Vickie Posted May 8, 2006 Report Share Posted May 8, 2006 I have lemon tetras in my aquarium and have found eggs over the driftwood and plants but they have gone white and have fungus on them. is this just a case of infertile eggs or a water problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted May 8, 2006 Report Share Posted May 8, 2006 I would say it is a water problem if you haven't set it up carefully. Good luck with them tho. Alan 104 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted May 8, 2006 Report Share Posted May 8, 2006 Lemon tetras are one of the most promiscuous of tetras (up there with serpae tetras) so seperate males (bolder black anal fin) and females for 2 weeks then put them in a dark breeding tank by themselves, pH slightly acidic. Take them out after they've spawned, eggs hatch 24-48 hrs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserole Posted May 9, 2006 Report Share Posted May 9, 2006 I had the samething happen to me many years a go Vickie. The eggs only hatched when the tetras were placed in a small tank of there own with rain water soaked in peat, but the peat probibly isn't needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 Yeah the peat probably isn't required for the likes of the lemon tetra and the glowlight tetra, but if you want to get them going that's what you use. It's a great product that softens the water and reminds many fish of their blackwater homelands so is great to get them spawning. It is widely accepted that light makes eggs fungus, so to answer your question Vickie I'd say it isn't infertility or water quality but light that caused them to fungus. But if you put them in a seperate barebottom tank the water quality will be much better too and makes it easier to do water changes and care for the fry. Use a towel/blanket/blaksak rubbish bag/cardboard box etc to cover the tank at night with the bride in groom in the tank. Allow a small amount of light in in the morning then they will spawn. Once they've finished after a few hours remove them and cover the tank fully again. Add some methylene blue (hard to overdose) to prevent fungus and lock even more light out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserole Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 Sorry Luke*, but I have to disagree. Although light is an important factor in breeding some tetras it's not with the lemon, clean rain water being very soft is the answer. At least that’s my experience Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vickie Posted May 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2006 I have a spare tank that I can set up to see what happens, the water in the tank they are in at the moment is well lit, the water is definately very soft and on the acidic side. I will turn off the lite for a few days which I need to do for the whiptails that are in there ( they dont appear to be eating, they look great though so are probbably eating when I dont notice) and see how I go from there. I like the quality of the water in the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vickie Posted June 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2006 well I have not done anything special or out of usual however when starting my water change i noticed a baby lemon tetra and upon further looking a slightly bigger baby and upon further inspection another smaller baby. this is so exciting for me. I will leave them; they are hiding around the drift wood and in one particular section of the tank. They are very fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserole Posted June 4, 2006 Report Share Posted June 4, 2006 COOL, Well done. :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: I have breed many species but you still get that felling when breeding something for the first time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vickie Posted June 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 well on last count there was 1 bigger baby and 2 little ones, now i have seen two biger ones out in the open and 5 little ones and 2 tiny ones hovering very close to the drift wood. they are all in the lower quarter of my tank. if I stayed looking I'm sure I would find more. what should I do about gravel cleaning? the tank was due its weekly change yesturday, that when I noticed them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserole Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 If you move the vac in a deliberate slow manner i'm sure they will bugger off, and siphon into a bucket and check for fry before dumping. There are many out there that have thrown the babyies out with the bath water only to see them as the gurgle down the plug hole :oops: to late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 I just syphon into a bucket as per normal, then dispose of the water thru a fine net, reversing the net, into clean tank water, to find any fry that made the trip. Alan 104 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserole Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 :lol: :lol: Don't you mean you do now and have done for sometime because.. :lol: Hows it going mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vickie Posted July 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2006 I feel a tad silly being excited over my few baby tetras, I now have over 30 fry from about 5 batches all swimming in the open in one giant school of fish with the 4 original adults. i just noticed 4 more new fry. all this in 4 weeks... I am very concerned as to what to do with them all, can i turn off the breeding switch, this is rediculus. I have done nothing speical, i have no idea where they lay there eggs, and I even have 2 (that I have seen) baby