Weird Question. Can I Discourage Breeding?

[laritheloud]

So my Diamond Tetras are breeding at a rate of at least once per week. I'm either doing something really right or I got some intensely frisky tetras.

The thing is, I definitely do not have the space for lots of babies! I can always take any grown fish that I can't keep back to my LFS, but it'd be much easier if I just didn't have them at all. I had two survivors from the first spawn, and I have so many plants I'm convinced I'll continue to have a few survivors every now and then at the rate they're scattering eggs.

Any tips to prevent this from happening or should I just enjoy my crazy-frisky fish? 😂

[Sarina]

Definitely not a weird question, do you have a heater in the tank? Sometimes dropping the temp can discourage breeding. 

[laritheloud]

Just now, Nirvanaquatics said:

Definitely not a weird question, do you have a heater in the tank? Sometimes dropping the temp can discourage breeding. 

I've actually been working on slowly dropping the temperature, but for some reason the tank is still reading 78 degrees fahrenheit no matter how much I adjust my EHEIM heater down. It's set at 74 right now (I'm aiming for 76 fahrenheit) and I'm waiting to see if the temp will drop. I already did a round of calibration, so I'm confused why the heater won't quit. I might need to seek a replacement if it won't readjust.

[Sarina]

3 minutes ago, laritheloud said:

I've actually been working on slowly dropping the temperature, but for some reason the tank is still reading 78 degrees fahrenheit no matter how much I adjust my EHEIM heater down. It's set at 74 right now (I'm aiming for 76 fahrenheit) and I'm waiting to see if the temp will drop. I already did a round of calibration, so I'm confused why the heater won't quit. I might need to seek a replacement if it won't readjust.

Yeah I'd definitely swap the heater out. Eheims are usually pretty reliable, but there's a chance yours is stuck.

[laritheloud]

Just now, Nirvanaquatics said:

Yeah I'd definitely swap the heater out. Eheims are usually pretty reliable, but there's a chance yours is stuck.

I have a Fluval as a backup right now, do you have a recommendation for a reliable heater?

Edited May 27, 2021 by laritheloud

[Sarina]

5 minutes ago, laritheloud said:

I have a Fluval as a backup right now, do you have a recommendation for a reliable heater?

Fluvals are good, I think that's what Cory recommends if I remember correctly? Don't quote me on that. I have a mix of different brands and my favorite is the cobalt neotherm, but they're super expensive now, unfortunately. I've had my 200w for 3 years and it's still accurate and functioning. 

[laritheloud]

13 minutes ago, Nirvanaquatics said:

Fluvals are good, I think that's what Cory recommends if I remember correctly? Don't quote me on that. I have a mix of different brands and my favorite is the cobalt neotherm, but they're super expensive now, unfortunately. I've had my 200w for 3 years and it's still accurate and functioning. 

I purchased a temp controller from inkbird to back me up, and I'll make sure to get a new backup heater just in case. Thanks, we'll see how this goes! I've been trying to lower the temp in my tank this week so I can try and encourage my mystery snails to lay a clutch of eggs, but no luck yet! 

[Sarina]

Just now, laritheloud said:

I purchased a temp controller from inkbird to back me up, and I'll make sure to get a new backup heater just in case. Thanks, we'll see how this goes! I've been trying to lower the temp in my tank this week so I can try and encourage my mystery snails to lay a clutch of eggs, but no luck yet! 

I hope it works out for you! I totally forgot about heater controllers, which is silly since I have lots of them 🤦🏻‍♀️

[laritheloud]

Just now, Nirvanaquatics said:

I hope it works out for you! I totally forgot about heater controllers, which is silly since I have lots of them 🤦🏻‍♀️

It seemed like SOMETHING of a solution as a backup to internal heater thermostats, and it was about the same price as purchasing an additional heater. I should get it from Amazon by Saturday, I'll keep you updated!

[laritheloud]

My babies are growing fast by the way

[Colu]

39 minutes ago, laritheloud said:

I have a Fluval as a backup right now, do you have a recommendation for a reliable heater?

It could be your room temperature is 78 that's your tank temperature won't drop any lower

[laritheloud]

Just now, Colu said:

It could be your room temperature is 78 that's your tank temperature won't drop any lower

I don't *THINK* it is, but we are in a very old house with poor insulation (house was built in 1810). The HVAC thermostat is in the room the tank is in, and we have it set to 71. I'll have to test that!

[Dancing Matt]

In the summer my tanks run 78 because of the room temp but we don't run AC much. Have you thought about/do you have room to add fish that may eat the babies or the eggs (cories?) if you don't want more? Also maybe wait and see how it goes. More fish could mean more predation and less babies. You could also have an auto renew of tetras. As the older ones naturally pass, younger generations take their place.

[laritheloud]

Just now, Dancing Matt said:

In the summer my tanks run 78 because of the room temp but we don't run AC much. Have you thought about/do you have room to add fish that may eat the babies or the eggs (cories?) if you don't want more? Also maybe wait and see how it goes. More fish could mean more predation and less babies. You could also have an auto renew of tetras. As the older ones naturally pass, younger generations take their place.

We have corydoras elegans, and I've totally caught them slurping up eggs as the tetras scatter them, lol!!! That was actually our first signal that the tetras were laying eggs. They were having a party beneath the water sprite fronds, eagerly eating up all the eggs. 

We have also two honey gouramis and a female sunset thicklip gourami (that... was a mistake, but it turns out we love her and want to keep her instead of changing her out for a third honey) in the quarantine tank right now, and they'll go in sometime in mid to late June if all goes well.

