It's December, which means breeding season for cardinal tetras is underway. I have a shoal, and wanted 3 specific females out of my heavily planted 120 gallon. I spent two days off and on trying to catch them, but they are cagey creatures.
I use a trick where you leave a large net in the tank, and use a smaller net to drive the fish to it. I caught every other tetra and pencil fish in the tank, but not one cardinal.
This morning, I looked and 7 cardinals, including my 3 egg filled females, were sitting in the net just checking it out. So now, they are in a tannin stained 10 gallon at 26c, with very soft water. It's the same hardness some of them were hatched in last year. There's a grating so eggs will fall through uneaten. I'll give them 24 hours. We are having a violent wind and rainstorm, and the air pressure shifts are usually a trigger. To them, it may feel like the arrival of the seasonal rains.
Then the adults come out and the tank is dark for 5 days. I feed the void once the young are freeswimming, and keep it dark for another 5 days as tiny young cardinals are photophobic.
Last year, I learned a lot with these fish. Mostly, I learned what I did wrong that probably reduced a nice large spawn to a handful of individuals. This time, I'm hopeful, as you can never have too many cardinals. I have about 50 2 month old Pristella tetras, a handful of Hyphessobrycon peugotti, an undetermined number of glowlights from 2 weeks ago, and the same for Hyphessobrycon sp cherry red, where I can just see enough movement in their now dim tank to tell me there are some living.
So the next chapter in this tale should come in in about 10 days, maybe 12. Breeding tetras is not for the impatient. The lighting has to be dim to dark for many species, the fry are so small it is a strain to see them, and they take their time. If they make 3 weeks, they grow like bad ideas though.
I use a trick where you leave a large net in the tank, and use a smaller net to drive the fish to it. I caught every other tetra and pencil fish in the tank, but not one cardinal.
This morning, I looked and 7 cardinals, including my 3 egg filled females, were sitting in the net just checking it out. So now, they are in a tannin stained 10 gallon at 26c, with very soft water. It's the same hardness some of them were hatched in last year. There's a grating so eggs will fall through uneaten. I'll give them 24 hours. We are having a violent wind and rainstorm, and the air pressure shifts are usually a trigger. To them, it may feel like the arrival of the seasonal rains.
Then the adults come out and the tank is dark for 5 days. I feed the void once the young are freeswimming, and keep it dark for another 5 days as tiny young cardinals are photophobic.
Last year, I learned a lot with these fish. Mostly, I learned what I did wrong that probably reduced a nice large spawn to a handful of individuals. This time, I'm hopeful, as you can never have too many cardinals. I have about 50 2 month old Pristella tetras, a handful of Hyphessobrycon peugotti, an undetermined number of glowlights from 2 weeks ago, and the same for Hyphessobrycon sp cherry red, where I can just see enough movement in their now dim tank to tell me there are some living.
So the next chapter in this tale should come in in about 10 days, maybe 12. Breeding tetras is not for the impatient. The lighting has to be dim to dark for many species, the fry are so small it is a strain to see them, and they take their time. If they make 3 weeks, they grow like bad ideas though.
!
