feeder fish breeding?

evilaxies

evilaxies

Axolotl Enthusiast
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I have recently chucked a few feeder fish in for our axies, they seem to love the exercise and activity in catching them, which i think is good. Just wondering how i could breed feeder fish so i can be assured that anything i introduce into the axie tank is safe and free of bacteria that can happen when buying fish from a pet shop / aquarium. Can anyone help me?
 
I think guppies are easy to breed. They breed a lot, are cheap to buy and don't need much care. My friend breeds them for me. She just got a batch of 30-40 and it took my axolotl two weeks to get through 15 of them (about 5mm-10mm in size for the babies).
 
feeder fish breeding

thanks for the tip, so guppies are good food for axies? they don't munch on axie fronds do they? The ones i have used [feeders] are pretty small, say 1 - 1.5 inches. I don't know what they are called and they don't sit still long enought for me to get a pic. They are silvery with a small dot on their tails. Does anyone know what they are called?
 
feeder fish breeding

also, aren't guppies tropical fish? does that make a difference seeing as the axies water temp is usually quite low for tropical fish? I have spoken to someone, and they said the name for feeder fish is feeder fish [hmm...] but i can't seem to find out the 'fishy' name for them. They also said 'danios' and 'white clouds' can be good feeder fish too...
 
I feed them to him when they are small, too small to munch on axolotl fronds! When they are adults they are about 4-5cm. They are top dwellers and axolotls stay on the bottom too so they don't seem to bother him until he is hungry.

Not sure if they are tropical or not, they've been fine in my tank. On the net it says temperatures in the low 20s are ideal but they are fine at lower temperatures. They are pretty hardy fish as far as I know (you can even keep them in marine tanks as they can stand a lot of salt) and like the same PH and hardness as axolotls. They also aren't fussy eaters, just give them a small amount of fish flakes a day.

I suspect you'd need a seperate breeding tank (or at least a section cordoned off from your axolotl) if you are going to breed guppies, as your axolotl will go for the adult guppies too!

Guppies are good feeder fish I am told as far as nutrition goes. But if that is wrong, someone let me know please :)
 
Saspotato said:
Guppies are good feeder fish I am told as far as nutrition goes. But if that is wrong, someone let me know please :)
Click to expand...

As far as I know, whole fish are always better concerning nutritional aspects than fish-filet is (because of the bones etc.).

I am breeding guppies as feeder fish, too. I decided to breed a smaller kind of guppy called "Endler Guppy" - they do not become as big as other species and tolerate lower temperatures. The reverse of the medal is that they do not have as much babies as other, bigger guppies do.

Here is a picture of a young male Endler of mine:

Endler.jpg
 
Guppies are an excellent feeder fish as they are both easy to breed and are better nutritionally than many of the other readily available feeder fish. I remember Ed Kowalski mentioning that whole livebearers, like guppies, are nutritionally a good choice. All you would need to breed guppies is a ten gallon sized aquarium with some floating plants. They'll breed at room temperature and do well in the 65-75F range. Endler's livebearers, while awesome fish, may be more expensive for the original stock and much harder to find.

The name feeder fish is completely useless as identification. I can name a good half dozen fish from several different families that are often used as feeders.
 
I feed my axies on the same feeder fish, (silver, with a black dot on the end of the tail) they love chasing them at night, don't let the fish get too big in the tank though, as they tend to nip gills, I had to get a couple out that were good at escaping the snap of 'Gills'' jaws, and grew quite large. They did try eating Gill and Sallys' fronds.

Cheers

Sharon
 
Hawau I'm Haveing a go at breeding guppies for midnight i got a decent sized tank for them and midnight's old filter and her old tiny stones no plants for the guppies or midnight yet still waiting to find some decent priced ones

Ne way the dude at the store said they breed every 4 weeks and at least two were allready preggy as far as he could tell because there was a male in the tank that shouldn't of been in there and he breeds them himself.

ne way i was wondering how long are they preggy for? i wasn't listening to the dude very well and there is one male to say 7-8 females is this enough to breed or do i need a couple more males?
 
I think one male is enough, but I don't think another will do any harm if you have trouble with breeding. They are pregnant for about 20-30 days. They can get pregnant again pretty much straight after they have given birth too so they are a good breeding fish (the rabbit of the fish world!)

They also prefer warmer temperatures to breed - about 27-28C.
 
