Humming Bird Tetra Breeding

[Marley]

Hi all! We have some Hummingbird  Tetra and we are going to attempt a breed.

The info regarding this breeding seems to be scarce. Anyone have any recommendations on how many to keep together for the breeding process.

We run everything by a local Exotics Veterinarian in our area but he has never bred these fish and had some tips but not sure of the best number of fish to keep in breeding tank.

Thank you! 

[Fish Folk]

No professional or experienced answers here. But if you're looking for _something_ to try . . . 

Initial Questions: What is your water like? Are you changing out with tap water? How hard is your water? pH? 

If no one else gives you any better ideas, this is what we would try: 

Use a bare 10 gal tank. (1) First, cut a black backing and 2x sides out of foam board from Walmart. Cut it carefully to fit between the tank rims. You can use black Gorilla tape to attach it to the rims. You will want this tank to be relatively dark. Just the front panel will be viewable. (2) Next, take 1x catappa leaf (Indian almond leaf - order a bag of 10x from Aquarium Co-Op) and break it into smaller pieces and scatter on the bottom. Do the same with 2x brown, dried Oak leaves thoroughly rinsed (boil if you like). These release tannins, helpful for fry. They will grow infusoria - excellent first-foods for fry. If you want to add a light scattering of peat, that is another element - but take care you don't add anything with additives, chemicals designed for plant growth, etc. (3) Then take several bags of common glass marbles and gently cover the tank bottom over top of the leaf-litter. The marbles can be layered several deep - so you may need a few bags of marbles. The goal is you want spaces for tiny free-swimming fry. (4) Next, buy or prepare a fine mesh to go over top of the marbles on the tank bottom. Darice Plastic Canvas sheets - available for order online, or from Walmart, or any craft store - would be an excellent choice. The goal is to prevent adult parents from getting through down under to eat eggs or fry, but to allow fry to eventually emerge from beneath. (5)  On top of this "floor" set into the tank a prepped sponge filter. We run ours in another tank for 2x weeks or so to colonize bacteria there. (6) Do a water change on the tank the adults are currently in, and use the water removed from that tank to fill the 10 gal. (7) Add an accurate, adjustable heater. Take care to suspend it a few inches above the plastic mesh to avoid warping. Get the sponge filter going strong for a few weeks in the tank. (8) Meanwhile, add a TON of healthy, rinsed java moss above the darice mesh. You want the java moss to be 3+ inches thick all around the bottom. (9) You'll want a reasonably tight-fitting lid to keep the atmosphere stable above the water surface. (10) Lighting, however, should not be too much. If you do not have an adjustable LED, try a small LED under-cabinet light from WalMart (very small 5,000 K Hyper-Tough brand works fine), placed on top of a couple pre-cut layers of black cupboard liner to diffuse the light.

Let the tank settle into a groove for a few weeks. Test the water, and perform a change if necessary (don't suck out the java moss). The tank should be cycled if you've used an established sponge filter and tank water to begin with. You'll need to feed the adult Tetras healthy live food. Daphnia and live baby brine shrimp will help to get them prepared to spawn. You want to take care that the water parameters aren't terribly different from the display tank and the breeding tank. pH should be lowered some, and tannins should be turning the water a tea color. Otherwise, it shouldn't be drastically different. Be sure temperature is about the same. It can be a few degrees warmer than the display tank. Turn off the sponge filter. Net out a half dozen or so adult tetras, put them in the breeding tank. Feed them with live food to trigger spawning. Tetras tend to spawn either at morning or evening. Leave them in for about 48-72 hours. Be sure that there are no bright lights or frightening movements that will stress the fish. A dark corner of the room is best. Breeding behavior is a lot of flashing around, bumping into each other. Males will fertilize eggs as females drop them into the dense java moss. Eggs will be eaten by adults, but enough should be able to fall down, through the moss, and into the "marble underworld." Once the adults are removed, try to keep the tank pretty dark. Some tetra eggs and fry are very sensitive to bright light. You'll want to prepare some infusoria to feed fry for a week or so. Boiled lettuce set into a jar of established tank water and hung / set in front of a window with daylight should do the trick. It will reek, but the infusoria will multiply and can be sparingly fed to tiny fry. Tetra fry are minuscule. They will barely be visible to the eye. If your eggs hatch, they should start to show up within a week or so. 

sorry for the book . . .  🤓😂

Edited December 4, 2020 by Fish Folk

[Andy's Fish Den]

I had never heard of this fish, so had to look it up. Looks like a neat little nano fish. I would follow along with what @Fish Folksaid above, one thing I would add is that you might want to consider using either reverse osmosis water or rainwater in the breeding tank. I would assume that most likely the fish are wild caught, and the info I found said that they are from acidic, tannin filled waters, with low KH and GH

[Marley]

Thank you so much for your time. They are definitely super cool little fish! I was not familiar with them until a bit ago and I’m smitten for sure.

[Marley]

@Fish Folk Thank you so much for your “book”! I am so appreciative of your sharing of your expertise. All of your info matches up and well surpassed my research so I will definitely be incorporating your ideas into this breeding set up and I’ll definitely keep you posted on progress.

Thanks again! 

[Fish Folk]

No professional answers here! Just enthusiastic amateur zeal for the hobby. These are absolutely gorgeous fish! Two followup thoughts: (1) can you find any collectors who can report on the in situ environmental factors where they are caught in the wild? (2) maybe reach out to Tannin Aquatics, and ask how he’d set up a tank for breeding them. He’s had genius success with spawning tetras in home aquaria over years past. 

[Marley]

It’s always great to bounce ideas back and forth amateur or expert and it is appreciated! I do have an exotics veterinarian I work with and he even had just ideas, as he hasn’t spawned this species either. 
Those are great options and I will definitely reach out to Tannin for sure. 

[Lemon]

would this be similar to breeding neons?

[Fish Folk]

That was my thought. It appears that fertilization for Hummingbird Tetras is internal... perhaps a bit different from other characins...

[Marley]

I have 21 of them that just arrived today so I will keep everyone posted once I proceed with habitat and such. I truly appreciate all of the input received from everyone. You all are awesome! 
*Right now everyone is in the quarantine tank and beginning to color up nicely post their delivery trip. 

Edited December 8, 2020 by Marley