Breed Your Pet Fish - MOLLY

Mollies are Live-bearers and are of different types and varieties - Black Molly, Black Moon Tail Molly, Silver Molly, Silver Moon Tail Molly, Red Eye Golden Velifera Molly, Sunrise Molly, Chocolate Molly, Balloon Molly, Marble Molly, Dalmation Molly etc. This is the common breeding system for different types of MOLLIES.

What you need

1. Tank
• 24x12x12 inch Glass Tank - 2
• 1 for Breeding of Parents
• 1 for Baby Mollies
• 24x12x12 inch Wooden Top with 6W T4 Tube Light fitted - 1
2. Life Support
• Air Pump - 1
• U G Filter - 2 (one for each tank)
3. Interior Decor
• Fine Gravel or Sand Chips - 8 + 8 Kgs for each tank
• Live Water Plants - Cabomba / Mint / Ambulia - 25 bunch for each tank
4. Food
• Basic FLAKEs and DRY WORMS for Adult Molly
• Micro PELLETs and DRY WORMS for Young Molly
5. Parents
• 1:2 ratio of Male:Female Mollies i.e., Maximum 15 Mollies with 5 males and 10 females

Steps for Successful Breeding

• Aquarium Setup
• Setup the Aquarium tank with required item nos. in 1 to 3.
• Keep both the Glass Tanks nearby each other (possibly).
• Fix the Air Pump in a higher level.
• On both tanks, setup Life Support and Interior Decorations and connect to the Single Air Pump with both the U G Filters and fill-up water.
• The babies tank needs no top or artificial lighting, but, let the baby tank be positioned in such a place where natural light is available.
• Leave this setup with light and air pump ON for 10 to 15 days until the live plants grow their roots and get gripped.

• Enter the Molly

• On the 15th day, introduce the Parent Mollies at the ratio of 1:2 males and females in the breeding tank.
• For BETTER BREEDING & TO GAIN MORE NUMBER OF MOLLY BABIES, don't mix/put OTHER VARIETIES OF FISHES IN THE BREEDING TANK.
• Introducing other fishes will affect the privacy of Molly pairs & reduce the number of babies and
at times may cause the birth of pre-mature babies or dead babies.

• Male/Female Identification

• Female looks bulkier in the abdomen and larger than the males. The Anal fin of the Female is like a quarter circular fan.
• Males are slim and have larger Dorsal fin. They have GONOPODIUM in the Anal Fin. GONOPODIUM is a tube like organ, which inserts sperm into female's body/Ovary to fertilize eggs. The Male can bend/turn his Gonopodium at 360 degree direction when mating with female.

• Prepping the Mollies for Breeding

• Water in the tank gets evaporated frequently, hence, needs refilling the evaporated space.
• Partly replacing the fresh water will motivate the Male Mollies to chase the Females.
• Feed the parents 3 times daily with highly nutritious food, like, Basic FLAKEs and DRY WORMS to get them healthy in the breeding condition.
• In a 10 days time, you can notice the Female Mollies are pregnant.
• Due to the fertiled eggs starts to grow, the belly of the Female will swell like a ball.
• Remove any waste plants and dust to keep the tank clean.

• Delivery

• When in labor, the female will never take food, but, after delivering babies, it may be more hungry and even it might have eaten its own young.
• Males will chase the Females vigourously to support them in labor.
• Females will feel shy and will hide in the water plants while giving birth. So, it is rare to notice the delivery of the Baby Mollies.
• Mothers will release its babies directly by twisting her body.
• Molly babies emerge from the Live Plants & Algae:
• HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BABY MOLLIES!
• CONGRATS TO PARENTS & YOU TOO!
• Molly babies can be seen by our naked eyes immediately.
• Live Plants and Algae are the best bet in hiding the babies.
• Algae grow along with the plants will help to hide the Mother while breeding and the babies immediately after birth.
• Live Plants and Algae also serve as good natural feed for mother and babies.
• A Female could yield 5 to 50 young mollies at a time, as per its age and size once in every 30 days.

• Safer Home for Young Mollies

• Next day, move the Mollies to the second tank already kept ready.
• Once in a week, recycle 30% of the water carefully from the baby molly tank.
• Feeding
• Being the Live Bearers, the Molly Babies don't have yolk sack. So, from the day of birth onwards you may feed Micro PELLETS or DRY WORMS.

