Breeding Ember Tetra

[Zodiak246]

Has anyone breed ember tetras before? I would like to breed some but I'm not sure how to go about it. I watched multiple videos but they all have different methods on how they breed them. Should I feed them live brine shrimp ones a day? How many times a day should I feed them? When I transfer them to a breeding box, should I feed them there? How long should I keep them their? 

[Tihshho]

I've not bred them personally, but from what I've read they spawn easily in captivity. If the goal is to spawn them, I would keep them in a species only tank and not move them around for spawning. Setup a group of 6-8 to get the best odds of both sexes (unless you're purchasing adults that can be sexed then get a decent m:f ratio) with a sponge filter, heater (some people might disagree here, but IME controlling heat provides better spawning results in most species), quality food (frozen, live BBS, quality flake pellet) and keep up with water changes. In terms of setting up the tank, I would go bare bottom and place a decent clump of moss or a sunken spawning mop down at the bottom to give them an area to scatter their eggs. Once you notice spawning behavior, regularly, pull the moss/mop and place that into another tank to hatch. 

[Kenneth Carl]

If you are going to breed ember tetras, please  purchase from multiple sources to ensure some genetic diversity..

 

You have to think about the problems of inbreeding that are plaguing fish today, and how you can improve the gene pool when you breed a species in captivity.

 

The ember tetras I got from LiveAquaria were of poor quality, they were hardy but they were prone to a type of melanoma cancer. Black lumps would grow inside them and spread, the fish then develops popeye, and dies shortly after. Most of them died after the 8 month mark, my only survivors are only a year old under my care. This could have been avoided if they were outcrossed to unrelated individuals.