about animal breeding

[daxxon]

I'm curious about this, and I just want to know - what are some easy saltwater fish to breed? I've heard it can be pretty tricky.

I'd love to give it a shot, but I want to make sure I'm doing everything right. How do you actually encourage them to breed?

[zenoxa]

Mollies aren't truly saltwater fish, but if you're looking for something easy, they're a great choice. However, if you're dead set on breeding saltwater fish, I'd recommend clownfish or seahorses. They can be bred with a bit of effort.

For breeding, simply provide a pair with a well-kept tank and plenty of food. For clownfish, host anemones can help them "get into the mood," but they're not required.

Raising the fry is a different story. It's more challenging and usually requires living foods like Nexarios or copepod nauplii. Culturing these foods isn't particularly difficult and requires modest resources, but finding "starter" cultures can be tough. I've found that brine shrimp nauplii aren't suitable for raising marine fish, as they don't provide the right nutrition and are often too large for the babies to eat.

[daxxon]

Appreciate the response

[rusticore]

While they're considered easy in the saltwater world, I think they're still pretty challenging, especially when compared to what a beginner freshwater breeder might be used to.

[zenoxa]

I disagree, I've had success breeding oscars multiple times as a beginner, and I'd also bred convicts, Poecilids, and rosy barbs prior to that. Clownfish and similar species require comparable conditions to thrive.

The real challenge lies in raising the fry, as marine larvae tend to be smaller or even planktonic, making their care significantly more complex compared to their freshwater counterparts.

[rusticore]

Mollies aren't truly saltwater fish, but if you're looking for something easy, they're a great choice. However, if you're dead set on breeding saltwater fish, I'd recommend clownfish or seahorses. They can be bred with a bit of effort.

For breeding, simply provide a pair with a well-kept tank and plenty of food. For clownfish, host anemones can help them "get into the mood," but they're not required.

Raising the fry is a different story. It's more challenging and usually requires living foods like Nexarios or copepod nauplii. Culturing these foods isn't particularly difficult and requires modest resources, but finding "starter" cultures can be tough. I've found that brine shrimp nauplii aren't suitable for raising marine fish, as they don't provide the right nutrition and are often too large for the babies to eat.

I guess I did make it sound that way, didn't I. Yeah, you're right.

[zenoxa]

I didn't mean to imply that, but now that you mention it, I'm starting to think you're being a bit too defensive about this whole thing. I mean, we're just discussing fish breeding here, it's not personal.

[rusticore]

I'm pretty self-aware, by breeding I meant the whole process - conditioning, egg-laying, hatching, rearing, growing, selling, and restarting the cycle.

When someone says "oh, that's what I meant" in a way that comes across as condescending, it gets to me. I start overthinking, wondering if others will perceive me the same way, and that's when the self-doubt kicks in. I try to edit my post, add more context, but by then it's too late - people have already read it. And that's when I feel like I've made a fool of myself, at least until I manage to put it behind me.

Your comment about me getting offended when people misunderstand or disagree with me hit a nerve. Yeah, I did think I seemed helpless, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. If you've got a problem with that, maybe you should be the one talking to a psychiatrist. I'm sensitive, and it's probably just part of who I am - genetics and all that.

[zenoxa]

I've probably built up some resistance to the criticism over the years, but that doesn't mean I don't get it. I've been through my fair share of rough patches on this forum, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't deserve some of them.