Tetra Breeding

[pkppv]

Hey everyone, hope you are all well.

I plan to begin breeding some tetras in the next few weeks. I have read lots about it including posts on this site and pretty much know what im in for. I only wish to act for any final tips or advice you may think is worth giving. I have 3 bloodfins, 3 neons, and 5 silvertips. I dont really know how to sex them other than their girth. Which species should I try with first? and how should i go about doing it. Thanks! -Colin

 

[Caprichoso]

Hey everyone, hope you are all well.

I plan to begin breeding some tetras in the next few weeks. I have read lots about it including posts on this site and pretty much know what im in for. I only wish to act for any final tips or advice you may think is worth giving. I have 3 bloodfins, 3 neons, and 5 silvertips. I dont really know how to sex them other than their girth. Which species should I try with first? and how should i go about doing it. Thanks! -Colin

You have to increase their numbers to begin with. Trying to breed tetras in small groups like that will be very difficult. They also require dense vegetation to spawn in, such as moss or some kind of ground cover. Making sure you have the proper ratio of males to females is also important. Why don't you let us know what your tank set up is like, including the temperature, size of tank, and water parameters are, also a pic of your fish would be helpful, then we know how many males and females you have. Also, silvertip tetras are very frantic, and sometimes aggressive fish. They will likely become a problem for your neons and will get chased most likely. The size of your tank will be a very important factor in determining what you should or should not breed.

Oh, and welcome to the forum!

 

[pkppv]

Ok, ill try to answer as much of that as i can. I think i can pretty accurately say i have 1 male neon and 2 females, 1 male blood-fin and 2 female, and 2 male silvertips and 3 females. I was going to use 5 or 10 gallons for a breeding tank, but it would be nice for you to let me know whats best, and my water is a little on the warm side, 80F-ish, but i can change that, a bit hard which i think is a problem in tetra breeding and very low on nitrites ammonia and nitrate. Also, the pH is almost perfectly nuetral. Thanks a lot!

 

[Caprichoso]

Ok, ill try to answer as much of that as i can. I think i can pretty accurately say i have 1 male neon and 2 females, 1 male blood-fin and 2 female, and 2 male silvertips and 3 females. I was going to use 5 or 10 gallons for a breeding tank, but it would be nice for you to let me know whats best, and my water is a little on the warm side, 80F-ish, but i can change that, a bit hard which i think is a problem in tetra breeding and very low on nitrites ammonia and nitrate. Also, the pH is almost perfectly nuetral. Thanks a lot!

Water hardness is no big deal for breeding tetras. As for temp, that sounds fine too. My tetras will breed from 76-82F. I would opt for the 10 gallon if I were you (for raising the fry) but they need to be in at least a 20g for their permanent residence in my opinion. You say you are "low" on ammonia, nitrites and nitrates? The first two have to be at 0 at all times. Nitrates are not as important and can safely go very high without ever having an issue.

Anyway if you are doing weekly water changes, nitrates are no big deal plus large weekly water changes of say, 50% I always recommend and will prevent having ammonia and nitrite issues as well as less chances of the fish becoming ill. But one thing is for sure, you need to increase the fish numbers.

For example, if you had a 30g tank,(you haven't stated how big your tank is yet) you could safely have approx. 10 of each 3 types as long as you are doing large weekly water changes and have a big filter with lots of media in it. This is just what I would probably do but you have to be comfortable with the number of fish you can deal with maintaining long term. Just remember, tetras are schooling fish so the more you can have in a school, the better they will do and the more chance you have of successfully breeding them. Some people think you have to give them live food to get them to spawn but I never have and they still spawn in my tanks.

Once you actually get them to start spawning, you will have to watch for the breeding pair and separate them into the smaller tank. To be honest, I have kept all sorts of tetras for over 15 years and I can't be bothered with trying to harvest the eggs and raise fry, it's just way too much work lol, but I hope you enjoy the experience and that you are very successful with it

 

[pkppv]

Thanks mate! Yes, of course nitrite and ammonia are 0! I'd be ashamed otherwise. I will try pretty soon, thanks a lot.

 

[Krayzee]

Hi Colin,

Is it really obvious telling the silver tip males and females apart? I ask because we originally had 3, before purchasing 6 more recently. One is blatantly female, very pale and rotund so presumably about to lay. The others all appear very similar in colour, slightly different shades, and whilst the chances are slim that I could have 8 males and 1 female, it's possible and a shame. Might have to buy a couple more females if this is the case. The other 8 are slightly different sizes and colouring so presumably of different age. I'm feeding them TetraMin flake food (a good or bad flake food?) and will get some bloodworm this week which may or may not help with their colouring.

What do their eggs look like? A couple of weeks ago I noticed something unusual stuck on a leaf, wasn't that big, part of it was white, part of it was a dark colour. I'd be delighted if this was eggs, though it could be penguin tetra eggs. I don't know what either species' eggs look like and we've since rehoused the penguins.

I agree about the advice with the neons. We had 2 neons with the 3 silver tips and 4 penguins and there was a lot of fighting, obviously down to there not being enough of each species and the neons are a lot smaller, just hid most of the time. I didn't want to buy more neons and penguins so rehoused them so I could buy more silver tips, and the results were immediate. A brilliant school, darting and zipping around playing tag. You can see them getting curious when an oto or yoyo swims by but it's never aggressive and they've calmed right down - magic!

My temp's 24-25C so may need to up it a touch to encourage them. Would love to hear future updates on how you get on. Am happy to post a photo of my school on here if you guys want to have a go at sexing them but I don't wanna take over Colin's thread!

Cheers

Chris

 

[coldcazzie]

I am unsure of obvious sexual dimorphism in the other two species, but the silvertips are very easy to distinguish. Males are orangey coloured and females are yellowy goldy coloured. In the shop you usually can't tell, but once home they colour right up. I find mine show most intense colouring directly after feeding, and in the evenings. Sometimes my big males go almost fluorescent orange...it's quite amazing how vivid they are.

Upping the numbers is very important. As is good quality food. As for the question of eggs, the eggs are tiny, like grains of sugar, and usually a creamy or beige colour.

 

[Krayzee]

It's likely that I have 8 males and 1 female then. No wonder she spends so much time in the plants, though it's upstream there so she could just be enjoying herself... When I bought the 6 silver tips to go with the existing 3, they were all schooling together nicely. But now 6 are spreading amongst the plants swimming upstream, with just 3 schooling together and swimming around. Is this natural behaviour?