Neons spawned - one caviar buffet coming right up!

[Eva32181]

I mentioned this to Neil in my last message to him and he said I should post it here. When I woke up this morning (well it was one in the afternoon, actually, but morning for me) and took a look at my fish tank my neons were getting cozy in the cabomba. I don't know why, they just felt like it I guess, being Mother's Day and all.

Tank was about 6.8, 80F, and they were spawning in the corner where I have the CO2 reactor, probably a very acidic area. I had done my usual Saturday 20% water change the night before, nothing special. I feed them flake food.

That area is full of cabomba, and the substrate below is covered with a layer of peat, so some eggs might make it. The little guys were eating up the eggs as fast as they laid them, like vaccuum cleaners. Not all twenty of them were involved, maybe just six or so. It seemed like pairs were trading partners as other males came to break things up. If I hadn't've seen them spawning, I would never have known it - those eggs are like tiny grains of salt.

 

[Neil]

Eva,
That is very cool. Breeding neons is a rare event, but raising fry is almost unheard of. As far as I know, the water has to be very soft and acidic and the fry can only eat infusoria or something along that line for a while. I even recall something about exposure to light renders the eggs infertile. However, I really don't know! Maybe someone with a little more knowledge or experience with tetras will chime in about this. I do know that, if your neons are breeding, your water conditions must be good and the Dwarfs that you keep in there should be very happy.
Neil

 

[Matthew Clark]

Neon eggs are indeed light sensitive.

Like Neil said, if you want a shot at raising the fry, you're going to need almost 100% RO water filtered over peat. pH should definetly be below six; i would even say it wouldn't hurt to push it below 5.

Matthew Clark