What Do You Do With Babies?

[MtbGirl]

When we saw one of our cardinals all bloated, we wondered if she was pregnant. Now... we're already on the cusp of being overstocked... we can't have babies in the tank as well!!!

So I was wondering... what do you or have you done with pregnant fish or babies?? My LFS said they wouldn't take the babies... I don't know if we could raise them successfully or even if it would be too much financially.

 

[starrynightxxi]

all tetras are egglayers, and from what i hear, cardinals are not easy fish to spawn and succesfully raise to adulthood as the fry or eggs are sensitive to light levels. Also tetras (and pretty much any other kind of fish) will eat their eggs, and their fry, so on the chance that your tank happened to be ideal for egg/fry survival in terms of light and water conditions, you probably wouldn't have very many make it anyhow.

 

[dwarfgourami]

To expand on what starrynight said, when fish are egglayers this means that fertilisation takes place at the time when the eggs are laid. This means male and female have both got to be present, she has got to be eggbound and they both have to be in the right mood (for tetras soft water and live food works better than soft music and a bottle of wine ). Tetras rarely spawn in a community tank anyway. Once they have spawned, tetras will eat the eggs and so will other fish in the tank- so you need to tweak your setup so nobody gets a chance. If the eggs are saved, I believe they are lightsensitive (neons are anyway), so they won't hatch in a normal tank; youd have to privde a special breeding tank covered with dark paper or similar. And when the fry are born, they need to be fed with special tiny food. So the chances of unwanted tetras are pretty low.
Keep an eye on your fish though; the fatness can be because she is eggbound, or be a sign of disease.