Breeding Cardinal Tetra - tips please!

So I don't have my fish yet, I'm getting them online due to an unavailability of them at the pet store. I will be getting 10, if they are adults I will start the breeding process, if they are young, I will wait. However the seller claims that they are adult fish. I will put them in a separate(bare bottom) breeding tank with Java Moss and hornwort for the fry to hide.
So my setup:
No light, covered tank with cloth or similar(when breeding pair selected)
Indian almond leaves to reduce pH, some peat moss
Current parameters
pH: 7.4
dGH: 5
dKH: 1
Ok so first, if they are adults:
1. Add six to breeding tank
2. Feed little bit of food in many meals
3. Wait until the females get fat so can sex
4. Select a pair, return others to community tank
5. Turn off all lights
6. Wait for them to spawn
7. Wait for fry to hatch
8. give very little light, feed infusoria(could I please have info how to culture this)
9. Raise until big enough to be in community tank.
10. Sell unwanted fish.

Cardinal tetras need a pH below 7.0 and a GH of 0ppm for the eggs to hatch. Ideally the water in the breeding tank should have a pH around 6.0-6.5 and a GH of 0ppm, and a temperature around 26-28C.

Have a coverglass on the tank.

Before you breed any fish, put them in a tank and feed them up for a month before breeding. You want to feed them 3-5 times a day for at least 2 weeks before breeding. This allows the fish time to gain weight and build up fat reserves, as well as developing good quality gametes (eggs & sperm).

Do lots of big water changes when feeding more food so the tank stays clean. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

When the fish have been fattened up, separate males and females for 5 days before putting a pair (1 male & 1 female) into a breeding tank. Try to add the pair in the afternoon/ evening and leave the tank light off. The fish will usually breed the following morning.

Have a thin layer of gravel or a layer of marbles on the bottom of the tank so the eggs are less noticeable to the adults.

Have a clump of Java Moss in the tank for the eggs to be laid in.

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After the fish have laid eggs, remove the adults and cover the sides of the tank with black card or something to stop the light getting in. Tetra eggs are light sensitive and don't develop in bright conditions.

A few days later the eggs should hatch and the babies will be seen sticking to the sides of the tank. Wait until they are free swimming before you feed them. They will need very small foods like infusoria and green water, or boiled egg yolk pushed through a fine screen or handkerchief. You can also use powdered fry food for egglayers, or a liquid fry food for egglayers.

If you are using green water and infusoria, you need to make these up a month or more before breeding the fish. The following link has information about culturing food for baby fishes.

I had a go at breeding cardinals a long time back when we where still figuring out the process for them. They are incredibly difficult to breed.

I think we have come a long way since then and methods have been refined somewhat but they still need very specific water conditions. Honestly unless you have a lot of experience breeding fish and controlling water chemistry I would hold off trying to breed cardinals and just enjoy them for what they are.

I would also say selling is never really going to be a step unless you are producing on mass or breeding something that is worth a decent amount of money. At least in the UK you will find it difficult to find a fish shop that will just take a couple of dozen tetras for anything other than maybe a few pound of store credit. They can buy them cheaply from wholesellers and have agreements and guarantees in place.

xxBarneyxx said:

I had a go at breeding cardinals a long time back when we where still figuring out the process for them. They are incredibly difficult to breed.

I think we have come a long way since then and methods have been refined somewhat but they still need very specific water conditions. Honestly unless you have a lot of experience breeding fish and controlling water chemistry I would hold off trying to breed cardinals and just enjoy them for what they are.

I would also say selling is never really going to be a step unless you are producing on mass or breeding something that is worth a decent amount of money. At least in the UK you will find it difficult to find a fish shop that will just take a couple of dozen tetras for anything other than maybe a few pound of store credit. They can buy them cheaply from wholesellers and have agreements and guarantees in place.

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My kH is very low so it will be very easy to lower the others with peat and leaves. I'm just worried about the feeding part. They are quite expensive here(RM4.50 minimum, the other tetras are RM2.50) , my pet store always only has 1 or 2 Cardinals, the rest are neons.. I'm sure they would be happy to buy them.

