Little Fish Breeders....

[brewmaster15]

Well, I've done it now...Created two monsters, one age 5 and one age 7.
My Kids have become "professional" fish breeders nows!

Last week they announced that they wanted to become famous fish breeders like their Dad ( yeah right...gotta love how kids idolize you...works wonders on bruised egos!) So with some rearranging in the fishroom, 2 10 gallon tanks were set up with their help... and a couple of journals were bought... Off we went to the petshop..

First was my son, Ethan.. At 5 he's not very patient but would not let me steer him to Mollies or guppies...no he wanted to breed all the hard stuff...finally we settled on Florida Flag fish for him...not as easy as guppies but should be fun.

My daughter picked/ let me steer her to guppies...but they looked terrible so she picked 4 Mollies...with some assistence she got 1 male and 3 females that were obviously already carrying babies..

The journals have been getting alot of action...Both my kids have been writing about the fish and their tanks..... Last night I made a small 1 gallon breeder tank with a screen bottom and placed the largest Mollie in it... A few hours latter my kids were blown away to see her dropping fry that swam away as soon as born... They had only seen eggs before not this dramatic process... Really amazed them!!


The screen protected the babies while she was having them ...Then we moved the female out to the main tank.. So now theres a 1 gallon tank filled with about 50 mollies swimming around....not that I have a clue what to do with all these fishies! Becky is absolutely over joyed...shes been down to the fish room dozens of times to check on her babies.

Ethan on the other hand is bumming.. He wishes he had listened to me about the fish selection so latter today we'll probably be making a trip to get him some mollies....something different than Becky's or some other live bearers.... Looks like I inherit the florida flag fish....no probelm there....I've wanted to play with them anyway.

So starts the journey for two young breeders..Am I proud... You betcha!!! Talk about quality family time!!


take care,
al

[Roxanne]

.. A few hours latter my kids were blown away to see her dropping fry that swam away as soon as born... They had only seen eggs before not this dramatic process... Really amazed them!!

You couldn't have timed it better if you were Tony Bennett!

[Eddie]

Thats fantastic Al, I'm training my little man up now, he just turned 1 last weekend! He chills out in his high chair watching me do all the WCs and tank maintenance. He sits with me when I feed them or test the water. He really enjoys the fish alot, just like his Daddy. Can't wait til he gets old enough for his own tank. I keep trying to sell it to the wife but she says "you know if you set one up in his room, its just gonna have more discus in it". I can't lie...you know it would.

Excellent story about your children. I can imagine them all amazed with the fish. I can remember when I first bred convicts when I was about 9, it was the coolest thing in the world!

Eddie

[bs6749]

Al, that's great! I sent you a PM.

[GrillMaster]

Well there Brew...Bout the only thing I can say is ya better get that other room of yers done in a hurry and get more tanks!! Yer gonna need em!

[Rod]

Thats great Al
my own children never really took much of an interest although my daughter had a tank for a time. But they lost interest after a while. But my granddaughter loves my fish, one of her first words was discus...lol. She is 3 and can probably name more fish that the average lps worker But she is the same with all the animals we see, she has gotta know what they are.

[Rod]

I can remember when I first bred convicts when I was about 9, it was the coolest thing in the world!

Eddie

Eddie, that was the first fish i bred as well. I was 12. The parental care cichlids provide the young is very cool, got me hooked

[target]

I just love it when kids are interested in any type of animal, fish obviously being my favorite. Nice work with your 2. I hope when the time comes that the children I have will be interested in fish as much as I am.

[Eddie]

Eddie, that was the first fish i bred as well. I was 12. The parental care cichlids provide the young is very cool, got me hooked

Yup Rod, it hooked me then too. I remember reading this HUGE book on breeding cichlids, probably the first book I read from front to back. LOL I set the tank up with these 2 convicts having no idea they would pair. I had a flower pot set on its side. We went skiing over the weekend, returned home and there she was, the female guarding her eggs in the pot. I was the most amazed ever in my life! I raised the young and gave them to the LFS. That was when my love for fish began and it's been a wonderful journey.


Sorry for jumping on your thread Al, it's just great hearing about your kids and brings back memories.

Eddie

[Darren's Discus]

Al,
As their hobby grows i can see you being evicted from your fishroom.Could this be the beginning of the end for discus in your fishroom ?????



cheers

[Roxanne]

...bite your tongue Daz..

[brewmaster15]

Its a pretty cool thing to see their interest in this.. I've got to scan a few pages of their journals....The pictures and stories they are writing are just beautiful....for my son its a real challenge..he's only 5 and just learning to read and write so its lots of drawings.

Darren,
I'm pretty possessive about my fishroom but for my kids I would easily give up some tanks..okay maybe a tank each....more than that and The kids and I will have to add on another fishroom...another opportunity to spend time together...what a bummer too...more tanks!

[Eddie]

I'm pretty possessive about my fishroom but for my kids I would easily give up some tanks..okay maybe a tank each....more than that and The kids and I will have to add on another fishroom...another opportunity to spend time together...what a bummer too...more tanks!

Yeah Al, I guess you just can't ever have enough fish rooms! It starts with discus, then to tanks, then on to rooms. Or maybe it's tanks, then discus...

[brewmaster15]

Heres some pics of her feeding the fry (decap Brine shrimp cysts) just before school today and of the tank she set up for them when they get a tad bigger....

-al

[Ed13]

That's so cool Al! She def seems like she is enjoying it. It would be cool if your son manages to breed a fish I've never even seen in person, only pics!