Is there any way to keep them from breeding? I know that I could just use the babies as feeder fish, but I think the babies are too cute and I don't want them to die. I've seen little cute baby fish get chased around the tank and eaten on my first "litter"....and I don't want that to happen again. I know it may sound silly, but that is just how I am. So...what can I do? I put the pregnant mommies in a seperate tank this time and now I have 9 babies...and two more are pregnant (the babies won't be hybrids as far as I can tell). Why are my fish breeding so much and is there anything I can do to stop it?
2006-12-14 08:09:23 · 10 answers · asked by ♥austingirl♥ 6 in Pets ➔ Fish
Fish breed, it's what happy fish do. Their purpose in life, really.
There is not much you can do to stop them except to seperate the sexes. You could bring all the females to the petstore and get some males, instead. Males are more colourful anyway.
OR get a second tank for the females, if you want to keep them. That way if you want to breed sometimes, you could put the female in with the males for a little while (I don't really recommend breeding that way, but it shouldn't be a problem if you acclimate properly).
As for the babies, give them to your local pet store. Depending on the type of cichlid, they may not give you any money, but they may give you store credit.
2006-12-14 08:16:29 · answer #1 · answered by Zoe 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
First put all of the pregnant fish in a separate tank and put all of the babies in a seperate tank and try to sell some of them as quickly as you can. Then as soon as the baby fish hatch put them all in a separate tank then the mommies and sell ( or give away ) those fish. In the meantime. Keep the males separate from the females and the babies separate from the adult fish until they are sold or given away. You will probably end up having to get a lot of fish tanks, but it will be worth it! And soon you can have all males(so they can't have any babies!) for tips on telling male fish from female fish talk to the vet! GOOD LUCK!
2006-12-14 09:32:47 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well,
I am an aquariest and these fish are the aggressive type. They breed all the time these fish. Usually a fish will breed once they are used to surroundings around them. The water temperature they like is usually around 78-80F and they also like hard water, they especially like rocks and caves. Usually fish breed when all the conditions they like are met. About the only thing you can do is have nothing but females in the tank, but then you limit color and variety in the tank. I would do what I do and thats to take the babies to a local store and trade them for things like new rocks or plants, etc. Hope this helps.
Wee Man.
2006-12-14 12:54:39 · answer #3 · answered by boychuka 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
African cichlids are prolific. The only way to prevent baby production is to have an all male or all female tank. In nature most baby african cichlids get eaten by predators which is why they're so prolific.
If you tried to save them all you'd be swamped with baby fish in no time (each female is capable of producing 10-40+ fry every 1-3 months, and with multiple females you'd have a population explosion on your hands).
You could try to sell them, but you'll have to grow them out for 6-12 months for them to reach selling size. You'd require several grow out tanks for various sized fry and juveniles (because larger juveniles can kill and eat small fry so they can't be in the same tank).
After about a year you'd have to sell or find homes for 10-40 fish per month. If you can't sell them at that rate you'll have a bunch of growing aggressive fish to deal with, and they're capable of breeding as early as 1 year old..
Leave the fry in the main tank, most will get eaten, but 1-5% will manage to survive. It may sound cruel, but that's nature.
2006-12-14 10:00:53 · answer #4 · answered by Kay B 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Put One In a different tank on the other side of the house. It's a win win for you. You get to look at them in two different rooms. and you also don't have any more little fish
2006-12-14 09:05:57 · answer #5 · answered by Katie W 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can sell the babys to a fish store.
Or
aquabid.com
ebay.com
2006-12-14 08:37:14 · answer #6 · answered by angelmwilson 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think that is sort of a good thing, try to sell it to a pet store, you have a unlimited supply of fish, and selling the extra fish means $$$.
2006-12-15 12:35:59 · answer #7 · answered by Ben 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Separate cages.
2006-12-14 08:16:54 · answer #8 · answered by LA 1 · 0⤊ 2⤋
you know survival of the species is all they think about!! try separating mommy and daddy!!
HOPE I HELPED!!
2006-12-14 08:17:27 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
lucky duck
2006-12-16 11:42:53 · answer #10 · answered by Chris 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