Most Rewarding Fish You Have Spawned

It is a hard list to pick from.  To me egg layers are harder to get to spawn.  Lamp. tretophalus were probably my biggest surprise.  I was jumping for joy when my frontosa spawned.  Others that are high on the list are calvus, ventralis, xenotilapia, tropheus and the list goes on.

I really suck at getting the shellies to spawn
Chris

Well I am a newbie at breeding fish...I don't fit into the "breeder" category quite yet, more of a hobbyist due to tank number constraints. Any how so far I've breed julies and recently I found that one of cyps was holding.  Both I don't think required a lot of work on my end.  Just keeping things fairly consistent.  My wife joked that I was more excited about the cyp having a mouth full of eggs than when it was my birthday and our anniversary combine...so for now i think the cyps have been best...but they are not fry yet so best not count my chickens before they hatch.

Geez Bob - you just fired up my memory.

Oscars.  Big brutal bad a$$ Oscars.  In a kiddie pool on the porch.  The pool was 6 feet wide; we never changed the water and when we added more water it was from a hose without dechlor. 

They were brutes - 11 - 12" easy.  We put them out there because Lou the carpenter was remodeling the basement and the fish needed to go somewhere.  Of course, the pool was bigger than the 29 gallon in which they lived.

How did we get them to spawn?  Crawfish.  When I was a kid and there was still an open lot in Northbrook, there were old shallow ponds everywhere.  We always caught crayfish, bullfrog tadpoles and salamander "tadpoles".  We sold them to a store in Northbrook for pennies;  the leftovers were fed to the oscars.  One day there were thousands of fry.  They grew pretty quickly and we asked the guy who bought the other stuff (including rat, garter and green snakes in the spring) if he wanted "some" oscars.  He took all we had.  The fish spawned 2 or 3 times.  One day the adults were gone.  Either a 'coon or the landscaper.  We never did figure it out.

Probably angelfish for me.  We are going back 25 years or so to when I was only 11, 12 or 13......something like that.  I had bred what at the time was known as Cichlasoma Guppy...the convict  ,  and various livebearers but angelfish were "hard".  Especially for a kid who only had two tanks.  I remember when I saw them pair up in my 29 gallon tank.  I begged borrowed and stole to get another 29 gallon tank.  Then there was the matter of procuring a heater and a filter.  I wound up taking the top and light off the community 29,  and covering it with a piece of wood and two books to keep it down.  I must've shoveled about 4 billion miles of snow to make $25 or so,  so that I could buy a corner filter,  heater,  tubing and a piece of slate.  Why the slate........because that's what Dr. Axlerod said to use!!!  They bred and raised about 20 fry to just smaller than a dime and I brought them in for store credit.  I was on cloud nine as a kid walking in there.  I remember this "old" guy in like his 30's    asked me where I got them.  I was beaming as I said "I breed angelfish".....yep I was now a BREEDER!  Those silly angelfish are what really sparked the whole hobby for me.

my list of successful spawns

kribensis
convicts
delta tail betta
lamp. signatus
geo. steindachneri
tropheops sp red cheek
julie. transcriptus
pseudo. hajomaylandi
apisto. cacutoides although i never say any fry the females were always bright yellow
albino corydora
albino taiwan reef

the most enjoyable and rewarding experience goes to my tropheops sp red cheek and my geo. steindachneri. they introduced me to the world of  mouthbrooders and it was an awesome experience. the tropheops for breeding often...i sold and traded a lot of the fry for fishfood and the geos were cool because it was neat watching all the little fry rush back into their moms mouth when i can around to feed them. all fish were fun but these two groups stood out the most for me.

Ray~

Let me know when you are moved and ready,

I gots the connect on some killa New Worlders.....

Nuthman~

;D

well if my lamp. xmillis  spawned and its a successful spawn

I would also like to spawn Archocentrus nanoluteus soon and would like Mikrogeophagus Altispinosa as my next New World species to keep and spawn. The Sajica loocs cool as well but all of my tanks are 15 Long tanks or a few 20 Longs so i need to stick to the dwarf species for a while. Another soon to own and spawn species hopefully will be Thorichthys meeki.

After the move in september and set up a fishroom I may be able to delve into other species.

well mine are not cichlids but
long fin rosy barbs
and,
cecielian worms
where two of my favorites that i got breed

Ray~

If you liked convicts and would like the same type of parenting and less aggression, look to this boys, my 2nd favorite fish:

Archocentrus sajica

Truly a joy and I am sooooooooooo glad to have them! I got a pair from Shep and would be willing to bet shepdawg would set you up with his next brood.....

Nuthman~