Looking for a breeders WhatsApp group

Good day everyone. I am lookinh for a breeders WhatsApp group in North west and also in rustenburg. If there's any? If not then i will be looking for one in Pta. The reason is just to assist one and other. If there's also someone willing to join a group i will create one. Looking forward to the reply.

 

Hi Bart. Personally I don't think it's worth it to join any whatsapp group regarding breeding. The few groups I was part of was more a selling group than a breeding group, and then they want the stuff for almost free in any case.

Here is way more imformed members on TASA than on any other forum/whatsapp group out there regarding freshwater fish. Reaction time might not be as fast but you will receive answers and helpfull information.

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Hi @Bart

Welcome to the Forum

I am not aware of any breeder's whatsapp group although there are many fish related groups
Most have been started by different LFS's and as @pierreschoonraad said, most revolve around sales of fish and equipment or people showing their tanks.
Not much valuable info is exchanged

There are a lot more experienced fish keepers and breeders on TASA than a whole lot of groups together
Whilst facebook and whatsapp groups might be great if you enjoy the chit chat, any useful info which might be occasionally shared, is not stored in a user friendly way that you can go back and refer to later.
On the forum, a quick search for what you looking for, will bring up loads of valuable information and if you ask, you will always get answers from members with experience on what you need help with.
You can record and document your attempts, failures and successes and come back year after year and see where you started, how it developed and what you achieved which is awesome.

What are your breeding plans, any specific fish that you have in mind?

 

Thanks for the advice guys. I have bred most cichlids and also bettas before and the normal stuff like guppys and mollys. I now have 2 breeding pairs of dwarf gourami which i bred and now have a lot of fry 3 weeks old. But i am looking to expand and would like to know what fish are most rewarding to breed. The rule i have is all the money i make goes back into the hobby. So i am loom mabe to rainbows and discus in the next year or so. Any advice, maby on other fish?

 

It sounds like you have bred most of the fish you could think of!!

Rainbow are certainly an achievement as for discus.. well that' a hell of a challenge and achievement which will keep your hands full for sometime
As for what other fish to breed, i suppose it depends what your main purpose is
If you looking at it financially I would imagine you need to ask what fish are difficult to find.If you can breed the not so easily available species, it would be your best bet as there would be demand for them
Some breeders dedicate themselves to fish which they have a passion for
Let's see what some of the other members say

 

@Bart for me its more about giving it a try and learning from the experience. I think u will always find someone to buy your fish even if its at a low price.
I also started my breeding program, im doing rainbows mainly and the easy stuff like guppies. Ill see if my angels pair up i will breed them as well.


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@Ammar , i love rainbows had a few before and also raised a few with help from and experience guy i knew, he learned me a lot about fish-keeping and breeding. since then i slowly started to get everything in order and started to breed the easy stuff like convicts, jewels and also a few angels and of course bettas, at one time i had 144 male bettas( best time ever regarding water change and cleaning the container and so on......). i do not breed to sell the fish but it is just a bonus. It keeps me busy and i love it even if it is time consuming. and like the guppy's you have mine is Sailfin mollies, love them and also easy to keep.

and the rainbows are very rewarding even if it takes for ever. the guy i knew had a 2m long tank but not deep and not wide, he used spawning mops that i also used and then an separate tank for the fry. the one thing he learned me is bigger is better . all of his grow out tanks were big containers of 500l. with good diy filters and everything. the reason he said ( i can confirm this as it helped me a lot) it i easier to handle the water quality in a big thank then a small tank all thing is you must still keep an eye on it, but the changes of something than can go wrong is less( only my experience here), as with my dwarf gouramis, they are now in a 1.8 meter tank that was setup 2 moths ago and with enough food to get them trough as some of them has started to take fine fry food.

 

Sounds good, nothing wrong with making money out of it. I would be happy covering my costs, if u want to feed quality food and have quality products u have ro fork out tge bux. I started with a 2m tank that cost me 1500. Bargain with a stand, i. Now sitting on about 10 k, after i resealed, build filter and framed it up. So i wouldnt mind selling my extra fish to at least maintain.

 

hahaha true that. it helps to sell some fish like you said to maintain the hobby, the rule i use is if i have a few hundred rand spare and if i sell fish i use that money for the fish again. at this moment i have a community tank of 1.8m , 1.8 grow out tank, 1.5 breeding tank, 3 x 45 cm breeding tanks and a 60 cm breeding tanks and a lot of containers and buckets if things gets out off control .

 

@Bart looks like your set for big things. Get the Rainbows going again so we can convert more people. This might just help us in getting those beauties we drool about when nobody is watching.

