Breeding

Some brackish water fishes can be bred in the aquarium. The easiest fishes are the livebearers like guppies and mollies, closely followed by the hardy cichlids like kribensis. These species will breed even in community tanks, and provided the young aren’t eaten, you will soon have a problem finding homes for your new fish!

Where breeding can be obtained easily, brief notes are included in each species entry for the interested; but as a rule most aquarium books cover these species. Baensch’s Aquarium Atlas is probably the best European reference book for many unfamiliar species. TFH also publish numerous fish breeding books. A useful primer to fish breeding is Fish Breeding by Chris Andrews, part of the ‘Interpet Guide To...’ series.

On the other hand, many brackish water fishes have not been regularly spawned in captivity. Fishes such as Monodactylus sebae have been bred only on a very occasional basis while the breeding habits of others, like archerfish, are completely unknown. In many cases this is probably because the fishes are large and up till now insufficient tank space and number of individuals have been kept. As aquaria become easier to manage and people keep larger tanks, hopefully this problem will be overcome. Even so, some ‘triggering factor’ may be lacking, such as changes in salinity or temperature. With such fishes there is plenty of scope for experimentation.

If you want to breed aquarium fishes, perhaps the most reliable species to begin with are:

• Kribensis -- egg layer, guards spawn and fry; fry easy to feed
• Orange chromides -- egg layer, guards spawn and fry; fry need small live foods
• Bumblebee gobies -- egg layer, guards spawn and fry; fry need small live foods
• Mollies -- livebearers, fry big and easy to feed
• Halfbeaks -- livebearers, pregnant females somewhat delicate, but fry easy to raise

It is almost always best to keep fishes you want to breed in a separate tank with the minimum of decoration. Try to keep the tank as clean as possible, and remove any uneaten food. Use a good filter, but make sure the flow isn’t so strong it would suck up eggs or the baby fishes (fry). Provide nesting sites for those fishes that need one, such as a small flower pot turned on its side (ideal for gobies and dwarf cichlids). Feed the parents on the best food you can; frozen bloodworms and crustaceans are ideal conditioning foods and will complement a good quality flake food nicely. In the case of livebearers, remove the male after the female has become pregnant. Generally female livebearers will ignore their offspring after they have been born. Cichlids can be left together as pairs if they are coexisting, although if one or other of the parents is not behaving well it can be taken back to the community tank. Be aware that in the case of many cichlids the first or second broods are not always successfully raised. Sometimes the parents eat the eggs or fry. Don’t worry -- they eventually get it right! Male gobies are often in sole charge of the brood, in which case the female can be removed if she is being attacked. In all cases it is important to give the fishes, particularly the females, a rest between breeding cycles.