# Spontaneous breeding in large tanks



## Axelrodi202 (Jun 7, 2009)

I often see anecdotes of people having egg-laying fish spawn and fry survive in large tanks - no separation of fry from parents involved. The kind of situation where there are more fish than were originally placed in the tank or small fish appear out of nowhere. I would love to have this happen down the line in my 120 gallon tank. I am fine with keeping limited numbers of species.

To those who have had such experiences - please describe your setups! Species involved, feeding regimes, tank size, etc.


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## phreeflow (Aug 4, 2007)

Had great luck with clown killifish breeding and not predating on their fry. Had a lot of floating plants and moss. Kept them with hasbrosus cories, ottos, and shrimp (who also bred). 

Also had fun with Malawi shell dwellers and tanganyikan brichardi breeding and living together. They are step breeders...meaning each batch of fry grow up to protect the next batch of fry and so on until there is a huge family of them coexisting


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

I found 3 Otocinclus of about 2 cm when emptying my tank after I didn't add any new for 2-3 year. Just a normal densely planted tank. 
And Sewellia lineolata are breeding in the water section of my paludarium. I don't do anything special here neither except a water change every 1-4 weeks. Lots of moss, some algae on rocks and some dead leaves. The thing that triggers them here is the temperature I guess. In winter the tank gets around 14 celcius and in summer up to 34 celcius. Every summer I get around 6-8 new Sewellia. Only problem is, it's impossible to get any of them out because 70% of the water area is underneath the land section... 
I think the main three tricks are: waterparameters close to what the fish like and STABLE! (a little less perfect but stable is always prefered over fluctuating values around perfect). Lots of protection for the fry tillen they are a little larger and a food soorten for the first few weeks. For my Sewellia this is the algae covered stones and the moss. In my Apisto breeding tank it are the dead leaves and the tiny animals growing on them.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Bristlenose plecos, _Ancistrus_ cf. _cirrhosus_! If you have a male, a female, and a suitable spawning cave, you can't stop them. Since the male guards the eggs and newly hatched fry, they are protected during the most vulnerable period.

Brown juli, _Jilidochromis ****feldi_. Again,a compatible pair and a good spawning cave are what you need. As phreeflow describes, these are step breeders, so you can develop a large colony that helps to protect new fry. Although they are fiercely territorial, the territory is only about 12" in diameter, centered on the spawning cave. And yes, you can keep them in planted tanks.


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## Chris Noto (Aug 10, 2005)

I've had Apistogramma cacatuoides breed and raise fry in a heavily planted ten gallon aquarium.


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## Aquaticz (May 22, 2009)

Panda cories will breed after a cool WC and some good flow.


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

I have a 58g heavily planted. My Emperor Tetras have increased from 15 to about 25. I just sold some of them because it was getting crowded in there. I also have a large school of green neons. They were all bought a few years ago and are good sized. Lately I've noticed some small ones, so I guess they are at it, too.

Years ago I had apistos that were a blast to watch. Mom would herd them around the tank in a cloud, going after anyone who came near.


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