How to Breed Glofish

The Glofish is a genetically modified strain of zebra danio, enhanced with the genes of unrelated species. These beautiful, futuristic creatures have flourescent scales that glow under a black light. As the first genetically modified pets available to a mass market, Glofish are controversial but also very popular.

If you are interested in breeding Glofish, understand that you can not legally sell the fry. Glofish are patented, and can not be sold except by the company that initially created the breed. Breed Glofish only if you have the space to accommodate dozens of glowing adult danios. NEVER release Glofish into the wild.

If you are prepared to breed Glofish, follow these steps.

1. Find a healthy breeding pair of Glofish. You can try starting with one male and two females.Males have slim, narrow bodies and female Glofish are plujmp and round. They should be young but mature; an ideal time to begin trying to breed Glofish is when they have reached 3/4 inch in total length. Breed only Glofish of the same color.

2. Feed your Glofish hig-quality foods such as tubifex, frozen brine shrimp, commercial flakes and daphnia. They will be able to breed more prolifically if they have eaten a healthy diet prior to conception.

3. Place your pair in a well-cycled breeding tank of at least 3 gallons.The substrate should be either gravel or smooth marbles; these provide crevices for the eggs to land so that the parent Glofish will not eat them.

4. Watch your Glofish for several hours for signs of breeding. In a well-established tank, the breeding pair will usually begin chasing one another and engaging in spawning embraces.

5. After several hours, take your adult Glofish out of the tank and examine the substrate for eggs. They may be so small that you can't see them.

6. Watch your tank carefully for the next 48 hours. If your Glofish breeding was successfulo, there should be fry after about a day. The babies cling to the sides of the tank and are extremely small.

7. When your fry are free-swimming, which takes a few days, you can begin feeding them commercial fry food. These are usually fine powders or liquids, which provide near-microscopic particlse that your baby Glofish can eat. Feed according to the manufacturers instructions.

8. Check your water parameters three times per week. Do not allow your nitrate levels to spike above 10 ppm, and keep your ammonia levels undetectable. Otherwise, you could lose your newly-hatched Glofish fry.

9. Begin feeding your Glofish fry ground flake food when they reach 2 weeks of age.After they reach one month of age, their care and water requirements are the same as adults.

10. Remember that you must provide new aquariums after breeding your Glofish.Under no circumstances is it acceptable to sell Glofish to pet stores or private fishkeepers. It is a criminal offense (and potential ecological disaster) to release Glofish into wild ponds or streams.