Tips on breeding tetras?

So the situation is as follows;
I have twelve Ember Tetras (lovely fish!),
I want 100 Ember Tetras,
I don’t have the funds to spend on 88 Ember Tetras
=I’m trying to spawn these (it’s not only a money issue It would be interesting to experience this too)

Having read various articles about spawning tetras I have the last couple of weeks tried my hands on these without success. These are supposed to be quite easy to spawn but mine don’t at least not in the spawning tank.

I know it is early days and will continue trying but was wondering if there is something below that I should do differently to increase my chances?

Adults are well fed with live foods and every now and then I have gravid females.

I have moved a gravid female to a small nano tank in the afternoon, the male was added an hour or so after the female.

Parameters: Temperature in main tank 24C, 23C in spawning tank, pH 6, TDS 3

I cover the spawning tank with a towel which I slowly remove the morning after and let the sunlight shine on the tank. I have repeated this process several times without results.

The recommendations on the net suggest a sterile spawning tank, I have strayed away from this and have a fine substrate, lots of java moss and oak leafs in the tank. I might have to change this if I have problems with the eggs but at this moment I have not even gotten that far.

I have thought about keeping males and females separate before spawning attempts but it feels like such a hassle. I have also heard that females can be picky about the males, could it be an idea to add more than a pair? I don’t care if non spawners eat eggs as long as they don’t eat all of them.

The tank is located on the floor in a quiet room, but me walking in and removing the towel might scare them a bit.

Any thoughts on improving my chances? Apart from having some patience that is

Thanks,

Andreas

Edit: forgot to say that the nano tank is filled with 60% water from the main tank and 40% from aged water.
Edit2: the tank spawning tank is filtered by a very small sponge filter

Mature but disease-free soft acid low-conductivity water (for most tetras)......your young need food when they hatch, and the best food is the micro-food found in mature water (that doesn't mean filthy old water).
Mature water should also have sufficient balance of microorganisms such that fungus is minimised.

Java moss or inert spawnign medium on the floor.

Do not allow light to fall on the eggs.

ian

Thanks Ian, I have prepared food in the form of insuforia that i hope will do the trick.

I'm sure there will be other issues at that point too, for the moment the issue is to get them to spawn.

I noticed today that the last pair I moved back to the main tank (after having been in the small tank for three days) was quite jumpy, they did not seem to feel secure in the small tank.

The plan is to clean out the small tank and start over again.

Andreas

Get the parents well and truly conditioned with food.
Some tetras spawn upon a change in the environment, but others will just spawn without such a trigger.

ian

I will try to hold off a bit longer before transfering the adults then, they have been very round now but maybe I can give it a day or two more.

As it is now I think they are spawning when getting back into the main tank

Andreas

My last batch of Tetra's spawned in my community tank.They little ones didnt last long but it was a nice supprise to see.

Stuart.

I have Tetra and Guppys in my 120L tank in the kitchen, this tank has a trickle filter and sump in the cabinet and I always find fry in the sump
At this stage theres almost more young Tetra,Guppy and Shrimp in the sump than in the tank, its like a filter come grow out tank all in one, I love it

Chris

Also Melander I tried the same as you, moving them to seperate tanks, towels over the tank and never any luck, get a sump and let nature take its lead

theangryman wrote:

I have Tetra and Guppys in my 120L tank in the kitchen, this tank has a trickle filter and sump in the cabinet and I always find fry in the sump
At this stage theres almost more young Tetra,Guppy and Shrimp in the sump than in the tank, its like a filter come grow out tank all in one, I love it

Chris

Also Melander I tried the same as you, moving them to seperate tanks, towels over the tank and never any luck, get a sump and let nature take its lead

This is a great idea, and it sounds like it really suits my lazy approach to fishkeeping too. Thinking of it there's always various fry in the externals, with a sump they would actually survive.

It might need a bit of re-organizing though, the sump would be bigger than the 70 litre they are in now:)


Andreas

Maybe somthing like this could work as a permanent-ish set-up without a sump?