Over the last 30 years of keeping and breeding many species of tropical fish, I would like to share this article with other Aquarists.
On odd occasions in my fish house I don’t have many fry on the go so I like to experiment and try different things with my fish, and one of the things I do is what I term as double or multiple spawning using only one breeding tank.
Perhaps many other fish keepers or maybe even your ‘self may already be doing this. For those of you who have not but would like to give it a go, I will give you my account of what I do.
Using a small tank of 12″x8″x8″ after making sure it is clean I fill it up with fresh water (straight from my tap) and in this I place two large clumps of wool mops into the centre of the tank and spread them loosely. I also use a small used! Sponge filter with gentle aeration after leaving the tank to settle for a day, the following evening I choose the fish to put into the tank.
At present I have a tank with fry from scissortail Raspboras and white cloud mountain minnows from my most recent spawning using this method.
I chose Scissortails first and placed six in the spawning tank, these I left in the tank for two days and fed them as normal but sparingly. After two days I took them out and then choose my next fish which in this instance was white cloud mountain minnows. Again I left them in for two days and treated them as normal and fed them sparingly, and then removed them.
I then left the tank a few days or so, having an odd glimpse or two inside.
Personally I do not usually bother looking for eggs but instead wait two or three days and then use a magnifying glass and check for fry which are normally clinging to the tank glass by this time, if by the fourth day there is nothing I will either try different fish or wait a week and then try again, persistence is the key as these fish are normally regular and guaranteed spawners (as long as you have both sexes)
Another method that works is to drape a net over and inside a 2foot long tank and place both species of fish in at the same time for a few days. I have used this method and had similar success.
Point to remember is use any small tetras barbs, minnows in fact any easy spawning peaceful fish and your young fish will grow up together fine.
One of the most obvious advantages of doing this type of breeding set-up is when you are lacking space or tanks. It may also be beneficial if you are trying to achieve breeding certificates and your goal is to breed a lot of different species in a given time.
One of the disadvantages of doing this that it is not worthwhile if you are trying to achieve large numbers of fry. For example my most recent effort has yielded me with 20 white cloud mountain minnows and about the same amount of raspboras, but being a small amount of fish they are easier to rear.
I hope that you find this article interesting or useful, I am not saying that this is the only way of doing things and if you are breeding and raising fry successfully, then don’t change; this is only intended to let you know how I do it but there is many other methods, and many of them may even be better.
Lastly if you have read this far, Thank You for taking the time to do so, and feel free to comment, or ask any questions.
