Neon Tetra Spawn?

[BigN_187]

Long story short, I have a 55 gallon tropical community tank. I currently have 8 neons. In the tank, is a "cave" I put in to provide hiding spots for my invertebrates and fish that require that. Almost exactly a week ago, I noticed that two neons kept going into the cave. I decided to look inside while they were in there, and it looked to me like mating/spawning behavior. One was swimming around the other, rubbing up against it occasionally. After that happened a couple times, I noticed that there was always one neon either constantly going inside for a couple minutes at a time, or suspending above it, constantly turning around as if it was guarding the area.

So, needless to say, I have a few questions.

1) Is it even possible that this was reproductive activity that I witnessed? I know my water conditions and parameters are right for it, but for some reason it just seems unlikely. Just a gut feeling.

2) If so, how long do the eggs take to hatch?

3) If eggs were laid, is there even a chance they could still be developing? There aren't any plants or solid surfaces inside the "cave", just substrate (gravel). I know that when you breed bettas, for example, you're not supposed to have any substrate in the breeding tank because the eggs can fall down and fail to develop. Is it the same with neons? I'm trying to aqua scape my aquarium, but I don't want to disturb that area at all, because I know neon eggs are supposedly sensitive to light.

4) I eventually want to take this "cave" out and add more live plants instead since I'm going for a natural, flourishing look. For future reference, will the heavy planting provide neons a safe place to lay their eggs if they ever do spawn (again?) or will I need to leave something like that in there that will provide lots of darkness so the eggs can develop properly?

5) Last but not least, I'm confused about how to get an infusoria culture going. If I put lettuce or some other type of vegetable into some water to culture, is that all I need to do, or do I HAVE to add algae wafers too? I understand the process - that you let the water get cloudy, and then wait for it to clear up again before using any of it. I just don't know if its necessary to add the wafers or not.

 

[fluttermoth]

No, it won't have been spawning; neons don't spawn in pairs, or in caves, nor do they guard their eggs.

Neon spawning consists of a large group of fish, dashing through plants, backwards and forwards, at quite high speed, letting the eggs fall behind them. They're quite likely to turn around and eat the eggs as soon as they've laid them.

Neons aren't hard to spawn, but getting eggs to hatch (they're light sensitive, so must be kept in the dark until the fry become free swimming, and need very, very soft acidic water) and feeding the fry is a challenge. You would need to set up a separate breeding tank for them.

I can't really help with infusoria as I've never had any success culturing it; but you don't need algae wafers; the other stuff will do fine on it's own.

 

[BigN_187]

Alright, thanks for the information. I do have a separate tank set up that I was going to use for breeding bettas, so I have that. What else do I need to do? Is there anything I can do to provide "shade" (for lack of a better term) in the tank besides plant it heavily? Will I move them after they hatch or before? (Please say after, lol.)

 

[fluttermoth]

I used to use the thick layer of peat on the base of the tank; helps soften and acidify the water as well as letting eggs sink in after they've been laid (so the parents don't eat them) and keeps them in the dark.

You'd put your females in there and condition them with plenty of live food for a week or two. When they're plump and full of eggs (the blue stripe will bend more when they're ready) add your males late one night, and they should spawn the next morning; you want to put the tank somewhere where it gets a little bit of natural sunlight.

Once they've spawned, remove the adults and cover the tank for at least five days; if you put some live, fine leaved plants in the tank, that should provide some microscopic foods for the fry when they first become free swimming as well.