Feeder fish tank

[bicyclekick69]

I hav a leftover 20 gal tank and want to turn it into a tank to breed and hold feeder fish for some of my carnivores. I was wondering how i would do this and what fish i could put in there that breed a lot.... OR could i do the same and put a bunch of ghost shrimp in there to breed to feed to all of my cichlidsS????? Help me so i can get this done so i dont have to drive back and forth to my lfs.. THANKS..:cool:

[tanghappy]

How big of feeders do you feed your carnivores?

If you're looking for fairly small food, buy some feeder guppies and let them breed in there.

[jennigypsy]

actually, you could probably do both ghost shrimp and guppies in there...

[bicyclekick69]

I was looking for some fairly smaller fish like guppies. How would i go about making them breed ect. For the Ghost shrimp will the fry live in its own and hide in the plants in the tank? Are guppies mouthbrooders? If not what do i do in terms of getting the fry and sexing the parents? Is the guppy the easiest fish to breed? I am looking for the easiest thing to breed in that tank to have a steady supply of fish. Maybe once every 3weeks?? Any ideas??

[tanghappy]

Guppies are VERY easy to breed. They are livebearers. They are ussually easy to sex too. The males have colorful tails and narrower bodies. The females have shorter colorless tails and tend to be a bit bigger than the males. As far as I know, breeding guppies is as simple as putting them in water.

[jennigypsy]

yes, it's about that easy- and from what I understand, they appreciate water a little on the alkaline side...
maybe even a little salt in the water too...

(anyone else have anything to add to this?...am I way off?_)

[shmoof]

i have mcuh experience with guppy breeding. Just amke sure you have a 2:1 female to male ratio so taht female guppies do not get stressed out from constant male chasing. Provide a few floating plants for the babies to hide in until they are big enough to not fit into their parents mouths. A little bit of salt in the water keeps guppies helathier. Check more information about them on websites. A good forum to check out is www.guppies.com. There is a lot of helpful people there who know a lot about guppy breeding.

[bicyclekick69]

Is there a certain species of guppy i should get?? Like breeder guppy, fancy guppy ect.?? Also thanks for the link. How many can i have in my 20 gal. to breed for food??

[bicyclekick69]

Also i am only going to have a corner sponge filter in the tank. Is that ok.. One thing that always gets me is how does a tank build bacteria in a sponge filter if you change the sponge/packet every 2weeks?? Thanks

[jennigypsy]

I would get some 'feeder' guppies from the lfs, let them get fed & healthy then they'll breed...tho, the fancier types are usually a bit bigger...depends on the size of feeder you want
As for changing the sponge...just rinse it out in tank water (when you do a water change)...don't throw it out every 2 weeks (unless it's hopelessly dirty/clogged...) the good bacteria is in there as well as on the gravel, tank deco, etc..but most of it is in the filter media.

[tanghappy]

As Jennigypsy said, rinse it in tank water. If you use tap water, the chlorine in the tap water will kill lots of the bacteria.