I am partial to Whitecloud Minnows. They are highly tolerant of temperature gradients and breed like bunnies. I started with four for fun and exercise for my Tg's and now I have a stable breeding colony. Probably 15-25 adults depending on the season and up to 50 little ones of varrying ages. 7 Tg's keep the polulation in check despite the addition of chopped earthworm 2-3X per week.
 
I have just bought some guppies , with the aim I'll use them in time to feed my axolotl gang I got 5 females ( red tails ) and 2 males (yellow tales). They are in a tank approx 18 inches long with a filter and lots of elodea( ?). I have told the family that they are here purely as breeders of food and they have accepted it........ but I am now getting quite attached to them, I hadn't appreciated just how pretty they are!!!
 
Yeah, I am thinking if I got some guppies so my axie had some to chase, my kids would get a bit upset about the whole food chain thing.
 
I find with my gang that being honest from the start works well, and they don't always like it but they accept.... Its been a fantastic learning adventure since I first got the axolotl. They have understood the basic of why axolotl are so unique, how they reproduced, seen the eggs laid, develope , hatch , grow..the deaths of some of the larvae..they have seen one loose its complete tail, re grow most of it and then to loose its life when it repeated its jaunt to see dad. They also understood the re-homing of the female was neccessary for her well being and health ( even though the following owner left her to breed for a 3rd time in 4 months). When they first saw the fish they were told right from the start that hopefully these will re-produce so that the youngsters will be a supplament for the axolotl that I have..but I hadn't really taken in to account just how attractive these little fish are, but I'll have to follow through with what I told them...after all I don't have the space to be over run with little fishes!!
 
lol my mother hates that i have an axolotl because of the food chain thing and my guppies are still alive so i must be doing something right new to (guppies and axolotl's) the guppies are pretty thau i have a rainbow colour male and the females are all plain looking and similar.

I have a question im hopeing they will breed purely for food for midnight when the fry arrive if they arrive will be going into a tiny tank as ive been told it helps so they find it easyer to find food can i feed them midnights blood worms? thats all i have really to feed them.
 
thanks for the reply i have fish flake food for the adult guppy would the guppy fry eat the adult food if i crush it up small enough like really tiny?
 
Everything I've read says that fry can be fed flake food as long as it is crushed into a powder.
Just put some into a ziplock baggie and then roll a pencil over it until it's small enough. =)
 
Yep, my baby guppies ate fish flakes no worries. But yes, you have to crush it up very small and only feed a tiny bit.
 
i was wondering what do u need to breed guppies???
almost every aquarium shop are selling male guppies for $6AUD n female for $5AUD
it's quite costly just to keep buying guppies for my axies... might as well just breed them myself =)
 
I think $5-6 is a rip off, usually they sell for $2-4 at good aquariums in Melbourne... Sometimes $1 if you buy in bulk! Most aquarium owners offer discounts if you are a regular customer and ask for one. :) At least in my experience... so you can always try asking.

But you are right, it is better to breed them yourself (you don't have to quarantine them for 30 days like you do when you buy them from aquariums! :))

As far as what you need to breed guppies: A separate tank as if kept with your axolotl, they are unlikely to last for very long. The tank does not have to be big at all (20 litres?). People I know with them just seem to keep them like goldfish and don't put a lot of time into making a fancy tank. They are tolerant of higher temperatures too, and are more likely to breed at higher temperatures.

They eat fish flakes (adults and babies), but make sure you turn the flakes into powder form. Then you just sprinkle a little on top. Also brine shrimp are good and once they get to a certain size they will eat blood worms. Babies should be fed every day and adults less so. Sometimes I forget a day or two and they nibble on plants :confused:, which seems to do them no harm...

I would say weekly water changes are fine, just like with your axolotl but of course, more when you are cycling the tank... Not sure if you need a filter or not, I probably wouldn't use one and do more frequent water changes but others may differ.

My feeder guppies are breed from a stock of 1 male to 3 females and they have babies ALL THE TIME! The rabbits of the fish world I guess. Usually get 30 at a time. I have used guppies that are a few days old to a few months so I don't think it really matters when you move them to the axolotl tank. I find smaller is better so they aren't likely to attack my axie!

If you want more detailed help I found this site, which seems pretty good or you can google around for some more help:
http://guppyplace.tripod.com/Breeding.html
 
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