Conditioning Glowlights

[bobfloyd]

Hi. I bought 6 glowlight tetras about a month ago. I seperated the males from the females, putting the males in 1 three foot tank and the females in another. Over the last month I have been feeding them on flake, bloodworms, scrapings of fish flesh etc. However, the females just aren't filling up with eggs. They are definitely females as they are broader than the males but don't appear to be overly fat. Any ideas?

Ammonia/Nitrites/Nitrates are all good. Water is a little warm at times, early 30's. Could this be a factor?

Perhaps glowlights aren't meant to look that fat when in breeding condition, compared to, say, barbs?

Scott.

 

[NEONCORY]

It could be since that is pretty high temperature. And we all know that higher the temperature it gets, more active metabolism would be. And use up more energy, therefore no energy left to store therefore no eggs. I don't know why your tank get so warm but I would keep them around 77~80F(think around 25~27C) if I were you. Also you mentioned you keep them in seperate tanks. If I were you,I would use the divider so they can see each other but physically contact, I hear that would increase the urge to spawn more. Or at least, place the tanks next to each other the reason mentioned above. I personally never condition the Tetras by keeping seperate by the sex but keeping in the community tank. I just pull the most colorful dominant male and most fat(roed, egged) and place in the breeding tank. I bred Neons , Glowlights and Lemons and hopefully Diamonds soon. Maybe I should condition them seperate but I get more than enough frys as it is. And I don't have many tank space neither so I never than that.
Anyway, also I never bred the Barbs and I haven't bred glowlight for a while. I don't remember how fat they were although I remember they scatter more eggs than Neons. And I also know the old female glowlight seems become egg bound. They become really big around the stomach. I just tried them not long ago but they just don't lay eggs. And I know they are more than 2years more like 3 years old. So I figure they are just too old to breed. I am thinking to feed more vegetable once I can set another tank to seperate them.
But anyway, back to your question. Just set up the breeding tank and see if they breed. If they don't in 2 days. Put them back and feed them well. Twice or more times a day. More the better like several times a day although small amount each time. And keep up with the water change maybe twice a week or so. Also that is the more reason using live food such as many kind of worms, vinegar eels, BBS, daphnia.,etc is good. Because they are alive and don't foul the water for long time. And keep them little lower temperature if you can because 30C is little too high. Good luck. I know Glowlight would be easier than Neons since their water requirement is as strict.

 

[bobfloyd]

It could be since that is pretty high temperature. And we all know that higher the temperature it gets, more active metabolism would be. And use up more energy, therefore no energy left to store therefore no eggs. I don't know why your tank get so warm but I would keep them around 77~80F(think around 25~27C) if I were you. Also you mentioned you keep them in seperate tanks. If I were you,I would use the divider so they can see each other but physically contact, I hear that would increase the urge to spawn more. Or at least, place the tanks next to each other the reason mentioned above. I personally never condition the Tetras by keeping seperate by the sex but keeping in the community tank. I just pull the most colorful dominant male and most fat(roed, egged) and place in the breeding tank. I bred Neons , Glowlights and Lemons and hopefully Diamonds soon. Maybe I should condition them seperate but I get more than enough frys as it is. And I don't have many tank space neither so I never than that.
Anyway, also I never bred the Barbs and I haven't bred glowlight for a while. I don't remember how fat they were although I remember they scatter more eggs than Neons. And I also know the old female glowlight seems become egg bound. They become really big around the stomach. I just tried them not long ago but they just don't lay eggs. And I know they are more than 2years more like 3 years old. So I figure they are just too old to breed. I am thinking to feed more vegetable once I can set another tank to seperate them.
But anyway, back to your question. Just set up the breeding tank and see if they breed. If they don't in 2 days. Put them back and feed them well. Twice or more times a day. More the better like several times a day although small amount each time. And keep up with the water change maybe twice a week or so. Also that is the more reason using live food such as many kind of worms, vinegar eels, BBS, daphnia.,etc is good. Because they are alive and don't foul the water for long time. And keep them little lower temperature if you can because 30C is little too high. Good luck. I know Glowlight would be easier than Neons since their water requirement is as strict.

Thanks very much for the advice. I was thinking about the metabolism thing and suspected it could be something along those lines. I live in Brisbane, Australia and it's very hot here at the moment (our summer). I'll keep feeding the glowlights and see what happens. I also have some female black neons and zebra danios in the tank as well and there not filling up either. The only thing I can put it down to is the water temperature. Hmmm.

Does anybody else have anything to add?

Thanks again for the advice, appreciate it.

 

[SuperColey1]

Although it maybe easier to keep a tank cool in the UK I have mine at 25, depending on the cold night etc, the heater keeps the tank between 24 and 27.

My mollies breed every 2 months. I have 1 male Danio with 4 females, and they are all very fat and getting bigger compared to the slim male. I have 3 female glolights and 2 male. 2 of the glolight females are almost bursting while one is smaller.

I rarely feed meaty food (1 time a week some bloodworm and the whole tank goes for it.) The tetras tend to go for flake that sinks in the melee at the top between the danios, betta and mollies

I am planted and lots of hiding places (plus with CO2 addition my ph is about 6.4 so just about right)

hope this helps a little (although mine haven't bred yet, I am waiting to see if anything happens now they are fat)