Breeding Neon Tetras

[Corbin]

i have a 10gal setup with nothing in it, and i was thinkin about breeding neons cuz im gonna do a tetra tank and wanna waste sometime and have some fun and learn something new and of course save money :D.

soo, has anyone ever breed them, and any advice, how difficult it is. or perhapes and alt tetra that is easier to breed ??

[Melody]

Neons are easily bred but their fry are hard to raise. They need infusoria and are very fussy about what kind at that. I knew one guy who finally found the right kind of infusoria, which he could only get to grow on some weird kind of lettuce... can't remember what it was.

I've bred Red Cardinal Tetras just for the challenge and it wasn't that bad, but its still tricky, what with the light sensitivity & all that. I was lucky enough to have a very experienced breeder mentoring me through the experience.

A lot of Tetras also require certain conditions to breed, typically soft acidic conditions, but many are flexible in that respect as well. Most of the common Tetras that I know of aren't all that difficult to breed. For a first small Tetra, I'd recommend breeding Black Neons.:smile:

[Corbin]

cool thanks for the info, but i think brine shrimp will work, or so says what i have read. ill see what kinda tetras are at the store tomorrow or the next day and deiced.

[madattiver]

I think freshly hatched brine shrimp would still be too small as a starter food for the fry.. you have to remember, small fish = very small eggs = even smaller fry. I would suggest starting them with APR or infusoria and maybe get a culture of viniger eels as well.

and a good starter tetra may not be neons.. I think in the history of our aquarium socieity they have been spawned once with successful raising of the fry. I have heard black skirt tetras or head ’n’ tail light tetras.. or even the black neons as Melody suggests are a good starter one, and easily sexable if they are full grown. maybe wait for the full blown neon tetras until you get a little experience under your belt as they do require tinkering with the water paramiters for those ones.

but then again, you have spawned weather loaches.. so what do i know.. lol

all in all.. best of luck and keep us posted.

[Melody]

but then again, you have spawned weather loaches.. so what do i know.. lol



LOL Good point! Whenever we spout what we know about something, don't take it as us discouraging you. Its realistic information so you know what you're getting into, but it doesn't mean that you can't do it.

Its the same as when the information says there are no documented breedings of a fish in captivity. That could mean its never, or rarely, been tried or just that it was never documented. I don't even know how one officially documents this stuff, other than with their fish club.:Dunno:

[mykiss]

I think freshly hatched brine shrimp would still be too small as a starter food for the fry..

I guess you meant the newly hatched BBS is too big? If so, I agree. I've spawned neons before and the fry are super tiny. Infusoria is the best bet....oh, and if you need some let me know, I've got a few cultures going.... ;-)

What I've done was feed them like stink, have lots of plants, and I had the water at about 78-80 and the pH arounf 6.5

That's what I did and I found that in the morning the males would chase the females around and try to lead them into the java moss or plants. Then, they would comce very close to each other and side-by-side flick off from each other and a sprinkling of eggs would just appear. The eggs are super vulnerable and if you have other fish in there, consider it fish food. Once they have spawned, take out all the fish, and don't use your light. I think it's best if there's some filtered light such as sunlight but from a distance but no direct light...it may sound confusing but basically no close-direct light from the light fixture or sun.

After a few days, I'd suggest feeding the tank a little bit with infusoria. Even though they may not be able to eat then, the infusoria will hopefully survive so when the fry are able to eat, it's there. Good luck

[Corbin]

thanks for the info.