How do you prepare your fish for breeding?
Do you give them special foods?
Water changes?
What do you do?

I'm breeding mostly angels, 25% water changes every other day, with water a few degrees cooler often gets them spawning. I feed a variety of flake, frozen brine shrimp every other day, and frozen bloodworms once a week. Protein is needed for actively spawning angels, too much causes constipation, so you need to find a good balance.



http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/breedi...%20seasons.html is one of the better articles on getting fish to spawn. I've never tried the full month long deal, I have shortened it to a couple of weeks, using egg crate for a top & letting water evaporate with occasional top offs to increase hardness. After a couple weeks of light feedind, then a 50% water change with cooler water, they spawn in a couple of days. Watching the weather for any approaching low fronts is a good idea, I try to coordinate the water change with the weather.

I have a 29 with some mature koi angels that I'm trying to get a pair out of, and they aren't being the most willing fish. I've been looking over this article, I'm thinking of going the whole route if they don't do something in the next week.

Well it depends on the species, but the best way is a little step by step approach:

Breeding of my polypterus Ornatapinnis was almost a mistake till i read it up but this was the process:


Both male and female were given live river shrimp, loach, other feeders and freshwater crabs as part of their meals, providing valuable calcium for these fish,they soon became much more active and coloured up:

As my tanks were all being cycled through, and i was starting a lake tanganyka tank, these guys were slowly acclimatized to alkaline water, where the real big ones are found, but on further reading, these guys are triggered on a change in acidity to alkaline and water visibility!, It got all murky in there, and the introduction of java ferns and mosses to provide some light cover and greenery were soon used as a spawning sight for my lovely ornates!

So a change in diet, water and providing of a natural setting triggered these two into breeding (btw i never got to do tang lake tank after that, the only tangs i could get were tiny and just wound up as lunch, i had to get large malawis instead :( )

with the cichlids I just chuck them in, there hardy and dont really need anything like food heh.

Turn the temperature up
Change the water
Feed live food



:D

I'd be interested to hear if leema did anything spceial with her breeding of the pleco's?

or the guy with his breeding discus, i can't remember who that was :hmm: .

Leema actually breeds Bristle nose catfish. I can sympathise with not remembering who does the discus, the names kinda blend into each other after you've read 15-20 threads at a time :laugh:

Oh well i'd still be interested anyways :laugh: