#1 [url]

Nov 8 09 6:29 AM

Colony Breeding

Other breeders have told me that they think I am nuts, but I breed my EBJDs X BGs in a colony, with incredible results. I've bred and raised all sorts of tropical fish over the last 40 years. I've never done it for profit, just fun. My wife claims that I think like a fish sometimes (hmmm...is that an insult to the fish?). The EB X BG and BG X BG spawns are so large, and so regular, that I can't even begin to raise even a fraction of them. I do have ten or twelve spawns that I have kept, and I am presently raising. Most have not been separated as yet (EBs From BGs). As there are only about 25% EBJD to the BGs in a spawn (BG X BG), there are literally thousands of BGs that have to become fish food. It is really discouraging because even the remaining EBJDs are taking up room that I would rather dedicate to my true love...Angel Fish, and fancy livebearer breeding. I've found that if I separate out a pair, they just hide and mope around, and won't even eat the baby BGs. In the community situation, they are all perky, eat extremely well, and breed like rabbits. (I know, I used to raise Angora Show Rabbits too).

I have been breeding Electric Blues and Blue Genes for about two years now in a colony. I have four Electric Blue Males, 3 Blue Gene Males, and 4 Blue Gene females in a bare sixty gallon aquarium. I have four 8" clay flowerpots in the tank tipped on their sides. I also had six Rainbow Cichlids in with them, but took them out so they could set up house for themselves. The Dempseys chase each other around, but have never done any harm to each other. When one male/female set up housekeeping, it usually means another pair will too. I usually get two spawns at the same time. The fish are crowded up enought that they don't set up territories. I remove the pot with the eggs and hatch them artificially. I average three spawns a month, minimum. There have been so many spawns, that it is impossible for me to raise them all. I feed the baby BGs to the parents to get rid of them, but still have four or five hundred young that have survived it all anyway. I have hundreds of EBJDs. I have no fish stores nearby to sell any to, so don't know what I will do with these things. My EBJDs and BG breeders are from different sources. I have the next generation about to spawn now, and don't know what I will do with them all. I have not seen any deformed young among any of the spawns. I have recently removed the largest BG males from the community to allow for the smaller EGJD males to do some spawning. They all get along just dandy.

Of the several thousand BGs that I have thrown into the "lion's den", there was one that survived the night, and I discovered that he has a solid black tail fin. The black extends about 3/8" up the body also. I rescued it, and it is growing rapidly along with some EBJD young. They are all about 1-1/4 to 1-1/2" now. I have not seen another black tailed fish among any of the hundreds of baby BGs that have not been separated out from the EBJDs yet. I keep hoping that there might be some more appear.

If anyone has some nice angelfish, fancy livebearers, or something to trade, I'd love to get rid of some of my smaller EBJDs and BGs, all sizes up to 1" or so. I just dumped all my larger BGs, they were getting about 2-3", and I didn't want to raise them any more. I kept a few to raise as future breeders. The big fish get tired of eating the little guys, and soon they just become tank mates until I get tired of feeding them and use them in the garden as fertilizer. I live in the middle of a desert, far from any large cities, and those cities have PetsMart and PetCo, that don't buy from private breeders... Sooooo, lots of fertilizer fish....Sad but true.

jayr.mcclellan@gmail.com
Fancy finned livebearers and small egglayers
Angelfish
EBJDs, Blue Genes, Gold Dempseys