FACTS

• Mollies are Live Bearers, i.e., they will give birth to Live Babies directly and do not lay eggs.
• As already mentioned Mollies are sensitive in nature, so, if we disturb the Mollies while they are pregnant, it will result in premature or dead babies.
• Breeding period of a female molly is generally 30 to 35 days.
• Breeding tank can be used for 1 year by recycling the water 50% once in a week.
• You can rear young mollies every month from a healthy mothers.

NAVRATRI GOLU - Fountain & Falls Ideas

Fountain Idea: Elephant Fountain

Tips

* Outlet water from the Fountain should go back to the same Tank or Pond
* Water Level should never go below the Power Head machine
* Decorate the surrounding as per your taste, covering the glass tank with color plastic sheet, rocks, plastic plants etc.



Table Top Water Fall Ideas using Rocks, Wood & House hold items

Big & Indoor Water Fall Ideas

Breed Your Pet Fish - SIAMESE FIGHTER

Siamese Fighter fish aka Betta fish is one of the most popular variety of freshwater aquarium fishes famous for fighting.

What you need?

1. Tank Setup
1. 20x10x10 inch size Glass Tank (circular vessels/bowls will not serve)
2. 20x10x10 inch Fiber Top
3. 6" Glass Bowls - 3 numbers
• 1 Glass Bowl for Male Fighter
• 1 Glass Bowl for Female Fighter
• 1 Glass Bowl for food processing using Dry Hay for Fighter babies
4. 3x3 inch size Thermocol - 1/2 inch thick
2. Interior Decor
1. Live Water Plants - Hydrilla or Cabomba
• They help to hold and hide the babies
• They also serve as basic food.
3. Diet & Health
1. Live Tubifex Worms
2. Dry Worms
3. Hand full of Dry Hay
• Put Dry Hay into the a glass bowl with water and let it soak for 2 days for preparing Fighter Baby feeding culture.
4. Medicine - Blue Liquid
4. Siamese Fighter Parents
1. Male:Female ratio - 1:1
2. If bred in multiple tanks, put 1 pair per tank
5. Other Accesories
1. Fish Net

Common Aquarium accessories you SHOULD NOT use in Siamese Fighter breeding:

1. Air Pump
2. Water Filter
• Siamese Fighters are open air breathers by nature. Hence small space and little water are sufficient for them to live. They don't need aeration and filteration.
3. Interior Decorations

How to identify Male & Female?

• Male fighter is bright in color, much longer fins and tails 3 to 4 times than a female and will dance like a Peacock during fighting and romance.
• Female fighter is dull in color, got short fins and tails, fat belly and got vertical dull stripes over its body.


 

Steps for Successful Breeding

• Prepping the Parents
• Before breeding, put Male & Female in separate bowls kept side by side.
• Feed the fighters very well with Tubifex Worms for about a week.
• Frequently change water in both the bowls.
• Notice the male building a bubble nest in the bowl itself.
• Aquarium Setup (most simplest)
• Keep the breeding tank in a shadowy place without much disturbance.
• Fill the breeding tank with 1/3 water and put the live water plants in the water.
• Enter the Fighter
• On the 8th day, introduce the male fighter alone in the breeding tank
• Place the thermocol piece on Water level.
• The male fighter starts to build a bubble nest, by taking open air and mixing its saliva.
• In a day time it built a comfortable size of bubble nest beneath the thermocol.
• Finally, drop the female fighter in the breeding tank carefully and close it with fiber top.
• Dancing & Chasing & Breeding
• On seeing the female, the male fighter will dance and chase it.
• Female feels shy and tries to hide between the Water Plants, when the male continues to chase the female aggresively. At the same time it also strengthen the nest.
• Eventually, female is attracted to the male and comes closer.
• Squeeze Pregnancy
• The male takes the female under the bubble nest and gently hugs the female to squeeze its belly several times smoothly to extract the eggs.
• 

  
  

