Woops, my Black Neon Tetras must have spawned...

[12end]

Haha, thanks for sharing this pic with us. It is the first time im seeing a black neon tetra too.

[squawkbox]

Interesting pictures, thank you for sharing.

[tetrafreak]

reviving this thread.

I am attempting a black neon mass spawning.

Got some 36 black neons from bro sianz and about 4 from my own tank, mix of young and mature adults.

picked about 16 of the fattest, presumably female and put them in a 1 feet tank with moss and marbles. water acidified (and tanin-stained) with ketapang leaf.

the rest of the tetras are kept in the 2 ft tank, under similar condition.

feeding regime for the next 1-2 weeks

bloodworms everyday + pellet feed everyday + egg yolk every 5 days

.........................will uodate as things progress.............................

[apistomaster]

You will produce more fry from fewer fish by using the bottom egg grid and spawning mop method using two reverse trios. The fish which are not spawning will just stand by ready to eat the eggs and it's hard enough to reduce this problem among the fish actually spawning.
Segregate the sexes for about five to seven days before bringing them together in the breeding tank. You should only have no more than 15 cm of water above the grid. Tetras eat eggs almost as fast as they release them so using shallow water gives the eggs less time to be eaten before falling through the bottom grid or get lost among the strands of the spawning mops. Otherwise, Black Neons are a recommendable beginning Tetra breeding project subject.
Each trio is easily capable of producing 150 fry. If you want to raise them in thousands at a time then set up multiple breeding tanks set up as I have described.

[tetrafreak]

ok, some changes after apistomaster's kind advice

Instead of a mass orgy, I will go with 2 reverse trios (4 males and 2 females).
I will use hornwort and hydrilla in place of spawning mop
Some kind of mesh for eggs to fall through instead of the marbles. (what exactly is the egg crate mesh thing you mentioned earlier; can't see the pic)

still fattening them on daily combo of pellet + blood worms.
Interesting observation : black neons in my community tank grab the bloodworms; they seemed encouraged by the other fishes. But the black neons in my species-specific breeding tanks seem a lot more reticent.

[apistomaster]

You must build your own egg grates.
I make mine out from a 2 X 4 feet sections of fluorescent light diffuser grating. All hardware stores sell this as replacements. Cut with a jig saw, band saw or a Dremel saw attachment as these plastic grates are fragile. Cut size to cover the whole bottom of the tank. It comes in white, bronze and black. I buy black or spray paint white with black Krylon Acrylic spray paint. The acrylic spray paint is perfectly safe after it has dried and been soaked over night in a pan of water. After you have cut the piece that covers the whole bottom of the tank then you glue on a piece of nylon insect screening used in windows and doors. I use dabs of super glue to attach the mesh to the grate. Glue an over sized piece of the fly screen , then glue in place. This allows you to trim the screen to such a perfect fit that there is no way a breeder can get trapped underneath the grating. The grates are usually about 1 cm thick. The grates made this way are dark and help the fish feel more secure and separated from their newly laid eggs until you remove the breeders. Remove the grate after removing the fish. The eggs all fall to the bottom or are within the spawning mops. All experienced Tetra breeders avoid plants and the marble method is so yesterday. Black Neon breeders can get stuck in the layers of marble and die.
I do not use live plants because I don't want any snails and I add methylene blue or acriflavine immediately after spawning. Also Tetra eggs are sensitive to light and are best left un-lighted or a very small light in dark rooms. Plants die in the darkened breeding set ups. These anti-fungus chemicals kill live plants. l use acrylic yarn mops which are easily disinfected with bleach, then rinse well and a final rinse in a little water with a lot of dechor.

[tetrafreak]

improvising by using this artificial tuft (daiso sgd$2) as a breeding map. think some lsf sells this too.
nicely into my cube tank.

[tetrafreak]

You must build your own egg grates.
I make mine out from a 2 X 4 feet sections of fluorescent light diffuser grating. All hardware stores sell this as replacements. Cut with a jig saw, band saw or a Dremel saw attachment as these plastic grates are fragile. Cut size to cover the whole bottom of the tank. It comes in white, bronze and black. I buy black or spray paint white with black Krylon Acrylic spray paint. The acrylic spray paint is perfectly safe after it has dried and been soaked over night in a pan of water. After you have cut the piece that covers the whole bottom of the tank then you glue on a piece of nylon insect screening used in windows and doors. I use dabs of super glue to attach the mesh to the grate. Glue an over sized piece of the fly screen , then glue in place. This allows you to trim the screen to such a perfect fit that there is no way a breeder can get trapped underneath the grating. The grates are usually about 1 cm thick. The grates made this way are dark and help the fish feel more secure and separated from their newly laid eggs until you remove the breeders. Remove the grate after removing the fish. The eggs all fall to the bottom or are within the spawning mops. All experienced Tetra breeders avoid plants and the marble method is so yesterday. Black Neon breeders can get stuck in the layers of marble and die.
I do not use live plants because I don't want any snails and I add methylene blue or acriflavine immediately after spawning. Also Tetra eggs are sensitive to light and are best left un-lighted or a very small light in dark rooms. Plants die in the darkened breeding set ups. These anti-fungus chemicals kill live plants. l use acrylic yarn mops which are easily disinfected with bleach, then rinse well and a final rinse in a little water with a lot of dechor.

thks for the detailed instruction and explaining the use of each material. It's all in the details!

[gadget818]

I thought their eggs very sensitive with light?

[apistomaster]

I thought their eggs very sensitive with light?

That is true of most Tetra eggs. They normally begin to spawn in the early dawn.
Their eggs hatch as undeveloped larvae and after that it is still best to dimly light their tank until they metamorphose into the basic Tetra shape.

BTW, That artificial grass mat is a good way to protect the eggs.