Tetra breeding

[Guppygirl]

Hi everyone, I have a couple of questions. I have a half dozen black phantom tetras in my tank and one of them is getting plump- she is female has reddish fins. I was wondering will anything happen to her if the tank condtions are not right for breeding? They are not in really soft acidic water, will that affect anything? Will she abort or absorb the eggs she is carrying???? or will she remain plump {Until time is right?}. I was just wondering.

[k9outfit]

I would suspect that one day you'll just wake up and she'll have her girlish figure back. She won't be any worse for wear, you won't find any eggs, you won't find any fry a few days later; she'll be slim 'n trim for some time, then get all plump again, starting the cycle all over again.... Unless of course, you actually take the appropriate steps to actually spawn her properly.

[spcy]

First off you have to make the conditions right, Set up a 10 gal tank with lots of floating plants, dim lighting, no gravel on the bottom so you can see the eggs, add some blackwater tonic made by tetra, reduce the ph to 5.5 to 6.5, hardness should be about 4 dgh. Hard water can make the outer shell of the eggs to tough for the fry to break through. Add a sponge filter. Put the breeding pair in this tank and the magic should start happening in a few days. Spawning usually takes place early in the morning. Once you see eggs on the bottom numbering in the 100s remove the pair. The rest is up to nature.

[jvision]

The parents are egg-eaters, so some people put a couple layers of marbles on the bottom of the breeding tank, so the eggs fall out of harms reach.

When you remove the parents, take the marbles out, too.