Penn-Plax AN2 Aqua Nursery and Hatchery Breeding Box for Your Aquarium - Help Protect Baby Fish from Predators

This thing really works. Once you attach it to an airline tube, it really does draw the fry down and into the other chamber. I left a guppy in it one night when I noticed her in labor and woke up the next morning to find the small chamber full of fry. My next attempt will be with a cauliflower sabertail (swordtail) that is VERY valuable. The side chamber doesn't like to sit well though. And most of that is because the tube connecting the two chambers is often too long, leaving the side chamber too far out. So you'll want to cut that tube down a bit so the side chamber sits properly. The lid on the larger chamber also needs to be SECURELY in place, or the fish can freak out, bump it, and knock it off. My only real problem with this (and with many breeder "traps") is that they are so small. There isn't enough room for the poor females to swim around. Mollies and swordtails basically have to stay still the entire time they are in there. So if you don't know *when* they got pregnant, you probably have to leave them in there for days or weeks - or hope you catch them when they first start going into labor. There needs to be a larger version, or perhaps several V-shaped traps can be attached together to fit a particular tank (like a 10-gallon) so the adults have the top of the tank and the fry slip through to the bottom. Aside from the size, this is definitely an efficient way to save the fry of very valuable fish. I'm sure it would work for scattering egglayers too (like tetras and danios) but I haven't tried it yet.

I read many reviews here and on other sites. It one thing to have good written reviews but this one had videos. So, I decided to go for it. I’m happy this product was sent with lots of bubble wrap and cushioning as I heard the plastic was brittle, but mine showed up solid and intact. I did notice that there was invisible tape holding the lid on, hard to see but had I not removed this I would have cracked the lid. Yeah, it’s made of hard brittle plastic, I guess some boats are more solid in water. Easy assembly with paper illustration even though part A “The Platform” isn’t labeled, but it’s easy to see it’s the only part not labeled. My plastic tube was cut perfectly, test before pre-cutting. Yes, the Nursery and the Hatchery don’t line up well but it’s fine as our hatchery is in the corner so it still sits in place on top of the bubble tube. So far so good… now we wait for babies… It was a partial success, timing is key and fry slip right through the slits in the holding cup, so this only works best in a isolated tank.

I was a bit skeptical given some of the reviews, but this thing worked perfectly for me. Everything fit together snugly--no rubber bands needed! The only tiny hurdle was that the tube that moves the fry from the main chamber to the side one was indeed at little too long, causing it to kink. Trimmed off the extra quarter of an inch with regular scissors in about thirty seconds. I'd rather it be a little too long than not reach across. And of course watch out for back flow to the air pump since this is likely to be sitting higher up. I put in a check valve just in case and had no problem. I have the tiniest air pump money can buy and the suction was almost perfect. The fry were immediately drawn below the green layer where momma couldn't get at them. One or two made the full journey right away and more a bit later. They have to get right up to the mouth of the tube for the current to be too strong for them to fight, but it was easy enough to shoo the rest through once momma was out, and they were perfectly safe the whole time so I was very happy. This design is excellent. The slits that let water in are very thin, much smaller than they look in the picture because they are tapered from outside to in to encourage flow. This nursery gets excellent circulation and I can't picture any fry escaping. The side chamber is easy to remove--much easier than trying to net a bunch of tiny endler fry, and way less stressful for them! It's been two weeks and I've had zero mortaliy, so this product certainly did it's job. In conclusion, this nursery is a bit of a precision instrument compared to others, but with a little fiddling (almost none in my case) it does a great job ensuring the health and safety of your fry! Beats a box with holes and eagle eyeing your pregnant fish in my book.

This breeder works OK but I prefer the Marina hang on breeders. This breeder is kind of bit and takes up a good amount of space in your aquarium. The main feature of this breeder is nice, in that if you have air hooked to it the fry will be pulled into the tube and into the cup away from the mother. This does not always work as I have seen in many cases where even with the air on full the fry is still able to swim away and not be sucked up. I have had more issues with fish waste and food getting sucked into the tube and clogging it before any fry can be pulled in. It comes with the same aluminum strips you get with net breeders to hang it to the side of the aquarium and just like the ones that come with the net breeders they are flimsy and never seem to hold the breeder in the position it needs to be held in to work properly. I still continue to use this as it is better than the net breeders or the floating breeders just not as nice as the hang on breeders I mainly use now.

This is very annoying to use it would be better if you could fill it with water and hang it on the outside. When you put it on the inside it just keeps floating and bobbing no matter how much you try to get the air bubbles out, the air tube just keeps filling it with air and bringing it up to the surface. With some finicking and crafting, you can make it work but I didn't pay for a DIY kit. Returned.

A+++++

The big hose on the underside of the trap is slightly too long, causing it to kink in the middle when assembled. I recommend trimming a little off with a pair if scissors to fix this. You'll also want to add a valve in your air hose line to regulate the air flow, otherwise its obnoxiously loud and disruptive. I have a cheap plastic one I ordered off Amazon that does the trick nicely. Once you get your fish into the trap turn off the lights and make it as dark as possible for her. She'll birth her fry more quickly and without light to draw the fry away 90% of them will get pulled into the holding chamber. I usually turn off the lights and drape a dark towel over the aquarium to accomplish this. Once shes finished I remove the adult fish and the green trap funnel. Any fry left in the main compartment I usually try to spook into the intake hose on the bottom of the box with a chopstick. The holding chamber can be pulled off the side of the breeder box afterward and taken wherever you need to deposit the tiny fish as it holds water just fine in its own. Stellar product, can't recommend it enough.

Ok my first review blasted this breeding box for being so cheaply made, but the bottom line is it worked for my guppies. I woke up this morning to a nursery full of fry, and then was able to watch the last 7 make the journey from mom through the tube and into the nursery – it was pretty exciting to watch. Also, she really aggressively went after them as soon as they came out, so I don’t know how many she ate overnight but at least a good 19 made it thanks to this contraption. I would’ve gladly paid a little more for a more solid version of this – the nursery and the lids just kind of barely sit against each other, and instantly pop apart, if anything touches them. When it’s not a breeding box, it’s also a great self cleaning isolation tank – instead of fry it’s just fish waste that gets pulled out and jettisoned to the nursery tank…