Most tetras have a line running down the side; that's straight in males, and bent in female where their belly is larger.
Fish have all sorts of breeding strategies, but the two main kinds are livebearing and egg laying.
Live bearing fish (guppies, mollies, platies, swordtails) are pregnant for roughly 30 days, depending on species and temperature. Then they give birth to live young; to keep the fry you need a breeding tank (best) or a breeding trap (not so good; too small), but the fry are easy to rear, as they're quite large when born
You tetras will be egg layers (all tetras are, AFAIK); that means the females lay the eggs in weed and plants, and the males follow along with their 'contribution'. The eggs take around five days to hatch, but the fry don't need to eat for another three or four days, as they're still attatched to a yolk sac when they hatch. The fry are quite hard to rear, and need special foods, as they're so tiny.
In a normal community tank, you won't get eggs or fry, as the other fish (and the parents!) will eat them before they have time to develop.
Hope that clears things up for you. Breeding fish is fascinating, but you do really need to have separate tanks of 10 or 20 gallons for spawning and raising the fry, if you want to be succesful at it
Fish have all sorts of breeding strategies, but the two main kinds are livebearing and egg laying.
Live bearing fish (guppies, mollies, platies, swordtails) are pregnant for roughly 30 days, depending on species and temperature. Then they give birth to live young; to keep the fry you need a breeding tank (best) or a breeding trap (not so good; too small), but the fry are easy to rear, as they're quite large when born
You tetras will be egg layers (all tetras are, AFAIK); that means the females lay the eggs in weed and plants, and the males follow along with their 'contribution'. The eggs take around five days to hatch, but the fry don't need to eat for another three or four days, as they're still attatched to a yolk sac when they hatch. The fry are quite hard to rear, and need special foods, as they're so tiny.
In a normal community tank, you won't get eggs or fry, as the other fish (and the parents!) will eat them before they have time to develop.
Hope that clears things up for you. Breeding fish is fascinating, but you do really need to have separate tanks of 10 or 20 gallons for spawning and raising the fry, if you want to be succesful at it
