Neon Tetras
Contents:
- Breeding Neons
by oleg-at-netcom.com (Oleg Kiselev) (Tue, 3 Nov 1992)
- Freshwater Fish Longevity
by jimh-at-ultra.com (Jim Hurley) (1 May 92)
- Breeding Neon Tetras?
by Grant.Gussie-at-phys.utas.edu.au (Grant Gussie) (Fri, 07 Jul 1995)
by oleg-at-netcom.com (Oleg Kiselev)
Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1992
In article <1992Nov2.174413.11418-at-Cadence.COM> bruceg-at-Cadence.COM (Bruce
Gustifson) writes:
>done this succesfully? Any info would be appreciated! Oleg?
You called?
Neons can be raised in water under 12 dH. Feed them waterevr you have,
as long as it's highly varied -- that way you get a good mix of
nutrients. Live foods are good, but not essential for *raising* the
fish. They are adult and ready to spawn when they are some 1.5" long.
I have heard that neons get to be over 2" if raised in very large
tanks, but they need not to be that big to spawn. You will know they are
ready to spawn when you can easily tell the slender males from the bulkier,
larger females, visibly swollen with eggs.
Wild-caught neons need very soft water to spawn. The tank-bred ones
may be less picky about it, but the wild ones want it very soft. Hetch
Hetchi water is a good choice, especially around the mid-summer to
fall, when it's under 2 dH. You would need to adjust the pH to be
around 5.5-6.0. Peat does wonders for that. The fish will spawn
over/into fine leaved plants (Java moss, etc.). Some books seem to
imply that a coarse nylon floss is a good substitute. I would not
bother, since Java moss is good enough and easier to grow than nylon.
Temperatures of 70-75F are sufficient. They are said to spawn best when
the sunlight hits the tank in the morning.
Neons are voracious egg eaters. Remove the adults within hours after
spawning. You can try using a coarse mesh at the bottom of the tank,
some 1" off the bottom or so, to let the eggs fall through out of reach of
the adults.
The powerfilters will likely suck all the newborn fry out and mince it
into the fish paste, so use box or sponge filters. Infusoria and rotifers
on the Java moss will feed them for a day, but after that you will have to
add infusoria for a few days until the fry get big enough to eat baby brine
shrimp.
You can find more info in the various fish breeding books, available in the
pet shops and libraries.
--
Oleg Kiselev at home ...use the header to find the path
by jimh-at-ultra.com (Jim Hurley)
Date: 1 May 92
Newsgroup: alt.aquaria
In <47525-at-mentor.cc.purdue.edu> 3jx-at-mace.cc.purdue.edu (Bill Konrad) writes:
[...]
>Curious. In my experience, whenever I get neons, I can usually
>count on at least half of them dying within a week or two. The ones
>which survive that long are fine, till some other fish decides
>they look like a tasty morsel. I've never had neons last for more than
>a couple of months.
>--
>Bill Konrad
>3jx-at-mace.cc.purdue.edu
This use to happen to me until I slowly acclimated them to new water.
As soon as you buy them put them in a small bucket with the original
water and very slowly drip in tank water from a small airline tube and
valve to adjust the drip rate. Let it fill the bucket over about
30 minutes - 1 hour. After that you can introduce them to the tank.
After I started doing this I never lost a single neon, but before
doing this I would lose almost all the new ones.
From this I conclude they are extremely sensitive to any fluctuations
in water chemistry.
Once I accidentally let a 77 F tank reach 90 F, every neon died
within minutes, but almost none of the other fish died (and are
still living after more than a year).
From this I conclude that they don't like temperature changes, either.
Neons should last a lot longer than a year.
--
Jim Hurley --> jimh-at-ultra.com ...!ames!ultra!jimh (408) 922-0100
Ultra Network Technologies / 101 Daggett Drive / San Jose CA 95134
by Grant.Gussie-at-phys.utas.edu.au (Grant Gussie)
Date: Fri, 07 Jul 1995
Newsgroup: rec.aquaria
In article <1995Jul6.201452-at-miavx1>, sakaelber-at-miavx1.acs.muohio.edu wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Has anyone ever bred Neon Tetras? I bought several about three weeks ago and
> one of them developed what looked like a "load of eggs" so I put her in a
> hatching tank that is suspended in my larger tank. I later saw less of a bulge
> and 2 or 3 groupd of clear _something_ that had little white dots in it.
>
> I've taken her out of the little tank and it's been three days....no sign of
> anything from the "eggs". Are they eggs? When would they have been fertilized?
> (i.e. before or after she laid them?) Is there a way to tell a male from a
> female if I need them to be together when she drops the eggs?
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Anne.
> --
Neons actually breed fairly easily given the right conditions. They should
be in schools of several males and females rather than pairs, and have soft
acidic water. They are stimulated to spawn by a water change with a flush
of very soft COOLER rain water, which brings the temp down from 27C to 24C
or so. This simulates the onset of the rainy season. Do this in the evening
and they will usually spawn at dawn.
They are egg scatters with external fertilization, so both sexes have to be
present during spawning to get fertilized eggs. What you saw sounds exactly
like eggs, but with no male present, they weren't fertile and simply
decomposed.
--
internet email: grant.gussie-at-phys.utas.edu.au
www home page: http://reber.phys.utas.edu.au/~gussie/
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