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Breeding Cardinal Tetras

ButtNekkid

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
315
Location
Finland
Hi,

Has anyone here tried to breed these?
Any good articles/sites on subject?

I´d imagine conditioning only with live food?
I don´t have an RO-unit but I do have access to Di water. Will that do? Should I add peat extract to that water?
How should I acclimate my tetras to that water? My conductivity is now approx 140µS. My tank is 15 G (US).
I read that the fry should be kept in total darkness in the beginning. Is that true?
 

Mike Wise

Moderator
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
11,202
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
I used to breed them the 'lazy man's (my) way'. I had 8 Cardinals in a bare, slate-bottom, metal frame OLD 20 gallon long tank. The top was covered with Giant Duckweed (Salvinia) - presently considered an invasive species in my neck of the woods - so illegal to possess. It made the tank very dark. The bottom had a large clump of Java Moss that covered about one-third of the slate bottom. Water was the same as I used for my blackwater apistos: pH ~5.5, dGH 3°, dKH 2° (don't know the conductivity; didn't own a meter at the time). The fish were fed almost exclusively BBS. Other than feeding and regular water changes I ignored the tank. Every month I'd net out 8-10 fry and put them in a grow-out tank. They were very popular at club auctions.
 

ButtNekkid

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
315
Location
Finland
Hi,

Is there anything to look at, pre egg laying? Courting manouvers?

Yesterday evening I had 2 females that were huge, and today they were more on the normal size.
There was a lot of chasing at the evening. I fed them a bunch of white worms.

Before all this I had a 40 % water change with 50/50 peat/DI water.
 

Mike Wise

Moderator
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
11,202
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
Appears your females dropped their eggs. If you have males with them the eggs most likely were fertilized. Depending on the tank set-up the eggs probably were mostly eaten by the parents right away. If the water parameters were wrong, they died. If the set-up is good and the water parameter correct, then you should see larvae in a day or larger fry in a few weeks.
 

ButtNekkid

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
315
Location
Finland
Hi Mike,

What is this book you refer to and please don´t tell me it´s auf Deutsch?
Would you consider Microworms as a substitue for BBS?
 

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