i set up a spawning tank which was my rena 30
in the tank i have a elite stingray 5 filter (well cycled)- heater set to 20 but the actual tank temp was between 22-24 degrees due to room temp
i purchased some fern made by sera (they sell it at pets at home) got 3 lots so plenty to spawn on
had one real plant in the tank (cabomba) but the minnows preferred the fern
a shallow layer of gravel in case any eggs fall throught the net
NO LIGHT ON WHILE SPAWNING
Kept all the minnows in the main tank until the males were displaying to each other , the females are not just fat but lumpy when they are ready to mate
removed 4 females and 2 males to the spawning tank , turned off the light , left them for 3 days then removed them (had neons to quarentine so needed the tank)
I usually remove the parents (though i have left them in the past and had some fry) and leave whatever they have spawned on in the spawning tank
i lowered a baby net into the tank and floated the fern into it then transferred it to my main tank 7 days ago
was going to empty the net yesterday as didnt think anything had happened as i couldnt see any babies whenever i looked
hubby looked yesterday and seen all the babies in there so i checked the spawning tank where the neons were quarenteening and found babies in there aswell so kicked the neons out lol
thats all i do throw them in the spawning tank , leave them for 3 days (apart from feeds) have a look through and you can see wether they are starting to breed - the male and female wrap there tails round each other , NO LIGHTS , then remove them and you should have some free swimmers in about a week
i think they take 24-28 hours to hatch but a while to swim freely
i never bother to feed until a week after the adults have been removed
then i feed them on crushed brineshrimp, crushed spirulina , crushed bloodworm and crushed algae , crushed flake --- by crushed i mean powdered
you must remember that they are extremly small babies and can be missed as i did lol
as long as the mummys are nice and fat and lumpy just go for it and you should hopefully have free swimming babies in a weeks time
hope makes sense MS brain not good lol
good luck Sarah xxx