Hang On Breeding Box

[chriscoli]

Has anyone used this model before?

http://www.amazon.com/Marina-Hang-O...-1&keywords=Marina+Hang+On+Breeding+Box+Large

I just got one to try because I've been having issues with fish jumping into my net breeders, jumping out of my net breeders, being sucked through my net breeders....you get the point. I set it up tonight and it seems pretty nifty but I was wanting to hear other people's pros and cons...

 

[Tony]

Never used or seen those, but seems like a pretty nifty device. Air-driven?

 

[b considine]

Got a friend who uses them for his cory fry. They work great. It's basically an air-driven HOB. The more powerful the air pump, the better the flow through the box. There's a little adjustable gate that prevents fry from getting back in the tank.

Blaise

 

[chriscoli]

Yep air driven.

So far, here's what I like about it: it has a lid (no jumpers); seems to have okay water flow with the air; I can drain the tank and the box stays full and resumes flow when the main tank fills back up.

Cons: it's external and I keep bumping into it; the flow is okay but I've found that there's a limit to the flow (more air has it's limits); I wonder how much of a temp drop I'll get in the winter; the little gate for the overflow back to the tank comes with your choice of two slat sizes...even the small one might be to big for new fry (so I'll have to come up with a fix for that).

 

[rsretep]

I had similar problems with net breeders. I had juanita make a "cover" out of plastic canvas that fits around the four sides and bottom of the net breeder, leaving the top open, she sewed the pieces together with fishing line, preventing the other fish in the tank from trying to eat the fry. As far as fish jumping in or out, I found that lowering the tank water level a bit completely eliminated that problem for me, I also run an air stone to each breeder to keep water circulating

 

[chriscoli]

Yep, I've done the plastic canvas thing, too.

 

[mchambers]

A couple of years ago, I picked up a 5 gallon Eclipse acrylic aquarium off Craiglist for $5. I use that to grow out various types of fry. The last week or so, I've been depositing corydoras eggs into it, and saw a few fry scooting around last night.

The only downside is that it has a strangely shaped hood, so it's hard to put any kind of autofeeder on it to feed the fry small amounts of Golden Pearls and the like. I've managed to jerry rig a way to do it, but it's ugly and awkward.

 

[Avatar]

Ugly and awkward begone

Cheesecloth and a rubber band for the intake. So one puts an airstone in the upllft tube on these things? Need a better picture to suss it out.

 

[chriscoli]

Yep, was thinking cheesecloth or some of the (non aluminum) windowscreen material.

No airstone, just bubbles in the uplift tube.

 

[dogofwar]

What works for me is just using Reg-u-lar breeder nets in a dedicated tank for growing out fry.

Imagine a bare bottom 2'x2'x1' tank with like 8 breeder nets in it...and filtered with a big sponge filter and a box filter.

It's big enough that fry don't get stunted and water quality is easy to maintain, doing water changes on it is simple (no fry to get sucked up' one tank vs. 10 small tanks)...and you can add more nets when you have more fry

Matt

 

[Avatar]

Do tell

What is the breeder net of choice? Ken's sells 4 different kinds and rather than ordering one of each why don't you just give us the benefit of your inestimable wisdom?

 

[dogofwar]

The best is the one with the suction cups (that automatically moves up and down with the water). Forget which brand but Ken will know...

Matt

 

[Avatar]

Yeah perhaps

Except he doesn't seem to answer his phone anymore.

 

[chriscoli]

Matt, is that the snap-together one with the blue edges? If so, I've had problems with really small fry getting stuck/escaping between the snap-together edges. Likewise, I had really small fry get stuck actually in the mesh holes of the jehmco one that has the plexiglass on one side. The best ones I've been using have the snap-together frame with the mesh box/bag that you put over the whole thing.

Still...I'm kinda digging this new one.

 

[dogofwar]

I actually keep new fry in 3/4 gal white plastic containers I get at the Dollar Store (until they're free swimming for a week or two). Then into the net breeders...

Matt

 

[cabinetmkr39]

Matt I want pictures BRo

 

[cabinetmkr39]

Christine, I bought two of those on ebay from china, They work nice ,I used it for sword tail female had her drop in the breeder then removed her and fry were good. Its easy and it takes up no space inside tank and uses tank water. No problems here

 

[verbal]

From Greengirl on the member's group buy thread:

I know you are all looking to buy these marina boxes, but I have a disclaimer for you all. I put my angelfish fry in a large marina hang on box, and I noticed the fry were small enough to fit throught the gaps in the smallest waterfall catches. I improvised by wrapping the catch with a piece of panty hose, but then gunk would clog the catch and cause the water to rise over the edge back into the tank. I came home last night to find that I only had three fry left in my box. They all swam to the surface and fell into the tank and must have gotten eaten.

What I want to know is what is a better alternative for the smaller fry that can fit through those spaces in the catches? I don't want to go through this heartbreak again. If someone has a better option for me I will trade my own marina boxes for it.

In a pinch I used some filter floss, when I misplaced the screen on the out flow. I think coarse foam might be even better. Poret or Aquaclear sponges(basically the same thing in a smaller package) would probably be a thing to try.