There’s nothing more spectacular than witnessing nature doing it’s thing and creating life as you’re enjoying your home aquarium. There are some fish types which will breed without intervention as long as you take good care of them. These fish expect not much from you apart from food, healthy water conditions and that’s it!
When it comes to breeding fish you either do it for fun — like most of the hobbyist or you do it for profit. Since this article is going to focus more on home aquariums, I’ll assume that you’re not doing this for profit and you just want to see a new life emerging in your aquarium.
Things that are important when breeding are:
- Differentiating the male and the female fish
- Providing them good food for a week or two
- Know if the male and female will take care of the fry or they will eat the fry
1. Livebearers
a. Poecilia Reticulata (Guppies)
Guppies are one of the most popular fish when it comes to breeding because they are rapid breeders and they are very low-maintenance fish and not very demanding. That’s why they are one of the easiest fish to breed in a home setup. It’s so easy to sex the fish. Males are slender and longer, displays bright coloring and patterns on the body whereas females are rounder and larger and usually gray and pale. Place a couple male guppies with several female guppies in an aquarium and they will take care of the rest. When the fry is “born”, they can swim right away and they can take care of themselves. Parents does not have the instinct to raise the fry so if the parents are hungry and there’s no hiding spots in the aquarium, the fry might get eaten by the parents.
b. Poecilia Wingei (Endler’s Guppies)
They are active breeders, just like common guppies or fancy guppies. They tend to breed every 23 to 25 days – in a cycle. Male Endler’s guppies display colorful patterns on the body whereas females are usually gray and pale. Endler’s guppies are peaceful fish but they are very active. Males tend to chase females when they are mating and they don’t get no as an answer. To not to stress the females, we recommend multiples 2 or 3 females in the aquarium per male fish so that females will have a chance to rest as the male chases around some other fish.
c. Poecilia Sphenops (Mollies)
Mollies might be harder to breed and you might not get success as a first time breeder. It’s recommended that you have a “nursing” tank to place the “pregnant” female fish after the mating. They don’t have instinct to raise their babies and they often eat their babies — just like Endler’s Guppies or other guppies. It’s recommended that you remove the parents from the babies after the “birth” so that the babies don’t get eaten.
2. Cichlids
a. Labidochromis Caeruleus (Yellow Lab or Yellow Princess)
One of the easiest African Cichlid to breed – yellow lab! They are not schooling fish but they like to live in groups. There will be a dominant male in the group and dominant male will breed the females most of the times. It’s recommended that you keep 3 or 4 females for every males you keep in your aquarium. To get them breed –
- Feed them on a high protein diet, frequently
- Keep the lights on longer than usual (simulate the spring/summer times)
- Increase the water temperature to 75 to 80 degrees fahrenheit (24 to 25 degrees celcius)
Once you condition your fish, your dominant male will mate with one of the females. The female fish will lay eggs on a flat surface or a rock in the aquarium. Once laid eggs, the male fish will come and fertilize the eggs. Then female fish will collect the eggs and keep it in her mouth until they hatch and swim freely. Yellow labs have an instinct to raise their fry and they try to protect their fry from other fish but it’s still recommended to have a lot of hiding spaces to increase fry survival rate.
b. Pterophyllum Scalare (Angelfish)
Angelfish are possibly the most popular and recognized fish in the hobby. Their interesting body shape and swimming behaviour will quickly become the masterpiece of your aquarium. Since they are too popular in the hobby, it will be easier to purchase from your local pet store. Angelfish are from the cichlids family. Even though they are peaceful in overall, they can be aggressive to other fish when they are breeding. When they become adults, a male and the female fish pairs. Even though they don’t mate for life in the wild, we often see that the male and the female tends to hangout together when kept in aquariums. When the angelfish pairs, they can readily spawn on a flat surface. Our recommendations for breeding angelfish are –
- Purchase a breeding pair from a trusted local breeder or purchase several juvenile angelfish and hope that a couple will pair
- Feed them with protein rich live food and frozen food
- Use a spare breeding tank to put the pair in because the pair can get easily stressed out when other fish swimming around
- Remove the breeding pair and other fish when the spawning is completed
Once the spawning is completed, the angelfish fry will hatch in about 60 hours. Fry can not swim after they hatch and it’ll take about another 5 days until they free swim.
c. Mikrogeophagus Ramirezi (German Blue Ram, Ram Cichlid)
They make the best cichlid addition to a community aquarium. Breeding German Blue Rams are fairly easy. All you need is a breeding pair. Once your male and female rams are paired, the pair will start to swim together. They can be territorial and slightly aggressive towards other fish when they are breeding. The pair will pick a favorite spot in the aquarium, guard that area and chase any other fish when they get close. When they are ready to breed, female fish will lay eggs on a flat surface. This could be a flat stone or a large leaf if you have plants in the aquarium. When the female finishes laying the eggs, male fish come around and fertilize the eggs. The pair will take turns to guard until the eggs are hatched. Once the fry starts free swimming, the pair will raise the fry. The pair will herd the fry until they feel confident swimming detached from the pair.
3. Others
a. Brachydanio Rerio (Zebra Danio)
Zebra Danios are not very demanding when it comes to breeding that’s why they are one of the easiest fish to breed in your home aquarium. If you have a group of danios in your aquariums, they are possibly breeding already, though you might not see any fry swimming. Their fry usually get eaten by the adults or they get sucked by the filters.
Zebra Danio’s eggs scatter their eggs and those eggs are not adhesive so they go all around in the aquarium. That’s why we recommend you get a breeder’s net. When the female fish spawns, the eggs will fall through the net and the adults will not reach the eggs and eat them. Male Zebra Danios are slimmer and smaller compared to the females. We recommend that you put a male and a female to a separate container overnight and remove the parents after the spawn is completed in the morning.