# Breeding Tetra



## Philip C (Jan 1, 2007)

Has anyone ever tried breeding tetra?
I read this article and they make it seem easy, what is yall's view point on this subject?
Free Information on Breeding Tetra Fish


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

The article does indeed make it sound easy, but you really do need to have specific water qualities. The peat will help lower the pH and hardness a bit, but if you have naturally hard, alkaline water, it isn't going to happen as easily. I also don't agree with the aged water thing, since nice clean water is usually the number one factor for fish spawning success. 
If they would have said that you need to add some water from the spawning tank to grow out the fry, that would be fine since they don't take well to change, but it doesn't need to be aged, which is an old school way of thinking.


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## Skelley (Mar 4, 2006)

From what I have heard they can be difficult to breed in captivity. I actually read an article a couple months ago about this. A man had managed to breed one of those "impossible" breeds of tetras. It was a lot of work including careful temperature fluctuations and adding a certain amount of RO water a day to simulate the rainy season.


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## Philip C (Jan 1, 2007)

I've found a new article that is in more depth and tells which tetras are more doable. Sounds like a fun project.
Flippersandfins.net Tetra Breeding Article


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## erijnal (Apr 5, 2006)

Philip, this thread should be really interesting to you.

crshadow's Tetra Breeding Project *56K Warning!*


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## Philip C (Jan 1, 2007)

Wow 10 pages, that should be some good reading, thanks.


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## oblongshrimp (Aug 8, 2006)

thanks for the article


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## Six (May 29, 2006)

IMO it isnt the breeding that is difficult but the rearing of the really small fry. ive never bred any, but that's what i have heard. ive only bred danio chopre and lots of cichlids (which in and of themselves are larger and need tiny food. tetra would more than likely be more diffucult).

GL


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## Philip C (Jan 1, 2007)

From every article I've read they mention water hardness being at certain levels for porper breeding. I have no clue how to test this, does anyone have some good reading on this subject.


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

Any decent GH and KH test kit will give you the results you need.

I've bred Cardinal tetras and spawned glowlights in water with 0 dKH and 2 dGH.

The initial feeding is the key, like Six said. They need infusoria or a very fine powdered fry food. Personally I used a powdered food along with having lots of Java moss in the tank. That is said to be a good source of infusoria.


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## Philip C (Jan 1, 2007)

OK thanks
I'm pretty sure we have hard water, what would be solutions to fixing this problem?


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

Rain water, deionised or RO water (which is what I use).


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## Beasts (Apr 14, 2006)

I have congo tetras which seem to be supplying a very popular source of live food to the rest of the fish in the aquarium. I have, several times, noticed the male pursuing one of the females. This behavior attracts a crowd and all of a sudden there is a frenzy of activity surrounding the pair. Hopefully I will actually see the eggs one of these times and be able to confirm their amorous activity but I can't figure another reason for the behavior of the other fish. The pH is slightly alkaline and the water is definitely not soft. 
Beasts


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## cedwards (Mar 7, 2006)

I had 3 diamond tetras and now I have 6. Didn't do anything special to try to get this to happen, it just happened.


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## Philip C (Jan 1, 2007)

cedwards said:


> I had 3 diamond tetras and now I have 6. Didn't do anything special to try to get this to happen, it just happened.


This is pretty encouraging news, is your tank heavily planted?
Sounds like I might have a chance at this breeding stuff.


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## cedwards (Mar 7, 2006)

This was in a 55 gallon that was probably considered moderately planted, not heavily. It was pretty cool. They did well for themselves. To the best of my knowledge I started with 4 fry and 3 made it.


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## Philip C (Jan 1, 2007)

You wouldn't happen to know if your water is hard or soft would you?


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## cedwards (Mar 7, 2006)

It is on the soft side. I don't have my exact GH numbers but if you are interested I can do a test. My KH is low, in the 3-4 range and at the time this happened I was not injecting CO2 yet so PH was around 7.2


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## Philip C (Jan 1, 2007)

Ok thanks, I think our water is hard so I may have to soften it up before breeding may take place.


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## furballi (Feb 2, 2007)

Have seen one young pair of neon running around the Java Ferns dropping eggs in the community tank. The water is plain tap water (alkaline hard) with CO2 injection (7.6 PH). Other Cardinals are running after the neons to devour the eggs.


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