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Any Tetra Breeding Suggestions?


TheSwissAquarist
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I've heard good things about Xray Tetras being easy to breed. I've bred neons before, once you get the hang of the lighting trigger and water parameters it's easy. 

Make sure you have some almond leaves and or drift wood to help lower the pH + introduce tannins. 

For egg scatter layers I've seen some people put a few layers of marbles for the eggs and fry to fall into- to be kept safe from the parents. But I've never personally tried that method. Just remove the tetra parents after you see them start laying eggs. Fry can be tricky and might take a couple tries to raise successfully. 

 

Best of luck and keep us posted on what you wind up trying to breed! :) 

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@TheSwissAquarist Emperor Tetras are also relatively easy to breed.

Just make sure you have a decent batch of infusoria or paramecium on hand, as they are too small to eat much else in the first week or so.

When I breed them, I don't do anything to trigger them. I just put them in a tank with the bottom completely covered with leaf litter, or live sphagnum moss or java moss -- something for the eggs to fall into and the fry to hide in. I'll leave a few pairs in for a week, and then remove. 

I'm guessing every tetra species has its differences and takes a different approach, but this has worked for me with Emperors.

Edited by tolstoy21
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Oh let me add, I have super soft water naturally, so I can't offer advice on water params. My water is just naturally good for soft-water species, so I stick with breeding those. Can't really comment on what range of params they 'will' breed in, but as I've bred them anywhere from 5.0 - 6.4ish Ph.

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On 4/12/2022 at 11:36 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

I’ve just started conditioning some XRay Tetras on live baby brine, and what do you mean by lighting trigger?

Tetras like a darker environment to breed in, usually they trigger in spring around dusk, sometimes during a storm. Water changes, soft water that is a bit cooler, dim light. Depending on the species I've used a soft storm effect mode on my Fluval Aquasky to help trigger breeding. 

Some of your easier tetras to breed are
Ember
Glowlight
Emperor
Black Phantom
and Pristella's

Although I would call no Tetra "easy" to breed. I usually make a grate out of crafters mesh held in place by suction cups to suspended above the bottom of the breeding tank so the eggs will drop through but the adults can't get to them to eat them.
I'm currently working on conditioning some Toucan Tetras (Tucanoichthys tucano) and Gold Tetras (Hemigrammus rodwayi) to breed 

In the breeding tank I'll mix it 50% water from the tank I conditioned them in and 50% RO water for that nice softness, then do a 50% cooler water change with the RO water right at dusk. If they don't breed that night the next night I'll do the water change again and then add in some storm lighting. No breeding in 2 days I put them back in their regular tank and try again in a week or so. It does help if it's actually a stormy night when you put them in the breeding tank, they can feel that barometric pressure drop inside the aquarium. 
 

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Marks Aquatics on YouTube has a number of breeding videos up on many tetras and other fish. He bought some Serpae Tetras to breed and they ended up breeding in the bag as he brought them home from the store. He's a British fish keeper who's been posting videos for ten years, so there are a lot of videos of his out there. Over the years he's bred just about everything one can breed in both freshwater and marine.

As a general rule with tetras, if they're happy and well fed, they'll breed with relatively little interference from you. Odds are any you already are keeping have bred repeatedly in your tank, but you've just never noticed. The eggs are often very small and the breeding often takes place at night. 

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  • 1 month later...
On 4/18/2022 at 8:57 AM, gardenman said:

Odds are any you already are keeping have bred repeatedly in your tank, but you've just never noticed. The eggs are often very small

How do you think I can keep eggs/fry safe, or look for eggs? I have a sand bottom, plants, driftwood, and 2 snails that are constantly on the move. Should I move the adults to a breeder box after I see their mating dance?  Or move any plump-looking adults?  And would they drop their eggs after being moved (stress)? 

What's the timeline between mating and egg laying?

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On 5/21/2022 at 9:39 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

What's the timeline between mating and egg laying?

They happen at the same time. The eggs are fertilized external to the fish. The fish might chase each other and flirt a bit. But as the eggs are laid, the male will swim over them and fertilize them. This is pretty standard for egg scatterers/layers.

As for keeping eggs safe, I put a heavy layer of live sphagnum moss and oak leaves down when I breed emperor tetras.  The eggs fall into that and the parents don't go diving into it to any degree that impacts the number of fry born.

I leave my breeding adults in the tank for a week. Any fry born in that time will hide in the protection of the leaf/moss bed.