bristle nose catfish about 10mm-15mm long. They look impresive in the tank and are very active I just dont know if I have the room in my 2'x2'x2' tank. I am very keen to include some discus in my tank but water chemistry (temp and pH )is fluctuating and i was told that the water chemistry has to be constant to keep discus, so I am still practising to get that right. my main fluctuation occurs during water changes and cold nights (I need another heater in the tank i think) but i'm getting it better. does anyone here keep there tank perfectly constant and how is that done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted July 4, 2006 Report Share Posted July 4, 2006 a 2 x 2 x 2 foot tank is around 200 and something litres so you will need at least a 200W heater. What heater do you have now?? It is also advisable to have two smaller heaters instead of one bigger one. When doing water changes especially for discus (and with all other fish), it is best to buy a 75L plastic rubbish bin type thing from the warehouse or a 200L food grade barrel (or similiar) and have a powerhead (to keep the water moving) and a heater (set to the same temp as the tank). You leave the water in it overnight and it gets rid of all the nastys.THEN, when you want to change the water you syphon out the old water, and then pump the water from the storage barrel into the tank. This makes the water going in and out the same temps It also helps to keep the parameters the same, for example, if you are using something in your tank to keep your KH up you can put the same into the barrel and it will end up the same This is what i think is the easiest way to keep water parameters and temps constant. Good luck!! Rogan P.S. If you do get discus, i would suggest putting them into a bare bottom tank and keeping the water changes up until they are grown ups (if you buy them small) and if you buy them larger than i would still do it as they dont like to go straight into an unknown environment with plants, driftwood etc. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted July 4, 2006 Report Share Posted July 4, 2006 Rogan's hit the nail on the head, nice info there. For raising the KH (carbonate hardness) you can get some shell in a stocking and hang it in the tank and storage barrel, or shells, even baking soda (careful with baking soda though this also shoots your pH way up). To prevent pH swings a KH of 6 is perfect, so you don't have to bring it up much. We're lucky in NZ - some water overseas is so hard eggs can't even be fertilised. If you do large daily water changes, the pH will stay relatively constant because so much volume is turning over. See how much your water changes in 24 hrs by setting some in a bucket, test that pH then test the pH straight out of your tank. [edit] don't feel silly about the babies, spawning and raising fish is always exciting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 Thank goodness I got that right Luke is saying its right so it must be I use bird grit in my tanks to keep the KH and PH up. Rogan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vickie Posted July 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 thanks for the advice, I am already doing sort of what you are saying with the water changes, I dont add anything to the fish water except chlorine remover, I use a rubbish bin on top of my ironing board at the same temp as the tank water and siphone it back to the fish tank. the heater I use is 250watt but I am going to have to buy anopther one to keep the temp constant. The fish in there at the moment seem to be thriving on what I am doing but i am concerned about adding discus... i'll just have to do it I think, just buy some discus and put them in the tank see what happens. I have in the tank at the moment are: Lemon tetras 30+, whiptail catfish x2, bristlenose catfish x2 and a sinking siamese fighter who I have rescued (doesnt match the fish or Biotope I'm trying to acheive but he has no where to go) The pH in my tank seems to fluctuate between 5.9 and 6.1 the hardenss in the tank doesnt change, it stays very soft, and the water change i do is once a week 30%, this is working for the fish in the tank and they are breeding like mad just not sure whether discus would like it but the fish in there are all from the amazon region so i'm thinking that discus would be fine. what is a good size to buy in discus that I can put straight into the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 straight into a planted? 8cm+ IMO, young ones are alot of work to raise. also youll wana up your water changes to around 2-3 times a week of 30%, discus love clean water (im doing 50% daily on my discus tank which is small compared to the breeders lol). the more water changes you do the better they will grow. also up your temp to around 28-30C for your discus. 5.9 is pretty low, i would definatly add some shell grit in there. a ph of 6.5-7 is good for general keeping. you want to make sure your kh is high enough, over 3 degrees should keep things relatively stable. discus are pretty hardy fish as long as the water is stable and clean. have fun deciding what colours to pick :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vickie Posted August 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2006 Thank you all for your advice. Would the low pH cause my bristle noses to have split fins, the female is worse, this has happened over a period of about 3 weeks now, the lemon tetras, and whiptails are fine. there is no sign of nitrates, nitrites or ammonia. Would raising the kH and pH of my tank stop my tetras from breeding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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