I bred two of my panchax completely by accident, how i got two little babies on two seperate occasions i don't know. I call them my little miracles coz with that hungry mob in there they shouldn't have had a chance really. I have no mops in there and there were hardly any plants in the tank at the time. They still seem to be "doing" it all the time but i have had no babies lately. Mops are supposed to be the right way to go. I suppose the more things the eggs can cling to the better but as for the mating, i think mine would try to do it even if they were out of water.