Posted by Shari Horowitz in Tropical Fish Hobbyist Blog on
February 5, 2010 at 7:20 am By Mike Hellweg Fish will do what
comes naturally and spawn in our aquaria IF we give them what
they need. With many species that means approximating the
spawning season, giving the adults what barb and tetra guru
Randy Carey calls a “trigger” to initiate spawning. Following
the metaphor, all we as aquarists need to do is figure out how
to turn off the safety and pull the trigger. With many fish like
cichlids and livebearers, all we have to do is buy a group of
juveniles and grow them out. Eventually, they will reach sexual
maturity and pair off, even in a community tank. Often they will
even successfully raise a brood of fry in that same community
tank. But many other fish aren’t so easy. Many of them require a
little to a lot of extra work on the part of the hobbyist. With
these fish it is best to separate out the males from the
females. When you have limited tank space, the best way to do
this is to move the female(s) to