I don't bother looking for eggs. But to do the above assumes you're using a dedicated, separate breeding tank. I breed mine in a 20 gallon high.

Edited by tolstoy21
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On 5/21/2022 at 10:01 AM, tolstoy21 said:

They happen at the same time. The eggs are fertilized external to the fish. The fish might chase each other and flirt a bit. But as the eggs are laid, the male will swim over them and fertilize them. This is pretty standard for egg scatterers/layers.

I didn't see any drop so they must be tiny. I did notice they were going through the java ferns though between mating dances. They don't usually swim through the ferns, they usually just swim in open water, so I assume she was laying the eggs in those plants.

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On 5/21/2022 at 10:06 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I didn't see any drop so they must be tiny. I did notice they were going through the java ferns though between mating dances. They don't usually swim through the ferns, they usually just swim in open water, so I assume she was laying the eggs in those plants.

Yeah I never see the eggs either, and I don't typically even see any fry visually for like two weeks.

I kind of just proceed on blind faith that fry are in there and feed the tank tiny food like infusoria accordingly. 

If I don't see fry by week three, I'll start removing all the moss and leaf litter and sometimes, bingo, there will be a couple dozen to many, many more fry that were just being secretive.

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On 5/21/2022 at 7:46 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I’m going to preface this by saying I’ve NEVER deliberately bred tetras or raised accidental tetra babies.  I have raised other egg scatterers and certainly had tetras drop eggs in a community tank.

That said, both those videos look to me like males sparring but the first video there’s one that looks much rounder and thicker and I suspect she’s an interested female.  There was another slightly slimmer fish that looked much more interested in her than the big boys were.  😆 @tolstoy21’s advice seems very solid.  For sure you will need to separate your breeders in a dedicated tank.  Looks to me like they’re ready.

Intake sponge, for sure, and as much as I like the ACO intake sponges, to keep tiny fry out you’ll probably need a finer sponge in this case.  Or switch to solely sponge filters in which case the ACO sponge is fine because IF a baby is drawn into the filter it’s just as likely to go on through and be spit out the top.

Good luck with your endeavor and keep us posted!

Edited by Odd Duck
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On 5/21/2022 at 8:02 PM, Odd Duck said:

For sure you will need to separate your breeders in a dedicated tank.  Looks to me like they’re ready.

Intake sponge, for sure, and as much as I like the ACO intake sponges, to keep tiny fry out you’ll probably need a finer sponge in this case.  Or switch to solely sponge filters

Thank you for your advice! I learn something new every day on this forum. So many helpful tips. Happy fishkeeping!

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@Chick-In-Of-TheSea

The only other advice I'd have to give is the following: 

In my experience, certain egg-scattering species, like Odessa Barbs, will aggressively root around in any moss of plants or anything hunting for morsels to eat. In these situations, you will need to make a false bottom out of some kind of grate material. I use the plastic canvas-type grid you can find at hobby/crafting stores like Hobby Lobby or Micheals.

Other species, like Kerri Tetras, are much more lackadaisical and don't go diving down into the moss searching for eggs or fry (at least in my experience, and if they do, they don't do it to an appreciable amount).

So, just watch the behavior of your specific fish species and get used to its habits. If you're looking to intentionally breed these for fun or personal interest or to sell or trade, then just know it's ok to fail at the first couple (or more!) attempts. They key is to b observant, take notes (metal notes or on paper -- I'm more of a mental note kind of person), and just gain experience over time.

If you are just looking to maybe get some fry survival in a community tank so you have a few more fish popping up every now and again, then make sure there is leaf litter, or piles of stones, or moss, or a carpet of something like chain-swords, where the fry have a chance of survival, hiding away until they are large enough to not get eaten. Some are bound to make it every now and then in those conditions.

Good luck!

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I already have some knitting plastic mesh, so we are good in that department. I do have ONE java moss on sinking mesh on the bottom and 2 microswords, but there is a lot of plain sand. Haven't noticed any rooting activity, but when they were doing their mating dances, they were swimming through the java fern, which they normally don't do. They normally swim around the java fern. I suspect some eggs are in there. 

I put some floss around the intake, secured with rubber bands.

To be clear, I'm not intentionally breeding these guys. They just decided it was time, so I'm trying to care for any fry, if they should hatch. 

I have a batch of infusoria going in a jar. The java moss is fluffy and has been branching out some. There could be some eggs in there, as long as the snail doesn't run the vacuum over it.

Edited by Chick-In-Of-TheSea
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