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you could try some bolivian rams there easy to sex and kind of easy to breed. but your best is probably any livebearer

I'm not too sure about 10-20G however, stictly speaking about cichlids you will need a bigger tank. In the Feb'05 edition of AquariumFish (www.aquariumfish.com) there is a good article on cichlid breeding for the novice. Online however, is only the Jan'05 edition.

It was noted that the easiest cichlid to breed/sex are the small central american species, namely the convict cichlid (as stated in earlier responses)and other members of the same genus. They do grow to about 4" and will require more room (could breed and move to a larger tank later). They also mention that the Convict is difficult to stop breeding!! Others are Firemouths (easy to breed but harder to sex). They sumarize as:

Kribs being the best chance of picking out a pair and breeding them. They also are good parents. Convict as mentioned and depending on tank size the Eqyptian mouth brooder.

Take care and good luck.

I got 4 black mollies (2 wound up as sinkers), but the remaining pair never quits, the female seems to be pooping out babies every couple weeks or so. I know they eat their own fry, I just wish she'd eat more of them.

If you are considering Convicts, one word of advice, check your local pet stores and make sure they will buy fry from you. Where I live, on Vancouver Island, there is not one pet store from one end of the island to the other (4 million people on this island- one of the largest islands in the world), that will buy convict fry. Nope, nadda, neither grown nor young, wont buy 1. There are so many convicts around here, that noone wants them anymore. A friend of mine actually was flushing his fry down the toilet cuz he couldnt get rid of them, and with 26 convicts already in his 55g, he didnt know what to do. Took him a year to get the fish store to buy his convicts off him, and they only gave him 150 dollars for a 55g tank, 26 convicts, a red devil, a jack dempsey, 2 oscars, and assorted other smaller cichlids.
Way I figured it, they paid for the devil, the dempsey and the oscars, and the tank, and the convicts he gave away for free. What could he do, not even putting ads in the papers could get rid of the darned fish.
So, just a word of warning, whatever you are going to breed, make sure it is wanted.


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only thing with the convicts is they will get bigger and my 75 gallon is way overstocked to move it there when the time comes.

I would probly choose convict cichlids they will breed in almost any condition and are easy to sex, (the male has loger dorsal & anal fins.
My friend bred convicts in a 10 galon tank when the fish were only 5 cm (2in).
(/blue)

if you want something pretty and peaceful, livebearers such as guppys are the way to go.

if you want something with abit more attitude (prob better for the 20G) go a pair of convicts. they are super hardy but can get quite messy. they are also easy to sex, males are larger and have a more ounced hump on their forehead, females are smaller and have a orange tinge on the sides of their bellies. because convicts are egg layers one clutch of their eggs will be significantly larger then 1 batch of guppy fry. also more convict fry will probably survive because cichlids look after their young.

one more thing! if your looking at adding more then 1 species in the tank, go guppies. there isnt much that you could add to a 10 or 20G tank with a pair of breeding convicts!

Yes, thankfully guppes will eat their own fry, (otherwise I'd be in trouble!!!) Guppies can breed with all other sorts of guppies, the difference is in the selection of the guppy trait that you like, and breeding for that quality...fancy are usually referred to for their elegant tails...choose what you like, and enjoy what they produce. if you don't like it, don't buy it because you don't want a zillion of it in the tank...Heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

do guppies eat their own fry?

Yes they do eat their own fry.

also can any guppys mate i.e. fancy guppies + another kind?

Yes any guppy can mate with another kind of guppy or even mollies, (I would not recommend mollies since they are highly e to diseases).

do guppies eat their own fry? also can any guppys mate i.e. fancy guppies + another kind? sorry ive never kept guppies or know much about them.

there is bacteria in all temperatures of water. keeping a tank at tropical temperatures doesn't mean that fish will get sick easier. in tanks you in fact want bacteria

Er, I'd qualify that. You want the right bacteria. Such as Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter that perform the biological filtration action that keeps your aquarium alive. You definitely don't want an outbreak of Vibrio - this is the Genus that contains Cholera!

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I would have to say GUPPIES!!! Just get one male that you really truly like, and a couple/3 females that you like...plop them into the 20 gallon, add some plants, wait a month or so, and boom, you have yourself some fry...I keep my 29 at about 74-76 degrees, and they are doing quite fine...then get yourself that 10 gallon and use it to grow the fry out...oh hold on flip the tank size, 10 to breed, 20 to grow out, or just let them stay all together, and watch them go...my 29 is hilarious, and they are beautiful, but be sure to get some that you really like...have fun, Heidi:%)

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

there is bacteria in all temperatures of water. keeping a tank at tropical temperatures doesn't mean that fish will get sick easier. in tanks you in fact want bacteria

Endlers are easy to sex, like guppies. In guppies, the female fry develop a dark spot (the gravid spot) usually long before other signs. Endlers are pretty much the same.

Beware, endlers are very prolific.

One other problem though.. livebearers like guppies and endlers like warmer water (78-80F) than most other tropical species. The problem with this is that bacteria *loves* this temperature too. If you have any problems in your tank, the bacteria gets a foothold and goes off like a bomb! Before you know it, they'll all be sick. With warm water tanks, you have to be utterly religious about tank hygene. Of course, you don't have to raise the temp this high. Guppies etc will do fine in 72F water, but won't quite breed as fast.

BTW: I saw this elsewhere.. You don't breed fish.. You can only make the conditions right and then they'll take care of the breeding themselves.

I was considering making a small setup to try to breed in maybe a 10 or 20 gallon. I'm looking for suggestions. Also wondering what kind of livebearer would be the easiest to care for.

whiteclouds are easy to breed

yea endlers might be a good choice as do the white clouds. Only problem is, how easy is it to sex them?

If you're looking for an easy egglayer, as opposed to all those wanton livebearers () then either White Clouds, Zebra Danios or Pearl Danios are the almost inevitable first choice. Zebra Danios breed like flies given half a chance

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Kribs are supposed to be easy to breed.

I do like livebearers, but IME platies and guppies eat their own fry. I'd go with Endler's...small, very colorful males, active, and they don't eat their fry


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Guppies, IMO, would be your best bet.. A nicely planted tank with a triad of one male per 2 females would get your ball rolling quite nicely.. It's what I started with for my son's 20 gallon tank a few years ago and it's been a guppy swarm ever since..

Good Luck deciding..