Breeding silver-tip tetras

[sisyphus]

Hey all,

I'm hoping to breed my silvertip tetras eventually, so I thought I'd start a thread for queries etc to help me know what I'm getting myself in for. Initially, I'm looking for some advice on a basic breeding setup:

1. How many fry should I expect/plan for?
2. I'm thinking of buying a 15-20l tank and a heater for spawning, is that sufficiently sized? Obviously I'd aim to get something much bigger for them long term.
3. Is a filter required for the breeding tank? Some seem to suggest not as you don't want to disturb the water too much.
4. From what I've read, peat moss is often used to lower pH and soften the water. However, it seems relatively hard to get hold of, expensive and damaging to the environment. What are the alternatives? Can anyone point me in the direction of a specific product?
5. Plants-wise, I was thinking of using some of the floating plants from my existing aquarium and picking up some java moss. Any other suggestions?

As ever, if you can offer any advice or point me in the direction of any particularly good guides on the subject, that'd be really appreciated.

 

[Guppy10]

Why do you want to breed fish ? Most don't but if it happens then great,,,,, but you have the problem of housing the offspring.?

 

[Colin_T]

1) Anywhere between 1 and 200+ eggs are laid by each female during a spawning session. Under ideal conditions they can spawn once a week but usually it's once every 2 weeks.

2) A tank that is 2 foot long x 10-12 inches wide x 12 inches high is a good sized breeding tank and the fry can also be reared in that tank.

3) The tank should have an air operated sponge filter, a heater, thermometer, a thin layer of substrate (sand or gravel), some Java Moss and some Water Sprite.

4) You don't need peat moss or anything extra unless you are keeping/ breeding wild caught fish. As long as the pH is below 7.0 and the GH is below 50ppm, captive fish will breed. The lower the GH, the better so if you can get reverse osmosis (R/O) or rain water, that would be ideal. Then lower the pH a bit and away you go.

5) Have a clump of Java Moss and some floating plants like Water Sprite.

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Feed the adults 3-5 times a day with a variety of dry, frozen and live foods for at least 2 weeks before you breed them. This gives the adults a chance to build up some fat reserves and develop high quality eggs and sperm.

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The following link has information about culturing food for baby fish and is worth a read. You need to start the cultures a month or more before you breed the fish so there is food available for the fry.

Back to Basics when Breeding Fish

STARTING OUT Make sure you have a pair, (1 male + 1 female). There is nothing worse than spending your hard-earned dollars buying a couple of fish to try and breed and ending up with a pair of fish of the same sex. Let's face it, to reproduce fish you need a male and a female. Two males won't do...

www.fishforums.net

 

[sisyphus]

Thanks very much for your help. That guide looks great, so much detail, I'll go through it with a fine-tooth comb.

I'm sure I'll be back to bump this thread with queries as I go.

As to why I want to breed fish: it's hard to put my finger on, not doing it for financial gain, suppose I just think I'll enjoy the experience

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Thanks very much for your help. That guide looks great, so much detail, I'll go through it with a fine-tooth comb.

I'm sure I'll be back to bump this thread with queries as I go.

As to why I want to breed fish: it's hard to put my finger on, not doing it for financial gain, suppose I just think I'll enjoy the experience

That is the only reason why I would want to breed fish. Not for money, but for the joy of it.

Good luck!

 

[sisyphus]

Thanks. I can hardly wait to experience such joy!