Keeping Fish

[LeafBlade12345]

For all those who would like to raise/keep/breed fish or already do, I have some helpful tips on how to keep your tank healthy.

Firstly, you want to prevent disease in the first place. So, I reccomend a quarantine tank. All it needs to be is a small, five or ten gallon aquarium with a filter, heater, and substrate, this is for keeping tropical fish, and you're set. When you bring in new fish. Leave them in the quarintine tank for the first few days or weeks if they will be breeders. Feed them twice daily at least, in very small amounts so as not to overfeed. Watch the fish carefully for signs of sickness: clamped find, raised scales, fungal growth, trouble swimming, little or no interest in eating, etc. If the need arises, you may need to drop in dissolvable fungus prevention tabs, or liquid ones. Clean the tank when new fish come in, replacing substrate if possible. If housing fry or very small fish, keep them in a breeder box. If fish show deformities, do not use for breeding. If you choose to cull, simply sever the fishes head, kill them with scissors, or smash them in a sock or wrapped paper towel with a hammer. I do not cull my fish unless in pain, when I use some plant snappers to decapitate or crush their brain cases. Once fish are introduced to the main tank, pond, etc., watch for any signs of stress, aggressiveness, or sickliness.

Now it's time to plan ahead. What should you have handy if you're fish become diseased or infected? Here are some items to have handy:

Methalyne blue
Anti fungul tabs
Aquarium salt

Very good. If your tank becomes infected, you now have the stuff you need.

What about feeding?
I feed my breeders and hobby fish krill, bloodworms, tubifex worms, brine shrimp, mealworms, crickets, dead fry, and full freeze dried meals, some with vegetation. I also feed my fry and sometimes adult fish hard boiled egg yolk, thawed or fresh peas, tiny carrot or lettuce slices, and extremely finely sliced apple or pear as supplements.

Breeding:
If you are going to proceed to breed fish, I am assuming live bearers right now, you need to be ready and equipped. Here are things you will need:

Breeder box/seperate baby tank
Hard boiled egg yolk for fry and gravid fish
Plenty of space for breeding fish
A good balance of male to female fish
Places for fry to hide when older
A filter
A heater
Safety from larger fish for fry, they will be eaten!

What kind of fish should I consider?
This depends. I highly suggest a freshwater or brackish tank, as saltwater fish and animals are often taken from the wild, destroying reefs and depleting nature's supply of wild animals.

For freshwater community tanks:
Guppies
Tetras
Mosquito fish
Cory cats
Upside down catfish
Plecos, or sucker cats
Zebra danios
Goldfish (they get over two ft, not meant for a tiny bowl)
Killifish
Koi (big tank or pond)
Rosy red minnows (mostly as feeder fish)
These following fish are meant for brackish water and will usually only live half their lifespan if kept in freshwater but breed very well;
Mollies
Swordtails
Platys

Brackish tank:
Mollies
Swordtails
Pipefish
Platys
Mosquito fish
Guppies
Some catfish
Oscars
I don't have much experience with brackish tanks/ponds, so I'd love any suggestions for fish to add onto this list.

Freshwater Cichlid Tank:
Almost any Cichlid that fits in the particular category, such as African Cichlid aquarium

WARNING: I DO NOT SUPPORT THE COLORING OF FISH OF ANY KIND. IT IS EXTREMELY CRUEL. FISH ARE INHUMANELY DYED WITH VERY HIGH DEATH RATES FOR OUR ENJOYMENT. THEY THEN ONLY LIVE HALF OF THEIR UNDYED COUTERPARTS' LIFESPAN. PLEASE DO NOT SUPPORT THIS. DO NOT BUY DYED FISH! IF YOU CAN, SEND A LETTER TO PETSHOPS THAT SELL DYED FISH AND TELL THEM THAT YOU WILL NOT BUY THEIR FISH. Thank you, I hope this thread helps everyone, from newbies to pros. Please ask if you have any questions or comments or are interested in possibly getting fish from our breeding lines.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I don't recommend keeping goldfish in a community tank, they require cooler water, more room and larger water changes.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Yes, I was thinking more of a pond with koi. They do create a large amount of waste and ammonia and need to be cleaned very often if in a small aquarium, thank you for your input, oldhenlikesdogs, it is very much appreciated!

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Do you happen to keep any fish?

 

[enola]

Mosquito fish in a community tank would be a disaster. They will eat the fins off of slower moving fish. For their size they are one of the most aggressive fish I have ever raised.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

I see, I'll change that. They were mostly meant for a pond environment, this is where I keep and breed mine.

 

[enola]

Mine are in a 300 gallon water tank. I put some extra male guppies in the tank because I had no where else to put them. They did not last 24 hours....

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Do you happen to keep any fish?

I presently have 6 tanks, 2 tropical, 4 with goldfish, my biggest tank is a 125 with 12 goldfish.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Very nice oldhen! Enola, that is crazy that mosquito fish killed guppies! We raise our fry of both species together often with no problem, so I will watch for these possible behaviors. I'm sorry about your guppies. What were you keeping the misquito fish for? In a 300 gallon tank, that's a lot of fish! They are small and relatively slow compared to the fish they live with in our pond, and tank, but perhaps they are faster than I knew. Do you think they will go after my swordtails, mollies, platys, and goldfish they live with? They are thinned out in our turtle pond with my spiny softshells and Mississippi map turtle, but they may pose a problem where I add some of the guppies from an old breeding line. The males got too aggressive towards my females, but with a crying five year old, I cannot cull them. I promised them a place in the pond, but that may have to change. With some new "pet fish" in our 18 gallon tropical tank, our small scale breeding with our mollies and swordtails needed to go, but we recently got another batch of fry from our beautiful white female. They are now in with our small guppy fry but as soon as they are big enough they will either be moved into our heated pond or into the pet aquarium.

 

[enola]

I raise them to keep the mosquitoes under control and as snacks for the chickens.

I don't know why they killed the guppies, maybe the fancy tails looked like food.