Feeder Fish

[Oscardude]

I would like to get some fish that will reproduce easily and grow well in a 10 gallon tank.  Any suggestions?

[dattack]

Livebearers such as guppies.

[aznpanther98]

i thinkmollies are good for reproduceing they don't eat they babies and got lots of nice looking ones i kept one before but it got killed by one of an agressive fish i had i was a begginer at that time and didn't know anything

[aidanchick]

Platy's My first time I had fish, two weeks after I put them in the tank the female had babies! (I believe she was pregant when I bought her cause I only had some females at the time *if I remember correctly*) .. sadly they all died (never allow your mother to take care of your fish when you go on vacation, especially when she does'nt know what ICk looks like!!)

[colesea]

If you do guppies, buy them from a local breeder and not your LFS.  LFS guppies don't breed as well.

Mollies, swordtails, or platties, the livebearers, are your best bet, with Maragold swordtails seeming to me to be the most prolific and easiest in birthing and rearing.
~~Colesea

[Oscardude]

I decided to go with mollies.  I put them in one of my plant tanks.  There were babies by the next morning.  someone said they don't eat there babies but mine seem to really enjoy eating the babies.  

 I thought about guppies but the one's I've had in the past always carried some kind of fungus and were hard to keep alive so until I find a store that gets there's some where else or breeds there own than I'll not mess with them.

[aznpanther98]

that was me that said they don't eat babies i haven't kept one in a long time and never saw any babies b/c of other fish eating them and i've been told they don't eat babies and seen babies in the mollies tank at the lfs maybe some do
anyways make sure there's lots of places for them to hide and are able to eat just crush some flakes up into powder or crumbs from ur fish food container works  ;D thats what i do for my baby swordtails

[colesea]

All livebearers will eat their babies if they can catch them. I have first hand witnessed black mollies suck up their offspring in my own tanks. It was rather cool actually, if you understand the physiology behind how they do it.

When a fish opens its mouth, it creates a vaccuum. The fish don't literally have to engulf their pray, the prey get pushed into their mouth from the rush of water trying to fill the vacuum. This can work from considerable distance too. I thin it is neat to watch.

The trick to not having the parents eat their fry is to make sure the fry have very thick cover and hiding spaces the bigger fish cannot get into. I've even watch fry go inbetween grains of gravel to escape hungry jaws (or nets).

I had one customer put a female molly in a breeder net. She gave birth, but because she thought the babies needed their mother, she left the female in the net with them.  48 hrs later, that female ate nearly the entire brood. That customer was quite upset.

Mollies will breed in the shipping bag, and I frequently have babies in my tanks. The ones you see in your LFS are just the ones that are quick and nimble enough to escape hungry jaws.  I usually scoop any babies I find out, and well, feed them to my marine predators like Marine Betta's, Pajama Cardinals, Royal Gammas, and anything else that would like a treat. I have this little baby lionfish that's mouth is soo tiny, all he can eat are black molly fry.

[Somonas]

Oscardude, why use feeders in the first place?

[clothahump]

Seconds Out, Round One,Ding Ding.
My favourite subject.
In the last 30 odd years of keeping fish I have never fed one to another, I have also never seen them for sale in the UK.
I have however seen plenty of large Oscars that have only been fed on Dead foods, mainly man made.