I tried breeding Glowlight Tetras before and got them to spawn, but didn't get a big enough batch of fry to make the thing worthwhile. It's not keeping them alive that's the big deal, it's the effort required to get the water chemistry and the food just right to bring them to spawn. San Diego tap water is just about the polar opposite of the water in the Neons' natural habitat.
There are some great little aquatic African frogs, too, they like to eat, so you'll need guppies and brine shrimp... they're pretty sweet though, they look like little mini leopards.
ReplyDeletePoking around a bit to see what the "natural conditions" are for neon tetras, one thing they mentioned is that a lot of the captive-bred stock has become adapted to conditions quite different from their native habitat in the Amazon. Is there any way to get information from your source as to what water conditions the tetras you buy are adapted to? As opposed to the conditions that tetras are "supposed" to need?
ReplyDeleteFor that matter, if you get any breeding at all, if you then breed from the offspring you should be able to get a strain that *is* adapted to reproduce in San Diego water.
Incidentally, I sometimes wonder whether people are overcomplicating their aquarium setups. We've been keeping the two goldfish that survived the Giant Water Bug in a simple goldfish bowl (no filters, aerator, or gravel, just a rock for them to prowl around). It gets cleaned and a water change whenever the glass gets algae-covered (about once a month), and they've been doing just fine for well over a year now.
I'm a fanatic when I keep fish. Live plants, as big a tank as possible, live food as much as I can manage and the proper water chemistry. It's the food that is the biggest effort. Neons are too small to eat Tubifex worms whole, so you have to chop the live worms up for them.
ReplyDeleteI don't want them just to have sex, I want them to have good sex. :-)