Raising Tetra Fry

[JPF]

My bloodfin tetras breed every morning like clockwork. I've decided that I want to save some eggs and see if I can raise the fry. I've been looking all over for information about when to start feeding baby tetras as some fish have yolk sacs and do not need to be fed for the first day or so. When is the appropriate time to start feeding baby tetras? 

[Fish Folk]

Cool! We got a school of BFTs recently. They're a lot of fun! If it's an established tank, we'd do this:

[Prep] Be sure you're just running sponge filters. If all you've got is a hang-on-back, get a coarse pre-filter sponge.

(1) Make sure you've got a thick amount of java moss across the bottom of the tank.

(2) Let the adults spawn for a few days. (Live food triggers them) 

(3) Remove the adults / parents to another tank. They will predate on eggs and fry both.

(4) The fry will be very small once they hatch. You may want to dim the lighting on the tank some. We use black cupboard liner material over the glass lids to diffuse light.

(5) Once you see fry - they'll look like tiny shards of glass - you can feed on infusoria drawn from sponge filter squeezings (I can explain if you want), or grown in separate container using decomposing vegetables in tank water. You can also feed vinegar eels early on. We also use sera-micron dissolved in tank water. It may take a week or two before they'll be large enough to eat baby brine shrimp. 

If you want to see a similar set up, you can watch some of the videos on this forum under: Fish Breeding > Breeding Brilliant Rasboras

Best of luck to you!! 

Edited December 19, 2020 by Fish Folk

[Lemon]

@Fish Folk Greg sage has a video on breeding odessa barbs would the process be similar? not sure if I'm allowed to link it or not does anyone know if we can link videos?

[Daniel]

@quirkylemon103 go ahead and post a link if you would like to the Greg Sage videos.

[AdamTill]

Aquarist Podcast had an episode on breeding tetras with good tips. They can take baby brine earlier than most people think apparently, esp the San Fran variety

[Fish Folk]

1 hour ago, quirkylemon103 said:

Greg sage has a video on breeding odessa barbs

Yes! He’s got a few videos. Here’s a recent one:  

 

[Fish Folk]

Just took a quick snap of our little school. They’re young yet... and SUPER ACTIVE! 

[Lemon]

2 minutes ago, Fish Folk said:

Yes! He’s got a few videos. Here’s a recent one:  

 

is the process similar for breeding/raising?

[Fish Folk]

7 minutes ago, quirkylemon103 said:

is the process similar for breeding/raising?

Not sure. But, if you’ve never reached out to Greg by e-mail, you definitely need that merit badge! His e-mail replies are legendarily helpful!!! 

[JPF]

Thanks, @Fish Folko I really appreciate you sharing your set up. I would be interested in hearing how you harvest infusoria from your sponhe filters. I've had trouble getting infusoria cultures started. They all seem to just turn to Green water or simply never grow any infusoria. I've got two tanks that run sponge, though, so that may be helpful. 

Also, thanks for the tips about Greg Sage. I've bought levamisole from him but I didn't think to reach out to him.

[Fish Folk]

2 hours ago, JPF said:

I would be interested in hearing how you harvest infusoria from your sponhe filters.

Well, this info comes courtesy of advanced breeders in several clubs we’ve been a part of (PVAS, MAKO). 

The general way it’s described to us is this:

(1) Using a funnel, squeeze about 1-2 inches of gross stuff out of your sponge into a 1-2 liter container (polar spring water bottle, or large clear wine bottle)

(2) fill up the rest of the container with “clean” tank water 

(3) let rest for a day or so. The solid particulates fall to bottom, bacteria blooms (cloudy water) and infusoria— which eat the bacteria— begin to “clean” / “clear” the cloudy water. If you have an excellent magnifying glass and proper lighting, you may be able to _barely_ make out the infusoria wiggling around. 
 

(4) harvest using an airline piece attached to a syringe. Do not over feed this... it can cause problems. 
 

If this method makes you nervous, you can always check out Mark’s Aquatics video on making infusoria the “stinky / smelly” way:

 

[JPF]

Thanks again @Fish Folk! I'm going to try your method. I have plenty of jars and am testing to see what I can get to work. I had never heard of the sponge method before you mentioned it. 

Thanks also, for linking to Mark's Aquatics. I actually watched Mark's Aquatics vid a few days ago and started two of these using water from two different thanks to see if one would take off.