Freshwater
Tropical
Fish Care & Spawning Guide
Breeding
Fish and the
Home Aquarium
Many
novice aquarium owners fail to take the possibility of
their pets spawning into consideration. If you have recently purchased
a larger
aquarium you should keep the smaller one and use it as a breeding tank.
Most
tropical fish species are known for spawning in aquariums. Using a
breeding
tank will isolate the breeding pair and protect the eggs and fish fry
from
being eaten by the other members of a community tank after spawning has
occurred.
Breeding
Egg Scatters
Many
freshwater tropical fish are egg scatterers. Egg
scattering fish do not exhibit signs of parental instinct. They are
notorious
for eating their own future offspring. Aquarists frequently
add floating
plants to their breeding tank to hide the eggs from predation. Another
trick is
to place a layer of marbles on the bottom of your breeding tank. Most
fish eggs
sink. The eggs will slip down between the rounded surface of the
marbles and
out of the adults’ reach. Either way, it is advisable to
remove the adults from
the breeding tank after spawning. Details on individual species
spawning habits
is available in our freshwater tropical fish care and breeding guide.
Breeding
Live Bearers
Guppies,
mollies and swordtails are live bearing tropical
fish. They will eat their newly born fry. The best way to avoid this is
by
using a breeding trap. Breeding traps are inexpensive and readily
available at
fish stores. Breeding traps are typically transparent plastic
containers
comprised of two compartments. Place the impregnated female in the top
compartment of the breeding trap. As the female gives birth the fry
will drop
through to the bottom compartment. After the female is done giving
birth remove
her from the trap. The plastic piece that separates the breeding trap
into two
compartments can then be removed to give the fry more room to maneuver.
The fry
can be kept in the trap while they are young. But remember that they
are in an
isolated compartment for their own protection. Replace part of the
water with
aquarium water regularly to keep it fresh.
Breeding
and Brood
Care
Cichlids
are unquestionably among the most popular
freshwater tropical fish to exhibit parental instincts as part of the
procreation process. Oscars, discus, and angelfish are all South
American
cichlids. Cichlids have varied and highly complex breeding habits all
of which
include advanced parental care. Breeding and parental care fall into
four basic
categories in relation to initial spawning: substrate or open brooders,
secretive cave brooders, and two types of mouth brooders; ovophiles and
larvophiles.
- Substrate
brooders lay their eggs in the open. They first clean a hard
surface such as a rock or piece of wood to deposit their eggs on during
spawning.
- Secretive
cave brooders lay their eggs in caves, crevices, holes or abandoned
mollusk shells. They frequently attach their eggs to the roof of the
breeding camber.
- Ovophile
mouth brooders use their mouths as incubators during spawning. The eggs
will incubate in the mouth until they hatch. Free swimming fry may
remain in the mouth’s protective custody for several weeks
before being released.
- Larvophile
mouth brooders lay their eggs either in the open or in a protective
enclosure like cave brooders. After the eggs hatch, the larva is
scooped up in the mouth to develop into fry.
Mouth
brooding is typically a maternal function in cichlids.
The male’s duty is to stand guard over the female
or their brood to
protect them from predators. Male’s become extremely
territorial after
spawning. A breeding tank will alleviate the territorial squabbles that
are
certain to occur in a community tank and safeguard eggs and fry from
predation.
Breeding
instinct and parental obligations do not stop once
the fry are free swimming. Both parents will assist their brood in
foraging for
food, teaching them the skills they will need to survive on their own.
Foraging
and survival skills often include upturning leaves and rocks and
digging in
riverbeds or aquarium substrate in search of food for the fry to feed
on.
Parents and fry have actually been observed communicating during this
learning
process, both in the wild and in captivity. Communication between
parents and
offspring consists of a series of body movements such as shaking and
fin
flickering.
Cichlids
are not the only freshwater tropical fish to
demonstrate advanced parenting instinct as interregnal part of
breeding. Many
species exercise various forms of parental obligation to their brood
after
spawning. Cichlids were picked as general example of more advanced
breeding
instincts because of their immense popularity among freshwater aquarium
owners.
Feeding
Fry
There
are a number of products available on the market for
feeding fry. Liquid fry food, infusoria, or rotifers are among them. An
economical and readily available substitute is powdered eggs. Some
aquarium
owners feed their fry hard boiled egg yolks that have been strained
though a
cloth or pulverized in a food processor. Still others simply use raw
egg yolk.
Whatever your choice, remember that fry are very small. They
don’t each much.
Over feeding your fry will only serve to foul up your aquarium water.
Once fry
are a week or so old, their diet can be changed to newly hatched brine
shrimp
or finely crushed fish flakes.
Tropical
Fish &
Commercial Breeding
A
number of fish species are raised on fish farms to keep
pace with the thriving aquarium trade industry. Fish farms are of
particular
importance in providing freshwater tropical fish for the aquarium
trade. These
fish are raised in ponds typically located in the more tropical regions
of the
world, Texas, Florida,
South America, and Asia.
There are a number of
benefits in purchasing fish cultivated in commercial breeding
facilities as
opposed to ones caught in the wild. Commercially raised fish are
brought up in
a smaller volume of water per fish than those found in nature. These
confined
conditions naturally boost the fish’s immune system. They
have already been
exposed to and developed immunity against a number of ailments common
to home
aquariums. These fish are conditioned from birth to receive food rather
than
forage for their survival. Consequently, they do not have to be
acclimated to
accepting standard aquarium food fare. Fish raised for the fish
hobbyist
industry are healthier, more disease resistant, and much less to apt to
suffer
the trauma experience from a species suddenly yanked out of its natural
habitat. They are accustomed to functioning in an environment
surrounded by
other fish rather than the vast expanses often found in nature.
Probably the
most important aspect of purchasing a commercially raised product falls
in the
realm of ecological impact. You are not playing a role in further
depleting our
planet of one of its most valued resources.
A
prime example is the bala shark. These freshwater
sharks are native to Southeast
Asia. They
inhabit the streams and rivers of Thailand,
Borneo, Sumatra and the Malay
Peninsula. The
industrialization of these regions is threatening the Bala
shark’s natural
habitat. Their numbers have drastically diminished in the wild. Bala
shark’s
rarely breed in captivity. Fortunately, for their continued viability
as a
species, they are commercially raised in Asia
with the use of hormone injections to help induce the spawning cycle.
The
commercial breeding of bala sharks not only supplies the
needs of the fish hobby trade, it also provides stock vital to
repopulating
what is left of the bala’s natural breeding grounds.
Freshwater breeding
programs are proving both economically feasible and ecologically
beneficial.
Captive breeding programs will help insure the continued viability of
freshwater species in the wild.
*******
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Fish Care and Breeding Guide.
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