Breeding the Neon Tetra

How to Breed Neon Tetras

This is an article I saved from the rec.aquaria newsgroup.

From: smithwt@med.unc.edu (William Thomas Smith)

Spawning The Neon Tetra

By Gary Seifert, Youngstown Area Tropical Fish Society. Reprinted from the "Youngstown Aquarist", publication of YATFS.

The Neon Tetra, Paracheirodon innesi, is, without doubt, one of the most popular and most commonly seen tropical aquarium fish. Their brilliant electric blue and red coloration, ease of maintenance, small size and peaceful demeanor make them an ideal aquarium resident.

Neons are very adaptable to various aquarium conditions as they can tolerate pH's from the middle 5's to the middle 8's. The best results are obtained when they are kept in the range from 6.0 to 7.0. The water should be slightly soft for optimum conditions, but they can tolerate very hard water without ill effects. The temperature in a Neon tank should be kept in the low to mid 70's. If the temperature in the tank exceeds 80 degrees, the Neon's coloration begins to bleach out and they begin to act very sluggish. Cleanliness of the water is very important to the wellbeing of Neon Tetras. Good filtration and 25% to 50% weekly water changes will keep the Neons looking and feeling good.

Neons may very possibly be the most prodigious egglayers kept in home aquaria. I have witnessed them lay eggs almost daily under a wide variety of conditions. A small school will produce hundreds of eggs a week, but the eggs are eaten, they fail to develop, or the fry are eaten before they are large enough to be seen. Successfully spawning and raising the fry is difficult but it can be done if the proper conditions and care are provided.

The first step in successfully spawning Neons is the proper set-up of the spawning tank. I used a 5 gallon tank filled with rain water. The rain water had had peat moss soaking in it for almost a month. The peat gave a brownish tint to the water, and, I believe, the acids leached from the peat help induce spawning and prevent bacterial growth which may harm the eggs or the fry. The pH was still a little high so I used a product called PH Down to bring the pH to 6.2. I added 1 teaspoon of non-iodized table salt to add some mineral content to the water and 5 drops of acriflavine to preclude fungal growth. The temperature was regulated to maintain a constant 75 degrees. This may be on the high end of the range. Commercial Neon breeders in Hong Kong maintain tank temperatures of 68 degrees F via the use of air conditioners and these breeders produce thousands of Neons a week.(1) A small sponge filter with just a slight trickle of air and several yarn spawning mops placed on the bottom completed the set-up.

The second step is the proper conditioning of the breeders. Separate the males and females. A glass divider seems to work best, as the fish can still see each other and this seems to enhance the spawning urge. The breeders should be fed as much meaty foods as they can consume. Mine were fed all the white worms and live baby brine shrimp that they could eat. Within a week, the females were bulging with eggs and the males were constantly dancing for the females.

When conditioning is complete the fish should be placed directly into the spawning tank. Although the use of trios, reverse trios, and groups of Neons have all been advocated, I chose one nice pair. I feel that one fish, not actively participating in the spawning act, will eat enough eggs to make the multiple breeder approach nonproductive.

Within minutes, the male will begin courting the female. He tends to swim around the female in a square pattern, using short jerky movements followed by periods of motionlessness. If the fish are put into the spawning tank in the evening, they will probably be done by noon of the following day. The reduced girth of the female will be the only easily recognized sign of completed spawning activity. When you feel that the day's spawning is completed, remove the adults.

The eggs are quite small and, with close inspection, can be seen lying on the bottom and among the mops. They are not very adhesive and by shaking the mops they will settle to the bottom, then the mops can be removed. Now the tank should be covered to exlude light which can be harmful to eggs and newborn fry.

As soon as the Neons have spawned, you should start an infusoria culture. The easiest method I konw is to fill a one gallon jar with water from an established tank and add 6 or 7 Red Ramshorn snails. Feed the snails with live baby brine shrimp and in two or three days the jar will be filled with clouds of tiny infusorians.

The eggs will hatch in about 36 hours. The tiny fry can be seen wiggling on the bottom of the tank. It takes 4 or 5 more days before the fry are free-swimming and can be fed. For the first feeding I put about 1/2 cup of infusoria rich water and 3 drops of a prepared liquid fry food. I gave the babies this mixure for two days. On the third day I dropped the liquid fry food and fed them twice a day on infusoria, powdered fry food and vinegar eels. On the fourth day microworms were added to their diet and on the seventh day they were large enough to eat newly hatched baby brine shrimp. When the fry began to eat the brine shrimp, I added several snails to the tank to eat leftover food and prevent fouling of the water.

When the fry were two weeks old I began to change one quart of water every other day. The fry are very sensitive to bad water conditions and the water must be kept clean and fresh.

In three or four weeks the fry will begin to show the distinctive electric blue stripe. When this occurs the water changes can be reduced in frequency and increased in volume. 15 to 25% every third day will ensure good health and growth.

When the fry are two months old they should have reached a length of at least 1" and should be colored exactly as an adult.

This may seem like a lot of effort just to raise a fish that is both plentiful and inexpensive, but there is a great personal satisfaction in being able to breed a fish that has had the "difficult" label give to it. So pull a coule of Neons out of your community tank and give them a chance. You'll find out how interesting it is to spawn the Neon Tetra.

(1) Dr. Frank Reitinger B.Sc.M.D., Personal Comm. 1984-85.

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