mates, and is still with me years later.) I may have a clue why I failed, now that I've succeeded. Experienced guys will probably nod here: It's the local water. Like much advancement in science, this truth came to me while I was looking at a different problem: How to run a brackish aquarium.
A couple years back I bought a Monodactylus Sebae: The African Mooneyfish. I'd had poor success with any fresh water Angels and I thought the Monos were similarly interesting (if not so fancy as a showfish.) It came from a fresh tank and I was told they eventually swim to the ocean, but they will live fine in half-strength seawater. In my case I use Instant Ocean at a density of 1.010~1.012.
Eventually I bought six Monos at 3~4cm tall, and they are all healthy and nearly 8" (20 cm) tall now. I also bought 4 mollies and 12 Guppies, knowing they would live in brackish water, and threw them all in a 30 tall with a small sump, and they grew well. Now I keep them in a 90g system with hundreds of Mollies and Guppies, who all live just fine in brackish water. They also supply baby feeders for the Monos, who eat any fish small enough.
The Monos love spirulina and fish pellets, and are healthy and active, but will never likely breed without a big tank of real seawater about 1.024 . The Mono Sebae are seriously good eaters, but Mollies like to eat even more, and they breed like crazy! If they weren't such cannibals I'd be overwhelmed.
So I'm feeding fry frequently with Ocean Nutrition formula 2 and Omega One flakes. I give them other commercial foods on a random basis for variety. The tiniest fry survive on lots of micro-life in the algae, and I allow lots of algae in the breeder. Mollies graze thru the algae constantly. Guppies too. Anyhow, as the monsters grow, I'll have to allow less cannibalism. I'm harvesting 2% of what's being born, but this is working well so far.
Of course feeding my monsters is a big deal, and dried pellet foods have their limitations, not the least of which is appeal. Cost is the big one. This is something I've addressed 3 ways: feeding various live worms, frozen market shrimp, veggie scraps, and feeder fish.
I didn't plan on ever using feeders, as I was always talked off it by folks who know how poor the commercial feeder fish can be; but I was too successful as a breeder of fish that sell for pennies.
The feeders are Dalmatian Mollies and various Guppies, who all go to my Oscar, and my mixed African Cichlids. This seems to be a great addition to their diet. It also adds interest to the tanks, as I will simply add 50~100 feeders of various sizes. It looks nice to see the monsters with a school, and I think this makes hunting fun for the monsters too.I've had poor success with all breeding attempts in the past. I had successfully raised exactly one betta fry. (Zed the Betta survived by consuming his 300 tiny mates, and is still with me years later.) I may have a clue why I failed, now that I've succeeded. Experienced guys will probably nod here: It's the local water. Like much advancement in science, this truth came to me while I was looking at a different problem: How to run a brackish aquarium.
A couple years back I bought a Monodactylus Sebae: The African Mooneyfish. I'd had poor success with any fresh water Angels and I thought the Monos were similarly interesting (if not so fancy as a showfish.) It came from a fresh tank and I was told they eventually swim to the ocean, but they will live fine in half-strength seawater. In my case I use Instant Ocean at a density of 1.010~1.012.
Eventually I bought six Monos at 3~4cm tall, and they are all healthy and nearly 8" (20 cm) tall now. I also bought 4 mollies and 12 Guppies, knowing they would live in brackish water, and threw them all in a 30 tall with a small sump, and they grew well. Now I keep them in a 90g system with hundreds of Mollies and Guppies, who all live just fine in brackish water. They also supply baby feeders for the Monos, who eat any fish small enough.
The Monos love spirulina and fish pellets, and are healthy and active, but will never likely breed without a big tank of real seawater about 1.024 . The Mono Sebae are seriously good eaters, but Mollies like to eat even more, and they breed like crazy! If they weren't such cannibals I'd be overwhelmed.
So I'm feeding fry frequently with Ocean Nutrition formula 2 and Omega One flakes. I give them other commercial foods on a random basis for variety. The tiniest fry survive on lots of micro-life in the algae, and I allow lots of algae in the breeder. Mollies graze thru the algae constantly. Guppies too. Anyhow, as the monsters grow, I'll have to allow less cannibalism. I'm harvesting 2% of what's being born, but this is working well so far.