 

@Bart,as @pierreschoonraad said, sounds like you have quite a setup.

I also think Rainbows is a good idea.
I saw some small rainbows for the first time about 5 years ago and they really caught my eye at the time, not knowing then what beauties they grow into.
Since then, and after learning more about them, its always been a fish I wanted to have but unfortunately could not add to my tanks with the fish I have.

When I eventually setup my pup tank a few months ago, I needed some fish to keep the tank going all the time and obviously look nice when not being used for pups so that was my opportunity to get some of these beauties as they would be safe in this tank
I absolutely love them and they certainly deserve more exposure in the hobby.
They are also not readily available at all LFS's

Sailfin mollies are beautiful too, my Dad bred them when I was a little girl, however, he had colors that I have actually never seen for sale in this Country.

As for tank size and water quality, you are absolutely right. Not only for raising fry but also in general
Water volume helps a lot in keeping things right and they do grow faster

 

bart, breeders in sa, well most of them are very low profile when it comes to sharing their knowledge, i myself dont allow anyone near my breeding facility or tell anyone what i breed. i have burned my fingers to much in the past doing so. so finding a breeders group in sa wil be like looking for chicken teeth. although there is 3 such whatsapp groups ife been on, angelfish sa group, and catfish sa group and then the betta group, people seem very helpfull on those 3. pm me so i can give you a guys number that can get you added on those groups, cheers buddy.

 

I guess that as with many other things in life, you have people that just wont share their knowledge
It's like asking someone for a recipe and somehow your cake always flops

However, I wouldnt say it is most of the breeders, its a selected few
There are quite a number of breeders on this forum, some have achieved what not many, if any have in the Country have and they have shared and documented everything they have done and have always helped others on the forum with advice.
In my personal capacity, my humble opinion is that if someone really has a passion and love for the fish, they will share their knowledge to help others be successful be it in breeding or doing the best for the fish.

This being said, breeding is a responsibility and I think before embarking on that path,people must make sure they have demand for the offspring as you cant keep them all and you then run into trouble

 

I do believe that @sakkie has a valid point, regarding getting their fingers burned. There is people out there that will take anything to further themselfes, eg using your contacts and pricing for their own benefit.

I share everything I do on TASA as breeding is not my income as such, I do it so I can keep track of my progress as I go. I can't compete against other serious breeders out there with way more space and tanks than me.

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Im on that angelfish watsapp group... its a waste of time.. u get the odd bit of useful info about angels, other than that it will deive u crazy if u dont mute it. As @MariaS said.. you will find plenty here that are willing to share.

 

I agree with you but like I said, a selected few which like you say probably do it in large volumes for financial gain
Then yes,its business and where money plays a role it can be cut throat... that's with almost everything
If you do it like you and many others on the forum, for the love and enjoyment of your fish, most breeders on this forum help each other and share.. I have done the same

 

thanks all. sounds like good advice, as it has happen to me before. i think the forum will be an better option, as i can see most of the people here has a passion for raising or breeding fish. thx to all once again. i will also start to document my breeding on the forum to assist others and to get feedback and see where i can improve and to have a record of what i am doing as one can forget. this forum is the best idea i ever had to join it .
@MariaS love the stingrays hopefully one day when i am big enough i will take them one and see what i can do but for know i will be dreaming about them.
@Ammar and @Pierré Schoonraad when i first had rainbows i took them for granted as i did not realize what i had and now i miss them . so now i must get some and start with them again, as it is a big task to raise them but totally worth it. @sakkie thx for the advice and i would love to join the betta group and see what more i can learn. regarding the breeding, i am doing it for myself and i will not breed a fish if i can not look after it all by myself and them sit with all the fish in a small tank. i will breed and keep them or give them away to loving homes or sell them where someone wants to buy. i do only see myself doing it as it is passion and to grow my breeding setup without going broke every month . once again thanks for all the feedback and advice. i will be looking to here more from all of you again.

 

@MariaS and @Bart here follow this link, it wil take you to the fb page where the whatsapp invite link is to the betta whatsapp group, enjoy, sakkie
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=432776590547332&id=246524919172501

 

Thanks @Bart
Hahha, you don't have to be THAT big to have rays.. you just have to be a little crazy but... aren't we all?

Glad you hanging in here and wish you all the best in whatever you decide to go for now, just keep the threads coming, we love it!!

 

Thanks @sakkie, will have a look
Must admit that although I admire betas for their beauty, Im not really into keeping them.
Im also not a big fan of Whatsapp groups.. been on a few but not much info shared, its mostly chit chat and people only wake up to chat in late hours of the night!