The Wild Fishing Forum

Quote from: Wildfisher on June 25, 2024, 09:13:54 PMThe possibilities with fish are endless if you have the space   .............and oh yes, the money........

I've always thought that the greatest aspect of this hobby is that you can make it as cheap or as expensive as you want. There's always cheap second hand tanks and kit around on local sales sites. Sometimes you can even pick them up for free when people pack up.

It's also very easy to make a few quid too. I used to breed a lot of killifish. For these I used to cultivate around 7 different live foods. It got to a stage where I produced more than I could use so started flogging cultures on eBay which then progressed to kits, pant cuttings and fish I'd bred. My hobby more than paid for itself.

Alternatively you can always just go full on lottery winner like this chap... 

https://www.ultimatereef.net/threads/krustys-supersize-ocean-view.725500/

Good advice Jon, thanks. I will stick with frozen for now.

The possibilities with fish are endless if you have the space   .............and oh yes, the money........

When I was married I still had all my Malawis. We headed off to Austria for two weeks and just left the fish. They were fine. The only real danger is equipment failure such as a heater that sticks on.

Quote from: Wildfisher on June 25, 2024, 07:01:41 PMThey'll be fine Sandy.

I do it every year Fred. When I come back I will be away again for four weeks but will come back on an overnight after two weeks and give them a feed

Ha. There's a lot of projects I'd love to attempt if I had the time. Some ambitious, some very simple. But you guys inspired me to have a crack at breeding fish I've been wanting to do for some time.

There are a few species I've been thinking about off and on for ages if I'm honest. I see the likes of ORA have really stepped up their aquaculture operations in the last decade or so and more and more saltwater species are now commercially bred.

So I want to have a crack at a few too. I can't guarantee any will be successful but I'd rather try and fail that never bother at all.

I tried with Bangaii cardinals a year ago but ultimately failed due to trying them in too small a tank. They were as annoying as any Cichlid can be territorial wise. So I'll return to them one day. Neon gobies appeal, but there's not much demand for them. Clownfish are easier and they'll always be demand for Nemo. But most people are focussed on designer morphs. Which are not as attractive as commons or perculas to me.

Dwarf seahorses, H. zostrae also appeal a lot and there would be no issues whatsoever moving on babies, but the amount of work producing food and feeding becomes impossible when you go on holiday. They have a crappy digestive system so are pretty much feeding constantly. They might need 30 to 60 copepods / brine or mysis shrimp each per day. That's a lot of work when raising clutches which they produce regularly.

So you might see a thread entitled 'Project Dotty' in due course. . And I think you'll be surprised just how utilitarian the brood stock tanks will be. 

No they're not the same .Though just to complicate things there are different species of 'tubifex worms'. As you've found, fish go mad for them. There's something about the wriggling that stimulates a feeding response.

The risk of introducing parasites is very real. I assume you're thinking of bringing yours into spawning condition? As both are very nutritious I'd consider freeze dried tubifex.

Black worms if you can find them make a great fish food and are worth culturing. But speaking as a natural born pragmatist, they make sense for large collections of larger catfish and cichlids etc.

With your current collection of dwarf cichlids, Cory's and a Betta on the way I'd suggest taking a look at culturing grindal, walter and or white worms. They're all really easy to do and cheap once you've got your initial culture going. Just feed white worms sparingly or you'll end up with a tank full of fatties.

Hope that helps

Are they the same thing?

Had anyone tried rearing them at home from a starter culture?

Back in the day I used to buy tubifex from a tropical fish shop in Aberdeen but worried about disease. Fish loved them though!

That is some project you have going there Jon!

They'll be fine Sandy.