equipment for a good breeding tank

Subject: equipment for a good breeding tank Sat Mar 22, 2008 10:11 pm

want to make sure i am doing this right. to much contradictory information on my internet searches.

I have just set up a 10 gal tank for my guppies. knowing guppies i am gonna have babies.
What is the proper type of filter to have in the tank to give the babies the best chance of surviving tell they are big enough to go into the bigger community tank?
current tank set up is 10 gal freshwater, airstone, whisper 60 filter on a low setting or the current is to high from it, 3 fake plants. tank is a little cloudy but will soon post a pic so you guys can see the setup inside.

Subject: Re: equipment for a good breeding tank Sun Mar 23, 2008 7:18 am

I have heard that a sponge filter is best in breeding tanks, but this may not be must. I had fish breeding in a 10 gallon and all I did was put a fine screen over the in take, to prevent the fry from getting sucked in to it.
I have also heard of people using a piece of pantie hose and doing the same thing.
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Subject: Re: equipment for a good breeding tank Mon Mar 24, 2008 9:05 am

Sponge filters are the best, as fry do not get sucked into it. Java moss and vallisneria are the best plants in my opinion for fry tanks, as the fry can hide in them easily. Regular water changes are important as fry need excellent water quality. As for gravel, no gravel is best, so leave the plants in plant baskets or aquarium planters. All of this has worked for me over the years with my discus and angels, along with many other freshwater cichlids, danios, catfish, tetras, plecos, livebearers, and many other fish.
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Subject: Re: equipment for a good breeding tank Sun Mar 30, 2008 1:57 pm

picked up a sponge filter and have it int he tank. leaving the other filter on so the sponge can cycle in. still cloudy thou. been cycling with a water start from the other tank for i think 3 weeks. with the filter from the other tank and water from it it should it be taking this long to cycle on a 10 gal?

Subject: Re: equipment for a good breeding tank Sun Mar 30, 2008 7:43 pm

i always have sponge filters running in all my tanks... so when i need to bust out with an emergency 10g tank i have a seeded sponge filter for it...

another thing you could do is get alot of plants... guppies will eat thier fry... i used to use java fern and moss in my guppy tank... they hide in it, eat on the ditrees that get stuck in the moss, controll algae and doesn't need alot of light...

good luck...

Subject: Re: equipment for a good breeding tank Wed Apr 09, 2008 1:29 pm

alrighty. took off the hob filter from the 10 gal and it cleared up within hrs. What ever tank i have this hob on goes cloudy. So I am thinking this is now a spare parts filter for me.

Subject: HOB Whisper 60 Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:13 pm

You really don't want that hob filter on the breeder tank. It will suck up everything you're going for. The sponge is all you need with some carefull 25% water changes to reduce N... levels.

I have three Whisper 60, a Whisper 40 and three Whisper 20 filters running on various tanks. (All take same media stuff). Rarely ever see cloudy water.

Having town water I use water conditioners to neutralize Cl. The water conditioners I also refer to as "slime". The goldfish I have need it for stress reduction at water change time. Every goldfish grower I've seen recommends close to triple label rate for them using town water. "Slime" undoubtedly precipitate microparticles in the water, as well.

The common physical stuff that I look at for cloudy water is tank gravel finds (fine sand), plant material, the water source itself being cloudy with clay, and other pollutants from fish and every other thing that goes in the tank.
I really like having a new fresh water test kit with the tests for the various N.... levels and pH and hardness tests. (But it did cost $41.) It stops a bit of wondering.
I already know the water company is going to dump a lot of Cl in the water at their test time.

Anyhow, once you get the tank established, condition the proud parents with higher protien food and get them going. yeh.
I can tell you do have it under control.
They love it.

Subject: Re: equipment for a good breeding tank Mon May 19, 2008 1:43 pm

I use Pen-Plax Filters and Fluval 1 with pantie hose around it. I breed Fancy Guppies that i plan on entering for compitions. I do daily 5% water changes and keep the currents low by blocking them.. The baby fry get tired and lose energy that they need for growing. i also feed them just hatched brine shrimp too. Oh ya no gravel and i use the smallest clay pots for hides.