Breeding SW fish.
Frank Manno
I've haven't been able to find litriature on breeding marine fish.
I've been told that you can't breed marine fish, is this true and if so,
does anyone know why they won't breed in an aquarium?
-Frankie
Kristi Bittner
Frank Manno (fra...@zip.com.au) wrote:
: I've haven't been able to find litriature on breeding marine fish.
: I've been told that you can't breed marine fish, is this true and if so,
: does anyone know why they won't breed in an aquarium?
: -Frankie
Marine fish can be bred in aquariums... people are just having limited
success in *raising* the fry... Progress is being made, however. The
difficulty is that, when the fry are first hatched, they are extremely
small, and finding a workable first food has been difficult. And
because of the size, the fry must also be put into a separate, special
set up for initial growth.
There are a number of species that would be good to start with,
especially some of the clownfish or damsels, or the neon gobies. The
choice of species is important, as the larger the initial fry, the
higher the success rate, generally.
How much information do you want? And do you have access to the WWW?
There are a number of sources for further info on breeding. Are you
curious about what the state of the art is, or do you want to try your
hand at it?
One published book is Martin Moe's "THE MARINE AQUARIUM HANDBOOK:
Beginner to Breeder", in which he walks one through the basics with
clownfish. It's a good book in general, even though it doesn't have
lots of detail on the latest and greatest general aquarium techniques.
It's a good starting point for learning about breeding, though. Moe
had one of the first commercial operations to aquaculture marine fish
for the aquarium industry.
I believe there is a separate book all about gobies, including some
breeding information about neon gobies, but I don't have a reference
for that.
--
Kristi Bittner
kri...@sc.hp.com
or occasionally: kbit...@netgate.net
Paul & Kristin Shoemaker
For more information on breeding marine fish, try _Sea Scope_ by Aquarium
Products (I think) it's a free pamphlet they put out in pet stores. It
carries some articles occasionally on breeding. Also read _The Marine
Aquarium Handbook: Beginner to Breeder_ by Martin Moe Jr. it's a great
place to start even if it is starting to get a little dated. The
information is out there, it's just a little scattered.
Also, be forwarned that while people have been breeding clowns and
gobies (several species) in captivity for quite some time now, it is very
difficult to raise the fry. You will need lots of space, equipment, time,
money, and patience. Also, try asking around on some of the other
rec.aquaria.* newsgroups.
Hope this helps.
Paul :)