Community tetras spawning - can it work in the display tank?

[Bill Calvert]

I currently have a community 40 breeder in my classroom that has been established since October 2020. I have 10 ember tetras, 9 harlequin rasboras, 6 glowlight tetras, 4 panda corys, and one female bristlenose pleco, with a few mystery snails and a large population of Malaysian trumpet snails.

I have noticed on several occasions each species of tetra showing signs of breeding and spawning, with the current spawners being the rasboras. Is there any chance I could successfully hatch tetra fry in this setup and have them live? I know tetra eggs tend to be light sensitive, but my fish are laying eggs under plant leaves and in a stone cave in the tank, so I was hoping it could work. None of the fish are aggressive and there is plenty of cover in the tank. 

Could I get babies in the main tank, or would I need a separate low light setup for the spawning pairs?

[laritheloud]

11 minutes ago, Bill Calvert said:

I currently have a community 40 breeder in my classroom that has been established since October 2020. I have 10 ember tetras, 9 harlequin rasboras, 6 glowlight tetras, 4 panda corys, and one female bristlenose pleco, with a few mystery snails and a large population of Malaysian trumpet snails.

I have noticed on several occasions each species of tetra showing signs of breeding and spawning, with the current spawners being the rasboras. Is there any chance I could successfully hatch tetra fry in this setup and have them live? I know tetra eggs tend to be light sensitive, but my fish are laying eggs under plant leaves and in a stone cave in the tank, so I was hoping it could work. None of the fish are aggressive and there is plenty of cover in the tank. 

Could I get babies in the main tank, or would I need a separate low light setup for the spawning pairs?

As someone who has a few baby diamond tetras swimming around in the community tank, it's possible but your yield will be very low. We have two babies nearing the 1 inch mark right now, and when I checked on/fed the tank this morning the diamond tetras were spawning (and the corydoras were attempting to eat some of the flying eggs). I didn't intend to make them spawn or produce any special conditions. You might just get lucky!

But if you do want a higher yield and a higher hatch/survival rate, you'll have to have a separate set up.

[Bill Calvert]

@laritheloud That's all I'm hoping for. I don't plan on breeding tetras for profit or anything, but it would be nice if the populations could keep themselves going!

[laritheloud]

Just now, Bill Calvert said:

@laritheloud That's all I'm hoping for. I don't plan on breeding tetras for profit or anything, but it would be nice if the populations could keep themselves going!

Then if they are happy and spawning, there will probably be a couple of survivors every now and then. If we get too many survivors from the current spawn/later spawns, we'll have to trade them in to our LFS -- our Diamonds are extremely prolific!