Colin_T said:

Cardinal tetras need a pH below 7.0 and a GH of 0ppm for the eggs to hatch. Ideally the water in the breeding tank should have a pH around 6.0-6.5 and a GH of 0ppm, and a temperature around 26-28C.

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Yes I'm going to lower it with peat and leaves.

Colin_T said:

Have a coverglass on the tank.

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I'm just annoyed with the condensation on the glass. It can also get very hot with a coverglass. I use mesh.

Colin_T said:

Before you breed any fish, put them in a tank and feed them up for a month before breeding. You want to feed them 3-5 times a day for at least 2 weeks before breeding. This allows the fish time to gain weight and build up fat reserves, as well as developing good quality gametes (eggs & sperm).

Click to expand...

I was going to do this but I didn't mention it in the steps. I am going to condition them for breeding.

Colin_T said:

Do lots of big water changes when feeding more food so the tank stays clean. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

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But I use the hose method- and it's super hard using buckets.

Colin_T said:

When the fish have been fattened up, separate males and females for 5 days before putting a pair (1 male & 1 female) into a breeding tank. Try to add the pair in the afternoon/ evening and leave the tank light off. The fish will usually breed the following morning.

Click to expand...

Ok thanks.

Colin_T said:

Have a thin layer of gravel or a layer of marbles on the bottom of the tank so the eggs are less noticeable to the adults.

Have a clump of Java Moss in the tank for the eggs to be laid in.

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Is sand ok? My java moss is growing a lot now! Just the BBA in it

Colin_T said:

After the fish have laid eggs, remove the adults and cover the sides of the tank with black card or something to stop the light getting in. Tetra eggs are light sensitive and don't develop in bright conditions.

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Yep I'll do that.

Colin_T said:

A few days later the eggs should hatch and the babies will be seen sticking to the sides of the tank. Wait until they are free swimming before you feed them. They will need very small foods like infusoria and green water, or boiled egg yolk pushed through a fine screen or handkerchief. You can also use powdered fry food for egglayers, or a liquid fry food for egglayers.

Click to expand...

Ok I'll try the liquid fry food, I'm not really into culturing infusoria

Colin_T said:

If you are using green water and infusoria, you need to make these up a month or more before breeding the fish. The following link has information about culturing food for baby fishes.

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The problem is, I don't have something that big to culture my infusoria.

Try breeding Lemon Tetras or Black Phantoms first. This will allow you to get the hang of what is involved. Breeding Cardinals or Neon's should be further down the track on your fish keeping adventure.

itiwhetu said:

Try breeding Lemon Tetras or Black Phantoms first. This will allow you to get the hang of what is involved. Breeding Cardinals or Neon's should be further down the track on your fish keeping adventure.

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I don't have either of these fish. What about rummy nose?

Animallover😍 said:

I don't have either of these fish. What about rummy nose?

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You need to start with something simple. Rummy noses are easier than cardinals but not easy enough. How many egg layers have you bred and what were they?

Sand is fine for the bottom of the breeding tank.

Cardinal tetras and rummynose tetras need the same conditions for breeding.

You can use rainwater for breeding them. It has a pH of 7.0 and 0GH and 0KH. Distilled water is also suitable.

You can use plastic storage containers for culturing infusoria cultures. I used 40 litre and 200 litre plastic storage containers for my live food cultures.

itiwhetu said:

You need to start with something simple. Rummy noses are easier than cardinals but not easy enough. How many egg layers have you bred and what were they?

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I have not bred fish before. I'll try start with something simple. Maybe I'll purchase some lemon tetras and breed them. I just wanted to start with cardinals because my other fish are all babies and juveniles, not mature yet.

If you are getting cardinal tetras, start with them. Just condition them and breed them in rain water.

Colin_T said:

If you are getting cardinal tetras, start with them. Just condition them and breed them in rain water.

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Ok thanks. I will use buckets to catch the rainwater.

Today I will start my infusoria culture!

Update: I think I know which fish are female and male now. (they have bent stripes and are fatter)
Btw, thes fish have tails they are just transparent.