How to Breed Bloodfin Tetras

[BriannesFishFam]

Hi all! I was wondering if anybody has breed bloodfin tetras. If so here are my questions...

How to breed them

How to tell male and female

How to induce to breed

How to tell after female has released eggs

How long until eggs hatch

When to take her out (Overnight?)

[gardenman]

I haven't done it, but they seem to breed like most tetras with a few minor differences. Females tend to jump while laying their eggs, so you'll want to be sure they have jumping space. A close-fitting cover is a bad idea if you're breeding them. Something like a 30 high tank half-filled might be ideal. Feeding them induces spawning. Feed them well with high protein foods and they'll spawn. Females are a bit chunkier when viewed from the top down when they're ready to lay eggs. They're egg-scatterers so a planted tank is good, but they prefer subdued light, which is not so good for plants. They're prone to breeding at dusk or overnight also. Like most fish they'll eat the eggs if they can get to them after laying them, so removing the parents after spawning is a good idea. They'll lay 300+ eggs at a time per pair so you can find yourself with a whole lot of fry. The hatching time varies with temperature but a couple of days seems the norm. If you see the female jumping and being chased by the male/males, you'll know she's laying eggs. When the jumping stops the egg laying ends and the egg eating begins, so that's a good time to get the parents out. They seem like a fairly easy, typical tetra to breed. If you've had them for a while, odds are they've already been breeding and you've just never noticed. Tetras are kind of breeding machines if you're meeting them even halfway. They just lay very small eggs that are hard to see and the eggs and fry tend to get eaten.