Tropical Fish Tanks and breeding fish

Hi all! I hope you are as excited about my tropical fish tanks as I am! Why? Because one of my Electric Yellows gave birth to 20 fry (babies) last night.

Breeding tropical fish isn't very hard to do. In fact, if you make sure the environment in the tank is right for your fish, and as long as you have one of each sex (male and female), then most probably, those two fish will begin their mating rituals. Many fish have interesting mating behaviors, and it's interesting to see the development of the pregnancy term.

Some fish breed their young in their bodies. These are called "live-bearers". The birth of newborn "live-bearer" fish is similar to human births. The only difference is that newborn live-bearers usually are fully ready to swim, and don't need any support from their mother. "Mouth brooders" lay their eggs on a rock or plant, and put them into their mouths immediately after laying them. The eggs develop within the mother's mouth until they are ready to swim out. Once they are fully developed, the babies will swim out of the mother's mouth and find a good hiding spot in the tank. Bigger fish will usually try to eat newborn fish, so if you are specifically trying to breed fish, you'd want to put the pregnant fish in solitary confinement, using a floating breeding device. These are available at most pet stores.

Tomorrow, I'll start going into basic tank equipment, and things you should think about if you are contemplating starting up a fish tank of your own. For now...just enjoy the video because there is a lot of useful information regarding breeding your pet fish.