Breeding Cardinal Tetra - tips please!

[Animallover😍]

So I've got 2 storage boxes ready for breeding, one is a 14 gallon(the black translucent one) and another is a blue 12 gallon one. They are both going to have sponge filters, and be somewhere in my porch, with frogbit and hornwort(both floating so they get light but the light is blocked from getting to the eggs). So since I want to save as much money as I can, they are going to have sunlight. The cardinals are ready for breeding.
What I ordered:
1kg of peat moss(because it's the hot season, no rain but if it rains I'll be sure to collect some)
2 sponge filters
2 air stones
1 double output air pump
Question: How am I going to do water changes without sucking up fry or eggs?
I'm having trouble doing the infusoria culture, can I feed Hikari first bites? I also have some brine shrimp nauplii(frozen).

 

[itiwhetu]

With these fry they will sit at the bottom of the tank, so you take water from the top of the tank.; But don't bother about water changes, feed the fry egg yolk as per this thread

First food

This most probably has been done before but here goes again. The best possible first food for egg layers especially gouramis and tetras etc is boiled egg yolk. First hard boil an egg, take only the yolk, put into a piece of cotton cloth like a handkerchief . Push it through into the tank. You...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Colin_T]

Question: How am I going to do water changes without sucking up fry or eggs?

You don't do water changes for the first 2 weeks of the fry's life unless there is an ammonia problem. Then you use a white bucket to scoop water from the top part of the tank.

A small white bucket is the best way until the fry are about 1 month old, then use a gravel cleaner and syphon water into a white bucket.

Use a white bucket because it's easier to see the fry.

--------------------

I'm having trouble doing the infusoria culture, can I feed Hikari first bites? I also have some brine shrimp nauplii(frozen).

Baby brineshrimp is too big for baby tetras. When the fry are a few weeks old you can try them on the baby brineshrimp but the first food has to be small. Boiled egg yolk pushed through a handkerchief into a small container of dechlorinated water can be used for the first few weeks but monitor the ammonia levels. Any ammonia will kill the babies.

Hikari first bites might be ok, I don't know how big it is but if it's a powder, then it should be ok.

 

[Mcostas]

Today I will start my infusoria culture!

That was the most fun when I was a kid. I had a little microscope to look at the organisms.

Now I'm a retired medical microbiologist, which has very little to do with protozoa. I decided to try and culture them again, which led to my getting a Betta, just one fish, I can quit anytime I want. I wasn't getting the variety from the pond and ditch water that I wanted and my efforts to culture them weren't as successful as when I was a kid.

Now I have a 20long with a school of neons. It was neons and shrimp but the shrimp weren't as easy as I was led to believe. Also a 10 with a Betta and snail and a 2.5 for a Betta with injured pectoral fins. He's actually much happier since I put him there.

But someone needs to breed some cardinals, I really wanted those but they are nowhere to be found.

 

[itiwhetu]

That was the most fun when I was a kid. I had a little microscope to look at the organisms.

Now I'm a retired medical microbiologist, which has very little to do with protozoa. I decided to try and culture them again, which led to my getting a Betta, just one fish, I can quit anytime I want. I wasn't getting the variety from the pond and ditch water that I wanted and my efforts to culture them weren't as successful as when I was a kid.

Now I have a 20long with a school of neons. It was neons and shrimp but the shrimp weren't as easy as I was led to believe. Also a 10 with a Betta and snail and a 2.5 for a Betta with injured pectoral fins. He's actually much happier since I put him there.

But someone needs to breed some cardinals, I really wanted those but they are nowhere to be found.

The problem I have found with Infusoria is that one tank is great, the next one is rubbish. Unless you have a microscope, you don't know if you have rubbish or not.

 

[Colin_T]

Most problems with infusoria cultures are caused by lack of aeration and insects (mainly mosquitoes). If you have an airstone bubbling away in the culture it stays aerobic and doesn't stink. Having a lid on the culture helps keep the mozzies out and stops the mozzie larvae eating the paramecium.

The following link is how I make infusoria and I get the same results each time.

Back to Basics when Breeding Fish

STARTING OUT Make sure you have a pair, (1 male + 1 female). There is nothing worse than spending your hard-earned dollars buying a couple of fish to try and breed and ending up with a pair of fish of the same sex. Let's face it, to reproduce fish you need a male and a female. Two males won't do...

www.fishforums.net

 

[itiwhetu]

Most problems with infusoria cultures are caused by lack of aeration and insects (mainly mosquitoes). If you have an airstone bubbling away in the culture it stays aerobic and doesn't stink. Having a lid on the culture helps keep the mozzies out and stops the mozzie larvae eating the paramecium.

The following link is how I make infusoria and I get the same results each time.

Back to Basics when Breeding Fish

STARTING OUT Make sure you have a pair, (1 male + 1 female). There is nothing worse than spending your hard-earned dollars buying a couple of fish to try and breed and ending up with a pair of fish of the same sex. Let's face it, to reproduce fish you need a male and a female. Two males won't do...

www.fishforums.net

Have you always had consistent Infusoria tub to tub?

 

[Colin_T]

yes I have

 

[anewbie]

You don't do water changes for the first 2 weeks of the fry's life unless there is an ammonia problem. Then you use a white bucket to scoop water from the top part of the tank.

A small white bucket is the best way until the fry are about 1 month old, then use a gravel cleaner and syphon water into a white bucket.

Use a white bucket because it's easier to see the fry.

--------------------

Baby brineshrimp is too big for baby tetras. When the fry are a few weeks old you can try them on the baby brineshrimp but the first food has to be small. Boiled egg yolk pushed through a handkerchief into a small container of dechlorinated water can be used for the first few weeks but monitor the ammonia levels. Any ammonia will kill the babies.

Hikari first bites might be ok, I don't know how big it is but if it's a powder, then it should be ok.

I find a large turkey blaster is excellent for water changes; use it to suck up the uneaten food - if the frys are super small use a loop to make sure you don't suck up frys.

 

[Seb2502]

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.
View attachment 147381
View attachment 147382

 

[Seb2502]

Oops didn’t mean to do that^^

Also I was wondering what ended up happening with the breeding because I’m planning to breed Cardinals as well and was wondering if you had any success, thanks!

 

[Animallover😍]

Sorry, I actually got banned from the forum because I was too young, also didn’t end up breeding Cardinals. I didn’t even try. Oops didn’t mean to do that^^

Also I was wondering what ended up happening with the breeding because I’m planning to breed Cardinals as well and was wondering if you had any success, thanks

 

[Animallover😍]

just got back on the forum 2 days ago (ban was just lifted)

 

[anewbie]

just got back on the forum 2 days ago (ban was just lifted)

Happy birthday !!

 

[GaryE]

My most recent attempt to breed cardinals, as an experienced breeder of many species, ended in... nothing. I will get this! It may take a few dozen tries, but I will (maybe) manage this.

I had an Apisto species that didn't give fry til the 17th batch of eggs, when I finally got the water hardness right.

By 2030, I shuld be able to report success with cardinals.