Breeding - rummy nose tetras

[Craig Halstead]

Has anyone had success breeding rummy nose tetras?  I can only seem to find very limited info on breeding them.  I have been wanting to keep them for awhile.  But am not having much success with ordering them so I want to try breeding them.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Fish Folk]

Ok. I’ve never bred these, but here is how I would do it.

(1) Buy 24 of them. Some will die, others will be unfit. But hopefully you’ll have at least a solid 12x brooders worth working with. Keep these in at least a 20-gal long. Feed well — condition well — you need to make sure they are healthy, and getting enough fatty acids to develop roe and milt.

(2) Build a floating plastic mesh containment basket from plastic canvas sheets (I get these at JoAnn Fabrics). I zip tie together, and zip tie on a styrofoam collar to keep it afloat. I think I described that in a thread on the forum  here:

You can build this to fit into various tank sizes. Your goals are (a) Rummynose tetras will spawn, and eggs need to fall through plastic mesh / canvas holes on the bottom out of reach so adults cannot eat them (b) The basket can be removed, and tiny fry will hatch from these eggs in a few days. They’ll need an established tank environment with ample infusoria to feed on until they can handle larger fare.

(3) Given these goals, I recommend a java moss bed for infusoria build up. Sponge filters are also excellent. Be ready with vinegar eels, micro worms, and baby brine shrimp.

There are other ways to do it  — some breeders would just have a giant clump of java moss … Tetras spawn over it, adult breeders are removed, eggs scatter in, hatch, and there you go. Other breeders like Ted Judy cut the bottoms out of small tanks, and replace with something like plastic patio screen. Corners of the tank are set on stones, so eggs can fall through bottom into a larger tank. 

Let me know if this doesn’t make sense. Rummynose Tetras are egg scatterers. Read this article if you haven’t already.

[TheSwissAquarist]

I think @Dark River Aquatics has tried before.

[Dark River Aquatics]

Wish I could help but I haven’t bred any tetras before, sorry! I’d try out the ideas already posted here, and probably research on YouTube a bit for info on species with similar spawning habits - there’s a ton of info out there about egg scatterers! Best of luck 😊