# Breeding neon tetras



## ninekilowatt (Oct 1, 2010)

Is it possible to breed neon tetras by placing pregnant tetras into breeding boxes within the main tank and then taking it out after it lays eggs?

Thank you for your replies in advance


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## roadrunner (Apr 25, 2010)

Yeah, does anybody have any experience breeding neon tetras? Don't you need both male and female in the same tank to have fertile eggs? I love neons and I was considering setting up small tank just for neons with soft water. Would they breed if there is a group of them in the same tank? I guess then I have to watch, so they won't eat the eggs after spawning. Any tips, ideas, personal experience stories would be great. Thanx.


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## teija (Sep 30, 2010)

I don't know of anyone who has had any luck breeding neons. That is the sad thing about them - they are VERY hard to breed in captivity, that's why the standard ones you get from the LFS are so fragile - they're wild-caught from the Amazon and often caught using drugs that end up killing them.


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## Aquaman (Apr 21, 2010)

well ibenu came by and trimmed my plants.She left them ( wack of clippings )wrapped up in a garbage bag. I found them 5 hours later and stuck them in an empty tank I had. Well OCD fishes was over about a week or 10 days after and spoted some baby fish. Tiniest little things I have ever seen....Neon tetra or cardinal not sure but in the right light it is blue as can be. Unfortunatly there are only 2 or 3 that I can see. 
But yea must be tough to breed.
sorry to off track the thread....I would assume if you could get the pair into another tank before she laid it would be best. I can just see them being snacks for the other fish.....maybe thats why theres none in my big planted tank.


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## Keri (Aug 2, 2010)

Neon tetras practice External fertilization so any eggs laid by a female must be fertilized by a male when she lays them. I'm not even sure that she would lay them without a male present.

This page offers some information (scroll down for the breeding section)
Neon Tetra


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## discuspaul (Jul 2, 2010)

Can't imagine a female tetra (laying eggs) spawning without a male's presence, but I'm quite sure tetras will breed with some others of the same strain in the tank. I had several tetra spawnings (never neons, though) many years ago. 
If I remember right, I used a basically bare 10 gal. tank, only half full of water - low light - fattened them up on live worms & live brine shrimp, increased the temp to 82F, maintained Ph of 6.6 -6.8, and they spawned over a single layer of kids' playing marbles as a substrate in the tank. The eggs simply fell through the marbles to the bottom without getting eaten, to hatch after I removed the parents. I did pretty much the same with barbs & danios.


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## wsl (Apr 21, 2010)

I've sometimes seen my neons spawning in the early morning, but it never really came to anything because the other tetras would eat the eggs before they even reached the bottom.


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

teija said:


> I don't know of anyone who has had any luck breeding neons. That is the sad thing about them - they are VERY hard to breed in captivity, that's why the standard ones you get from the LFS are so fragile - they're wild-caught from the Amazon and often caught using drugs that end up killing them.


Neons are rather easy to breed and are available from most fish farms year round (they are almost NEVER wild caught anymore). Cardinals on the other hand are more difficult to breed and are ALMOST ALWAYS wild-caught. I just wanted to clear this up.

Here is a small excerpt from wikipedia which is a good reference:

"Breeding:

The male is slender, and the blue line is straighter. The female is rounder, producing a bent blue line. Some say that the females look plumper when viewed from above but this is disputed. However, the 'straightness' of the line and the plumpness of the female might occasionally be due to the eggs she is carrying.

To breed Neon Tetras, place a pair of the species in a breeding tank without any light, and gradually increase the lighting until spawning occurs. Other inducers include mosquito larvae and a hardness of less than 4 degrees. Some also recommend letting the level of nitrates rise, then do at least 50% water change to simulate the fresh rain the tetras get in their natural habitat, the Amazon. It is recommended that everything you place in the aquarium be sterilized, as well as the aquarium top. Because the adults will often eat newly-hatched fry, it is best to remove them as soon as the eggs have been laid. The eggs are especially sensitive to light. Eggs will hatch within 24 hours of the laying. Fry can be fed infusoria, especially rotifers and egg yolk for 1 to 4 weeks, followed by nauplii of brine shrimp, shaved cattle liver, and formulated diets. Fry will achieve their adult coloration at approximately one month of age. Adults can spawn every two weeks."

Hopefully that helps.

Respectfully,

Stuart


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## roadrunner (Apr 25, 2010)

Wow that's cool CRS fan. I was happy to read that  and emile, thanx for the tip on marbles. That's awesome idea. I think I'm gonna try to set up my small tank for the neons and see how that goes. They are so cool to have even if they won't breed.


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## user_error (Aug 15, 2010)

i think i will try this with my 3 remaining neons as well. they are all nice and fat from living in my community tank...

sadly neons seem to be genetically weak now, cardinals at least seem to be sturdy


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