Tips for effective breeding

Anything that you have placed in the aquarium traps debris. As soon as the fry come out,
remove any breeding traps that have been in the aquarium before. You can also add one
or a couple of apple snails into the aquarium. Apple snails are very laid back and do not
attack any fish. These snails will eat debris, and will also eat any dead fry. Apple snails
will not eat live fry. Apple snails also produce a good supply of infusorians and can even
provide the fry's first supply of food.
Keeping a detailed log of the entire process is a very good idea. This will help you when
you need to repeat the process. You should keep accounts of the species name, the
detailed water chemistry, filtration and aeration methods, approximate ages of the
parents, when the female was added, the date on which the fry was released/hatched, the
fry's first food and the body size of the fry till it reaches about three months of age.
Sometimes, even in spite of doing just about everything to ensure success, you will find
that your fish just does not breed. All conditions are as they should be, but still there is no
success. In this case, it is best to use a "target" fish to jump-start the process. This works
best in territorial fish. A target fish is a perceived threat to the territorial fish. The male
fish sees the new fish as a possible encroacher in his territory and he will then pair up
with the female fish to isolate the target fish. The important thing here is to ensure that
your target fish is in reality not a threat to the existing fish or vice versa. For instance,
when trying to breed small cichlids, using some zebra danios as target fish will not pose
any threat to either fish. It should be noted that some species of fish will kill any kind of
target fish, and such situations should be avoided. If this is the case, it will also suffice if
you place the target fish in a different aquarium alongside the mating aquarium so that the
male can see but not touch.
Sometimes, fish introduced into a new aquarium are too nervous to come out into the
open. They will remain hidden for days and will refuse to settle down. Fish that are
stressed in this way will never pair up and breed. In such cases, you can use a "dither"
fish to calm the other fish. A dither fish is an easygoing, harmless fish. A hyperactive and
aggressive fish is definitely not the right dither fish. Calm and peaceful midwater fish
makes the best dither fish. Once the nervous fish see the dither fish swimming about
happily without being consumed by predators, they too will settle down and come out oftheir hiding places. This is just to reassure the nervous fish that nothing will harm them
when they come out into the open.