  For every squeeze, eggs keep coming out of female's belly.
• When the eggs come down, both the male and female catch the eggs and deposit over the bubble nest.
• Mating of Siamese Fighters is an Amazing Scene to watch!
• The male fertilizes the eggs while depositing them.
• The eggs can be seen through naked eyes like fine Rava/Sooji.
• Once you notice both male & female stop egg laying, take the female and move it to a bowl.
• Daddy Day Care!
• By the third day, notice the cute little fighter babies doing fun things
• Hanging on the bubble nest
• Sticking on the tank glass
• Trying to Swim
• "Trying to swim" is not actually very dangerous for the little ones as they may get hurt by hitting the tank floor.
• Male Fighters make the most sincerest DADs. For completely three days, daddy keep watch of his babies, catch them when they fall down and put them back into the bubble nest!
• Once you see young fighters swimming confidently, its time for DAD to say bye his babies.
• Move the male fighter back to its bowl and immediately feed Live Tubifex Worms and put blue medicine.
• VERY IMPORTANT!
• For the whole breeding duration, NEVER FEED both the parents.
• For Daddy Day Care, DAD needs to stay completely focused in taking care of the eggs and the babies even if it has to starve. Showing food will distract it from its Parenthood.

Healthy Little Fighter Babies

• Medicine
• Add some blue liquid in the tank and add 2" of water everyday.
• Food
• NO FOOD UNTIL DAD is separated from the babies
• Week 1 - Boiled Egg Yolk soaked liquid
• Week 2 to 4 - Wet Hay culture processed from Dry Hay
• Week 5 to 6 - Infursoria
• Week 7 to 10 - Dry Tubifex/Blood Worms
• Week 11 onwards - Live food

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why to keep the Breeding Tank in a shadowy place with less disturbance?
• Parent Fighters don't usually get disturbed easily, but, touching or shaking the tank while breeding is certainly an annoying disturbance.
2. Why only 1/3 water inthe Breeding Tank?
• To reduce the parent fighter's strain in mating and catching the eggs for several times.
• To keep the fertiled eggs over the nest.
3. Why the female fighters should be moved immediately after egg laying is complete?
• Female fighters loses all its energy in the Squeeze Pregnancy.
• You may notice that for most of the squeezes, the female may be in a fainted state, while the male is busy catching the eggs and depositing them on the bubble nest.
• To regain their energy they try to FEED on the eggs. To save the eggs, we should move the female immediately after breeding.
4. After breeding, fins & tails of the parents are torn, esp., the female. Is this normal?
• This is very normal and nothing to worry about as for Siamese Fighters torn fins and tails will grow naturally in a few weeks.
5. Why no food to the babies until the DAD is separated?
• When Fighter babies hatch out of the eggs, they carry the yolk sack, which supplies them nutrition for the first few days.
6. When the babies are falling off from the nest, the DAD catches them in mouth and doesn't deposit them back in the nest. Is it FEEDING on the babies ?:(
• NO WAY! Remember Male Fighter are the most sincerest DADs of all.
• Fighter DADs are very Safety Consious for their babies
• After the eggs hatch, its main focus is to ensure the babies doesn't get hurt. So, it catches them in their mouth - Of course mouth is the closest they have to hold anything.
• Fighter DADs are very Protective of their babies
• If anyone is watching the tank, they get worried if they may hurt the babies. So, it holds them for a while. Once it is convinced that there will not be any harm to the babies, it puts them back to the nest.

* The facts/points given in the above article may be applicable in South Indian climate and water conditions. The author is not responsible of the breeding is not successful in other areas.

Deep Sea Wonders - LION FISH

Lionfish is an exotic and venomous marine variety of fishes, mostly found in Coral Reefs of Indo-Pacific Ocean and Red Sea available in different colors and varieties.

• They can live from 5 to 15 years.
• Their size can range from 5 to 15 inches according to their variety and age.

Lionfish look like birds in the water, because of the beautiful, colorful and feather-like FINS. But, beauty can be deceptive and dangerous. Unlike birds, the Lionfishes use their FINS for attacking their prey and defend from their predators. This weapon helps them survive in the Wild seas.

They are also called as TURKEYFISH, ZEBRAFISH, TIGERFISH, DRAGONFISH, SCORPIONFISH and BUTTERFLY COD etc.

