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. To allow the eggs and fry to escape, you can place all adults or a pregnant female livebearer in the trap. Conversely, the parents can be placed outside the trap and the fry can swim inside for safety. 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 Fried Trap

1. Gather all the necessary materials. Most of these items can be purchased at arts and crafts stores. 1. Acrylic yarn 2. Rectangular sheet in plastic craft mesh (size #5 & #7) Circular sheet of plastic mesh canvas (size #5 or #7) 4. Plastic yarn needle (that can fit through the mesh holes) 5. Scissors 6. 2 binder clips 7. 2 binder clips 7.

1. Use a running stitch to join the ends of the 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 upwards through the next hole of the craft mesh, and pull the yarn through the cylinder to the outside. 3. Keep going with the previous steps until you have a complete edge. Cut the yarn ball off and tie off the two loose ends of yarn.

1. The circular mesh canvas should be cut so it fits into the bottom of your cylinder.

1. Thread the needle again with yarn and sew the circular canvas to the bottom of the cylinder using a whipstitch. 1. Place the needle in the bottom edge of the cylinder. Angle the needle up so that it passes through the circular base. You will need enough yarn to complete sewing the entire edge. 2. Insert the needle through the next hole along the bottom edge in the cylinder and then through the circular base. Pull the yarn through. 3. Continue repeating step 6b until all of the bottom seams are sewn together. Cut the yarn ball off and knot the two ends of the yarn together.

1. (Optional) Make a few spawning mops without the cork and tie them to the outside and inside of the cylinder to attract the baby fish. 2. To prevent the cylinder from floating, place gravel or rocks in the aquarium. The cylinder must be tall enough that it is not visible above the water. This will prevent adults from jumping over the walls.

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.) Pond plant basket 1 Scissors

1. Make sure the caulksaver is cut to the right size for the basket. 2. Reinforce the caulk saver by firmly pushing it into the basket rim. You can secure the caulk saver by pushing it into the basket rim. However, it shouldn’t come out. 3. Place the basket inside 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

Your new fry trap will increase the number of fish that you can breed and raise. You might also consider selling extra fish to your local fish shop or to hobbyists. Our article, How to Breed Aquarium Fish to Make Profits provides more information.