Breeding Tetras

[Lizzie71]

I am very fond of my x-ray tetras and I was wondering whether it would be possible to breed little x-rays which I could add to the tank, and maybe sell a few back to the lfs?

I have 4 at present, and of course I have no idea what gender they are, but one is noticeably bigger than the others, so maybe that one is the only male (or only female)?

Do they need special conditions to breed, or can I breed them in my community tank?

 

[dwarfgourami]

Well, it's certainly possible to breed tetras, people do, but you do need to have the right conditions.

Soft acid water is probably neccessary, though I have no particular knowledge of x-rays
(these are general tetra conditions).

Then you need to condition them on live foods. With some tetras the parents also need to be the right age, i.e. not too old.

Then you need to consider how you can keep the eggs safe from being eaten. Remember eggs are a lot more helpless than young livebearer fry and tetras have no parental instinct. So both they and the platies and guppies will happily pig out on caviare.

Even when the eggs hatch the fry will still be quite helpless. And small. It will be a long time before they are too big to fit into a platy's mouth.

So I think you'd almost certainly have to set up a spawning tank. If your water conditions are right. If not, probably not worth the bother.

 

[Colin_T]

Tetras are reasonably easy to breed but their young are small and you need to prepare the food before breeding them.
Generally male tetras are smaller and slimmer than females. Females are usually much fatter due to the eggs they are carrying.
To breed them set up a small aquarium (18inch) with soft slightly acid water. Have a layer of java moss or other fine leaf plant in there. Seperate the males and females for a week then introduce a male and female. Try to do this in the afternoon and the following morning they should breed. Morning sunlight can help induce spawning. The pair swim side by side thru the plants and scatter eggs and sperm. The eggs sink to the bottom or get tangled up in the plants. After breeding take the parents out and cover the tank with black paper or card. Tetra eggs are sensitive to light so you need to keep the tank dark.
A few days later the eggs hatch and the fry hang on the sides of the tank. A few days after that they become free swimming and now you have to feed them. Most tetras will eat infusoria for the first week but some species need green water for a few days before going onto infusoria. After a week on infusoria you can offer them newly hatched brineshrimp.
A decent spawn can consist of several hundred eggs. If well fed the young will be full grown in 3-4 months and you can sell most of them to the LFS.