[laritheloud]

43 minutes ago, Diving Aquarist said:

Is the heater constantly 'on'? (LED showing it is doing something). My tanks have no heater, but are still a few degrees above room temperature. The lighting of the tank can also add to the temperature, especially is the tank has a lid on it. Stuff like pumps etc. can also add in the temperature.

It isn't constantly on. I see it cycle on and off. Right now temp is reading as 77.4 fahrenheit.

[laritheloud]

Found a third diamond tetra fry today, and I gotta say, it's really stressing me out to keep finding babies. I really just wanted a peaceful community with schooling fish, some corydoras, and my honey gouramis, but the breeding activity wasn't something I was prepared for with the tetras, especially since I heard that they were not easy to breed.

My 29 gallon isn't big enough to hold a never-ending supply of tetra so I really have to start netting and taking them in to the store....

*EDIT*: Maybe tetras aren't for me? There's 8 of them including the two new juveniles but excluding the next round of fry, god knows how many there are. I've been contemplating rehoming them and replacing them with a lower-key fish but it just really sucks to stress about fry all the time. I'm super bummed about this, even though it should be exciting.

Edited June 11, 2021 by laritheloud

[gardenman]

If it's any help, as the population grows, the likelihood of the survival of new fry diminishes. Every fish in a tank is a predator to some extent and more predators means less survival chances for the prey and anything small enough to fit in a mouth is prey for a fish. You may think you have the perfect number of fish in your tank, but your fish and nature may disagree. You can try shuffling the tank decorations and plants a bit to make it harder for fry to survive. A bare tank makes it nearly impossible for fry to survive. A bare tank isn't great to look at though. You have some cories now, but your tetras are laying more eggs than the cories can eat. Adding a few more cories, or even some snails could help gulp down more eggs before they hatch. Angelfish are notoriously good at spotting and hunting fry. Adding one to the tank might be an option for you also.

[laritheloud]

10 minutes ago, gardenman said:

If it's any help, as the population grows, the likelihood of the survival of new fry diminishes. Every fish in a tank is a predator to some extent and more predators means less survival chances for the prey and anything small enough to fit in a mouth is prey for a fish. You may think you have the perfect number of fish in your tank, but your fish and nature may disagree. You can try shuffling the tank decorations and plants a bit to make it harder for fry to survive. A bare tank makes it nearly impossible for fry to survive. A bare tank isn't great to look at though. You have some cories now, but your tetras are laying more eggs than the cories can eat. Adding a few more cories, or even some snails could help gulp down more eggs before they hatch. Angelfish are notoriously good at spotting and hunting fry. Adding one to the tank might be an option for you also.

Thank you, gardenman. I struggle with anxiety troubles so of course my first impulse was to wring my hands rather than enjoy that my fish are happy in my tank. It's my issue to deal with, and I've calmed down since then.

I have 3 gourami (one thicklip and two honeys) that are just about to clear quarantine. I'm scheduling them to be moved into the display next week. In the meantime, I'm actually running out of storage space for all the fish stuff I have, I'm running 3 filters concurrently on the 29 gallon (to switch from an aquaclear 50 to a tidal 55), and I'm about ready to invest in a 40 gallon breeder or a 55 gallon to go in my fish room. The extra cabinet space is going to help a lot. If it ever becomes a problem, I can move them to the bigger tank.

I really love seeing the little ones grow up, and they're extremely cute to see little juvenile fish joining the school. What I was most worried about is overstocking my 29, but I've heard that it'll be okay if a few tetra make it and expand the school. I don't have any plans to add any more fish to the display at this time (though I was toying with the idea of a male honey, and I've been since second-guessing so I'll wait on it for awhile). 

Here's the stock currently, including all the surviving fry I found in the tank:

6 corydoras elegans
9 diamond tetras
3 mystery snails
2 nerite snails
4 or 6 amano shrimp, I usually only see 4 at a time but I put 6 into the tank so I assume they're hiding
bladder snail snague (snail plague. But I love them.)

It's moderately to densely planted, the hardscape covers the unplanted parts. 

And then to round it out I'm adding my 2 female honeys and 1 thicklip gourami next week.

Edited June 11, 2021 by laritheloud

[Guppysnail]

I had issues with my cpd someone forgot to tell them to eat the eggs I guess? Fry everywhere!  I had this awesome java moss scape going on that I loved. I removed all the moss so not so enticing spawning area. I read they also bred great using diurnal lighting and I always allowed the sun to come up natural.  I started closing the blinds at night and turning the light on before the sun came up not using any dimmer. 

Not very scientific or proven method by any means but it worked for me I don’t see fry anymore. 

[laritheloud]

On 6/11/2021 at 8:30 PM, Guppysnail said:

I had issues with my cpd someone forgot to tell them to eat the eggs I guess? Fry everywhere!  I had this awesome java moss scape going on that I loved. I removed all the moss so not so enticing spawning area. I read they also bred great using diurnal lighting and I always allowed the sun to come up natural.  I started closing the blinds at night and turning the light on before the sun came up not using any dimmer. 

Not very scientific or proven method by any means but it worked for me I don’t see fry anymore. 

My tetras love the water sprite for spawning. It's always the water sprite where I see the dominant male courting the females and chasing away his competition. Occasionally I'll see the egg showers!

I've heard lighting could have a lot to do with it...... except I have seen eggs flying at dead noon. Go figure. The corydoras are usually there to slurp up a lot of the eggs, but they can't be there all the time.

I'm currently dreaming of plans for another tank, so that's where I'm going with this now.