Musical tanks ... too many critters breeding! Which one...

[ericatdallas]

Well the obvious is get Discus breeding, so I can assume that one. :)

So my Discus haven't been breeding, but I think part of the problem with that was that I wasn't trying to get them to breed, they were in a community tank, and I kept moving them while re-arranging their tanks. I do think 4 out of my 9 showed breeding behavior, but I keep disturbing their tank so they're freaked out.

Then recently I bought RCS to help condition them and they're breeding like mad, but now I enjoy the shrimp hobby <sigh>

I started a new shrimp tank and found out my plecos were breeding but their fry were getting sucked up into the filters. So I have longfin albino pleco pairs (I have at least two males and four females)---so a breeding group.

Now my L129s are trying to breed (I think).

I also acquired some another four types of shrimp... <d'oh>

...and just when I thought I had settled on things I bought 7 more discus with two potential pairs this past week.

So I now have
- 16 Discus
- Hundreds of shrimp in like 5 different species
- two types of plecos breeding

I have
- Two 10G tank (currently scheduled for shrimp)
- Two 20G tank (one shrimp, one scheduled to be pleco breeding tank - but which species?)
- One 55G tank (currently 7 Discus in QT)
- One 40G tank (currently RCS)
- One 75G tank (currently housing 9 Discus)
- One 90G tank (currently not setup)
- And I'm gonig to either buy two more 25G tanks or one more 55G tank

But I don't know how to prioritize my breeding. Should I just sell my pleco breeders? I have no room for any more tanks and there is still two more species of shrimp I want (I really like the look of them).

Obviously the Discus are overcrowded right now, so I might need to offload some in the near future, but the 90G is suppose to ease that a bit. I do maintain my 75% daily WC, so as a temporary solution, I think I'm good.

So not that I need advice on how to do this, but I would like opinions on what you think on how to prioritize my breeding and/or selling. Also, I'm open to offers get rid of some of my plecos or non-paired up Discus :P

My plan is:
Not to get any more livestock

Two 25G as breeding tanks or use a divider on a 55G tank.
One 90G as growout tank
Keep the 40G as a shrimp breeding tank with RCS, CRS
Keep a 20G as a BPS, CBS breeding tank
Use a 20G as a BNP breeding tank
Sell my L129s
Use a 10G as a shrimp tank
Use the other 10G tank as a blackworm keeper
Keep the rest of my Discus in the 75G (but that's 12 in one tank). So I might need to offload any that don't pair up.

More tanks is not an option. I'm at the limit of my available space/time. I might have room to swpa out my 75G tank for a 55/40G setup as well.

Just not breed and enjoy the fishies :) but that's just not as fun.. :(

I definitely need to stop buying livestock although I really want some Alenquer Reds :P

[pcsb23]

...
My plan is:
Not to get any more livestock...Well your plan is already doomed to failure :)


..
I definitely need to stop buying livestock although I really want some Alenquer Reds ...I rest my case :bandana:

Seriously Eric, it's not a bad situation to be in. I am presuming that breeding discus is your number 1 goal!

Difficult to prioritise for you as we all have different goals. If I were in your position I'd concentrate on having two pairs of discus I really wanted to work with and maybe a few alternatives (be it different, but compatible strains or same strain). There is usually a ready market place for bn's, at least in the UK, and given that they are relatively easy to breed and grow they can provide some offset in costs and a little interest too. The same applies to shrimp, particularly if you can breed higher quality ones, any excess make a good conditioning food too! With the shrimp it may be a case of picking one or two only to work with. I know tank space is finite so maybe 2 pairs of discus may be too many with the other fish/shrimp ... you either need a lot of growout space or cull very heavily!

Nice problem to have in many ways, but I do sympathise.

[ericatdallas]

Well your plan is already doomed to failure :)

I rest my case :bandana:

Haha, yeah,... I'm trying to convince my wife to let me squeeze additional tanks throughout the house :P I think right now, if I were to get another tank going, it -has- to be a marine/saltwater tank b/c that's what she wants.



Seriously Eric, it's not a bad situation to be in. I am presuming that breeding discus is your number 1 goal!

Difficult to prioritise for you as we all have different goals. If I were in your position I'd concentrate on having two pairs of discus I really wanted to work with and maybe a few alternatives (be it different, but compatible strains or same strain). There is usually a ready market place for bn's, at least in the UK, and given that they are relatively easy to breed and grow they can provide some offset in costs and a little interest too. The same applies to shrimp, particularly if you can breed higher quality ones, any excess make a good conditioning food too! With the shrimp it may be a case of picking one or two only to work with. I know tank space is finite so maybe 2 pairs of discus may be too many with the other fish/shrimp ... you either need a lot of growout space or cull very heavily!

Nice problem to have in many ways, but I do sympathise.

Yeah, both shrimp and plecos were originally bought to supplement my Discus habit. I think after doing some research, I might toss my BNPs and L129s into the shrimp tanks. If I lose some shrimp, it won't be too big of a deal. This should free up tanks for Discus :)

[Harry Marsh]

Prioritize by what pleases you the most
In the end, spend your time and energy on what you like most, so you do not lose interest

I'd consider successful breeding pairs highly
Pairing activity doesn't always ensure much....but a good proven pair that does not eat eggs or young is with 10 unproven pairs and that goes for any fish - whether pleco or discus

I'd concentrate on the discus, but that's me. Start with unproven pairs, whittle down to a few good, proven pairs that raise young
The l129s sound interesting - I haven't got into plecos much. Post em in the classifieds :)
I might even be interested in trying them

[ericatdallas]

Someone is going to buy the L129s so that solves that... that reduces the load. I'm going to drop the plecos in with my shrimp tanks.

Regardless of what is being said here, I am of course going to do what I feel I want to do. Just curious on what other people would do. Maybe someone else has a better plan or does something with similar constraints. I actually enjoy all of it... it's fun to watch the discus, watch the shrimp, and watch the plecos. Not so much the desire to do so. I know potential pairs don't mean much in the fish world, it's real proven pairs that matter. The main hurdle with the Discus is investing the time and equipment (RO) and then what to do with the fry (growout tank).

thanks for the input though :)

My wife doesn't want me to get rid of any of my Discus but won't let me put tanks in the living room <sigh>. I had nine I raised from fry that she feels attached to. There are 5 out of 7 of the new ones she's quite attached to. A 125G community tank in the living room would solve everything. Of course, that would just encourage me to buy more fish putting me in the same spot again :P