How to Make a DIY Fry Trap for Breeding Aquarium Fish

In our previous article How to Raise Baby Fish Fry in Your Aquarium, we mentioned several techniques that help prevent the adult fish from predating on their offspring. DIY fry traps have helped fish farmers and breeders increase their fry survival rate. They are simple enclosures that allow young fish to swim through the holes, but the parents can’t pass. You can put all the adults or a pregnant livebearer inside the trap so that the eggs and fry escape through the holes. For safety, parents can be placed outside of the trap while the fry can swim within. Our CEO Cory and master breeder Dean have their own methods of making fry traps, so we’ve included instructions for both down below:

How to Make Cory’s DIY Fry Trap

1. Gather the materials. You can usually find most of these items at arts and craft shops. 1. Acrylic yarn 2. Rectangular sheet in plastic craft mesh (size #5 & #7) Circular sheet of mesh canvas made from plastic (size #5 or #7) Plastic yarn needle that can pass through the mesh holes Scissors 6. 2 Binder clips Binder clips 7

1. Use a running seam to connect the ends of your craft mesh. 1. The needle can be used to insert the yarn down into the craft mesh, and then pull the yarn through the cylinder. You should pull enough yarn through to finish sewing the edge. 2. Push the needle upward through the next hole in the craft mesh and pull the rest of the yarn through to the outside of the cylinder. 3. Repeat steps 4a and 4b until the entire edge is sewn together. Cut the yarn ball off and tie off the two loose ends of yarn.

1. Make sure the circular mesh canvas is cut to fit the bottom of the cylinder.

1. Use a whipstitch to attach the circular canvas to your cylinder. 1. The needle should be inserted into the bottom of the cylinder. Next, angle the needle upwards so that it passes through circular base. You will need enough yarn to complete sewing the entire edge. 2. Next, insert the needle into the next hole in the cylinder along the bottom edge. Then, slide the needle through to the circular base. Pull the yarn through. 3. Step 6b is repeated until the entire bottom seam has been sewn. Cut the yarn ball off and knot the two ends of the yarn together.

1. Optional: Make a few spawning mop without the cork, and tie them to both the outside and the inside of the cylinder in order to attract baby fish. 2. Place the cylinder in the aquarium and put gravel or rocks inside to prevent it from floating. The cylinder should be tall enough to allow adults to not jump over it.

How to Make Dean’s DIY Frying Trap

1. Gather the materials. (As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases, and commissions may be earned from the links below.) Polyfoam caulk saver Pond plant basket 1. Scissors

1. The caulk saver should be cut to fit the basket’s diameter. 2. By pushing the caulksaver into the basket rim, you can reinforce it. You can secure the caulk saver by pushing it into the basket rim. However, it shouldn’t come out. 3. Place the basket into the fish tank. For a 10-gallon aquarium, the basket can rest on the tank rim. A larger aquarium can have the basket floating in the water.

DIY egg trap basket with pregnant females guppies inside

The number of fish you raise and breed should increase significantly with your fry trap. If this is the case, consider selling any extras to your local fish market or to hobbyists. Learn more about how to breed aquarium fish for profit in our article How to Breed Aquarium Fish For Profit.