🐟 What to Do If Your Fish Are Breeding

---

1️⃣ Identify the Breeding Method

• 🥚 Egg Scatterers → (tetras, barbs, danios) scatter eggs on plants or substrate. Adults usually eat the eggs.
• 🪨 Egg Depositors/Substrate Spawners → (angelfish, plecos, cichlids) lay eggs on rocks, caves, or glass.
• 🫧 Bubble Nesters → (bettas, gouramis) males build bubble nests and guard eggs/fry.
• 🪸 Mouthbrooders → (African cichlids, some catfish) incubate eggs/fry in the mouth.
• 👶 Livebearers → (guppies, mollies, platies, swordtails) give birth to free-swimming fry.

---

2️⃣ Decide: Do You Want to Raise Fry?

• ⚖️ Owner’s Choice: Raising fry can be very time-consuming.
  • Requires special foods (infusoria, microworms, baby brine shrimp).
  • Needs multiple daily feedings.
  • Demands frequent water changes (often daily for fry tanks).
• 🕒 If you don’t want the commitment, you can:
  • Allow nature to take its course (parents or tankmates may eat the fry).
  • Let parents raise fry (in some species).

---

3️⃣ Protect the Eggs/Fry

• 🪸 Some species eat their own eggs or fry → separate them if you want to keep babies.
• 🪨 Some species (like cichlids, bettas, discus) are excellent parents → sometimes it’s best to let them raise their own fry.
• ⚠️ After eggs hatch, in aggressive species (like many cichlids), separate parents or fry or they may attack/kill each other.

---

4️⃣ Set Up a Breeding or Fry Tank

• 💧 Same parameters as the main tank, but cleaner and safer.
• 🧽 Use a sponge filter (gentle, safe for fry).
• 🌿 Add fine-leaf plants (java moss, guppy grass) or caves for fry hiding spots.
• 🏠 Breeder boxes/nets can protect livebearer fry from being eaten.

---

5️⃣ Feeding Fry

• 🐣 Egg-layer fry → Start with infusoria or liquid fry food → move to baby brine shrimp, microworms, crushed flakes.
• 👶 Livebearer fry → Large enough to eat crushed flakes or powdered fry food immediately.
• 🪸 Mouthbrooder fry → Usually big enough to take baby brine shrimp right away.
• 🫧 Bubble nester fry (bettas) → Infusoria first, then brine shrimp once large enough.

---

6️⃣ Water Quality is Critical

• 🧪 Fry are extremely sensitive to ammonia & nitrite.
• 🔄 Do small daily water changes (10–20%).
• 🌡️ Keep stable temperature — fluctuations kill fry quickly.

---

7️⃣ Alternative Use of Fry (Live Feeders)

• 🐟 Not every fry has to be raised as pets.
• ✅ Many aquarists raise fry as live feeders for predatory fish.
• 👍 Advantage: You control their diet → fry are healthier than feeder goldfish, which often carry disease and are poor nutritionally.

---

⚠️ Bottom Line

• Raising fry can be rewarding but demanding — it’s up to the owner to decide.
• Some species should be left to raise their own fry for natural behavior.
• Others need separation to prevent aggression or cannibalism.
• Fry can be raised for pets or feeders, but either way, water quality, proper food, and time commitment are key.