LIONFISH VENOM & HUMANS

• Lionfish delivers venom through its needle like Dorsal Fins.
• For Humans, it feels like a STING when stuck with the Lionfish Venom.
• Symptoms (Rarely Fatal)
• Breathing difficulties
• Vomitting
• Fever
• Remedy & Treatment
• Immerse the wound in HOT water for 60 minutes to reduce pain and swelling.
• If pieces of spine left in the wound, remove it by using a lens and tweezer.
• Never use pain killer tabs.
• When visiting the doctor for treatment, explain about the Lionfish and its nature as the doctor may not have known about it.

MAJESTIC & BEAUTIFUL FAMILY

Clearfin Lionfish	Red Volitan Lionfish
Spotfin Lionfish	Volitan Lionfish
Hawaiian Turkeyfish	Frillfin Lionfish
Luna Lionfish	Scorpionfish

Breed Your Pet Fish - GUPPY

What you need

1. Tank
• Breeding: 20x10x10 inch size Glass Tank (Economy Option)
• Young Ones: Any size Tank with no adult fishes
2. Life Support
• Air Pump - 1
• U G Filter - 1
• 6W T4 Tube Light - 1
3. Interior Decor
• Fine Gravel or Sand Chips -  6 Kg (recommended)
• 8" Plastic Plant - 1
• Live Water Plants - Hydrilla and/or Cabomba
4. Food
• Basic FLAKEs for Adult Guppy
• Micro PELLETs for Young Guppy
5. Guppies
• 3:9 ratio of Guppies i.e, 12 Guppies with 3 males and 9 females

Steps for successful Breeding

• Aquarium Setup
• Setup the Aquarium with required item nos. in 1 to 3
• Setup the Glass Tank
• Connect the Air pump & U G Filter
• Fill the Fine Gravel or Sand Chips for 1 inch in the Tank covering the U G Filter
• Fill Water for half tank
• Fix the Plastic & Water Plants
• Fill Water in the full tank
• Fix the Tube Light to illuminate the tank
• Leave this setup with the light ON for 10 days for the Water plant roots to grow and get gripped with the Gravel or Sand Chips.
 
• Enter the Guppy
• On the 11th day, introduce Guppy Male and Female in 3:9 ratio into the tank.
• For BETTER BREEDING & TO GAIN MORE NUMBER OF GUPPY FRY, don't mix/put OTHER VARIETIES OF FISHES IN THE BREEDING TANK.
• Introducing other fishes will affect the privacy of Guppy pairs & reduce the number of fry.

• Prepping the Guppies for Breeding
• Partly (not full) refill fresh Water in the tank. Water in the tank gets evaporated frequently, hence needs refilling.
• Partly refilling of fresh Water, will motivate Male Guppies to chase the females.
• Feed the parents daily with HIGHLY nutritious food like Basic FLAKEs to get them in the breeding condition.
• By a week's time, you can notice that the female Guppies are pregnant i.e., the fertilized eggs can be seen clearly as a dark mark in their belly area.
• Remove any Waste Plants to keep the tank clean.




Female Guppy giving Birth


• Parachute Pregnancy

• When in Labor, female Guppies will not take food.
• Male Guppies will chase them vigorously to support them in Labor.
• Females will go in circles on the top of the Water like an aeroplane and occasionally stop to drop the Little Ones like parachutes
• Birth of the young ones is an AMAZING site
• HAPPY BIRTHDAY young ones!
• CONGRATULATIONS to the PARENTs & YOU!
• Once dropped, the Little Ones immediately hide in the nearest plants to stay away from other fishes.




Young Guppies


• Safer home for Young Guppies
• Next day, move the young Guppies to another Tank or bowl with more Water Plants.
• Once every 3 days, recycle 30% of the Water carefully from the young Guppy's tank.
• Feeding: MICRO PELLETs - Small Pinch - 3 times/day.

FACTS

• Guppies are LIVE BEARERS, i.e, they will give birth to LIVE BABIES directly and not lay eggs.
• Breeding period of a female Guppy is generally 20 to 30 days.
• Breeding Tank can be used for One Year by adding Fresh Water every Week.
• Every Month you can rear young Guppies from healthy mother Guppies!
• Exposure to sun light will grow Algae, which will affect the visibility of the tank, and also invite other unwanted harmful guests!