pregnant tetras?

vibe666

i have 2 tetras tat are decidedly tubby looking and i'm guessing they're pregnant, rather than just fat (and hopefully not sick) but i wanted to get a second opinion, just to be on the safe side.

here's one of them, but the other one is more or less the same shape.



i know its just fish, not people this time but i'm always hesitant to declare pregnancy just in case it's not, ever since i asked a (very pregnant looking) woman "when was she due?" in a pub and it turned out she wasn't.

SheFiend

Hi there!
It does look like that fish is ready to scatter eggs, although it is possibe it could be disease.
Are the two fish showing any signs of sickness? Errattic swimming, or difficulty swimming? Is the swelling in the "belly" only? Or are there other lumps?

vibe666

it seems to be all belly and they do seem okay aside from that.

the other tetras (i have about 10 in total) also all seem to be fine with no swelling.

i've moved them into a little birthing box thing like this, which is currently floating in my main tank, but i can move them to a smaller 55L tank if they do give birth.



i'm actually just wondering what to do next.

i have some tetramin baby fish food, but i imagine the fry will be tiny when they hatch (i just discovered they lay eggs, they're not live bearers) so i might just move them into my smaller tank.

are the eggs already fertilised, or will they be fertilised by the male after the female has laid them?

if that's the case, i might have to move them all to the smaller tank to make sure they get fertilised as i'm not entirely sure how to tell males from females so if i don't have a male in with them to do the business i'm just going to have a tank full of unfertilised eggs.

SheFiend

Yep you are right, they are egglayers, not live bearers.
Why is it that you are moving them to a smaller tank?
If you want fry to survive, a bigger tank would afford places for the fry to hide. Also a clump of Java Moss makes a great place for the tiny fry to hide.

vibe666

SheFiend wrote: »

Yep you are right, they are egglayers, not live bearers.
Why is it that you are moving them to a smaller tank?
If you want fry to survive, a bigger tank would afford places for the fry to hide. Also a clump of Java Moss makes a great place for the tiny fry to hide.

i can move them into a the smaller tank and leave them in there on their own, which i thought would be the safest option for them.

i only have 2 tanks, a 55L one and a 260L one and there's a bunch of community fish in the bigger tank with the tetras that i imagine would love to munch on some eggs or baby tetras.

SheFiend

Oh right.
Ya, you would be best to move about 5 tetras into tank to be sure a male is present to fertilize the eggs. Then remove the adults.
From what info I can find, these guys can spawn every two weeks in perfect conditions, so you shoudn't be waiting too long.

If you really want to save as many fry / eggs as possible, a good idea is to put some mesh just above the bottom of the tank, (like a second floor), so the eggs will fall beyond the tetras reach, so they wont eat the eggs.
You can get plastic mesh in gardening shops, just be sure to scrub it with hot water to remove any toxins.
Otherwise, I've heard of people covering the floor of tank with marbles, so eggs fall down between them. I don't know how well this works, or how many people have an abundant supply of marbles to hand. It would probably be cheaper to buy mesh.
Once eggs are fertilized and hatch, the fry will become free swimming, and hang around near the surface.
If you have plants, or moss, this will give them cover until you discover them.

Here is a good page on caring for the eggs and fry
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/breed.htm

vibe666

thanks for the help.

so does that mean that the eggs will be fertilised by the males as the females release them?

i think i might have to get a better strategy organised, i doubt i have much time before the eggs are laid.

fungun

the odds of any fry surviving in a tank with any other fish is minimal - neon tetra are really quite difficult to breed, and even the parents will eat them. Just dont get your hopes up too much! Your problem is that tetra need space when laying eggs as the female races around chased by the male and she spawns - she will not have the space to do that in a small breeding tank, and so the eggs will probably not be fertilised. Should you manage it, remember that after laying eggs, the eggs need to have no light for ~24 hrs I think.
So if you really want to try to breed them Id move them to that 55L tank with marbles/mesh if you have it up and running.

If you want breeders, Id start with mollies, swordtails or guppies, they are all very fecund and livebearers who have a decent survival chance in a well planted tank

vibe666

i've moved them all in for now (i really should have counted!), maybe 8 in total and i've put half a dozen assorted plants in for a bit of shelter and possibly somewhere to lay the eggs as an emergency measure until i can find some mesh of the right size.

thanks again for the tips, i don't hold out much hope, but you never know and it doesn't hurt to try, its all a learning experience after all.

Dusty87

Op,
I often used this site when researching fish.
This might be of some help too, breeding is near the bottom.
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/tetrafish/neontetra.php

Im only learning like you but the grandfather used to breed them and guppies among others. Sadly passed away before i got any info off him.

SheFiend

Hey Vibe666!
Did they breed after?

vibe666

lol, not quite, but i do seem to have a tank full of baby snails which was somewhat unexpected!

i think they might have hitched a ride on some of the plants i got in for the tetras to lay in. i've counted at least 15 so far but i'm sure there's more, they are so small it would be easy enough to miss them as they are all not much bigger than a poppy seed.

i don't imagine they're worth much to sell, but although they aren't the tetra's i was hoping for, i've still managed to cultivate life, so i'm a happy bunny.

SheFiend

I love snails!!!
They're most likely common pond snails, so not worth anything to sell.
Although if you know anyone who keeps cichlids or puffer fish, then they would "enjoy" them.
Beware, the snail population may double pretty quick, so you may have to "cull the herd" at some stage.
A "herd" of snails... that's definatly not right.

vibe666

a pack of snails?

SheFiend

"A group of snails is called a walk, rout or escargatoire."

Learn something new every day.

Hahaha! Snails don't really walk though, so they? They've only got one foot! That's like saying a snake walks

vibe666

maybe it's meant to be offensive to snails.