neon tetra breeding

[Melanotaenia]

I am setting up a new tank and have moved my clutch of six neon tetras first... and hey they've spawned!! :lol:

There are hundreds of eggs on the tank floor...so anybody have experience with these guys? I've read that the eggs are light sensistive... does that mean any light will destroy them or that they only develop at night??

any thoughts/links appreciated..

I thought a school of 50 will look good in the new tank 8)

[Rob]

The tank with the eggs should have very subdued lighting as intense lighting can damage the eggs - some people will totally cover the tank to exclude all light - I assume in nature the eggs would get laid in shaded parts of the stream - hence the subdued lighting suggestion.

[fins]

Neons have tiny fry i think so you might have to feed infusorians, liquid food or get shrimp pellets and rub then against another shrimp pellet, this creates a cloud of tiny particals small enough to feed tiny fish.

[Luke*]

Hi I've bred them before but haven't got the fry past a few weeks old, mainly because I didn't have enough of them to warrant looking after them strenously. Buy some liquifry (most petshops have this) and you need to feed it 4-6 times a day. Also hard boil an egg and then feed tiny amounts of the hardened yolk to them. Wrap the yolk in gladwrap and freeze it for later. Baby brine shrimp are what you want next. Also, remove all the adults and use a piece of air tubing with some fine mesh (maybe fish net) over the end to avoid sucking up any babies and do a 90% water change to get rid of any waste/ammonia left by the parents. Add water back that is 'exactly' the same, any shift in temperature/pH/KH will easily kill the sensitive fry. And cover the tank until they hatch (usually 24-36 hours).

Congratulations and goodluck