Spawning Black Neon Tetra fish is not as hard as you think, as long as you follow the techniques and requirements that they need to start breeding.
Black Neon Tetra fish (Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi) is an energetic ornamental fish. It has a distinctive feature—the horizontal neon stripe that is visible throughout its body. The stripe has a white to greenish color that contrasts its black body color below it. Having them in your aquarium that has dark-colored plants and background will certainly add some contrast!
Even though they are available in the market, it would not hurt to spawn them yourself. Spawning Black Neon Tetra fish is relatively easy to do, even if you are new to fish keeping. Here are the things you need to prepare!
Choosing Spawn-mates
When choosing spawn-mates, it is ideal to choose a pair of healthy adults. A fully mature Black Neon Tetra is around one year old. Younger than that, it may still spawn. However, the results will be not as good as the mature fishes. You can also breed them in a group that contains two or at least one male with several females.
Before moving your pair into the breeding tank, make sure that they have opposite genders. Black Neon Tetra’s sexual differences are quite hard to tell. However, normally the female has a bigger body and an even rounder belly than the male. The female’s lower part of the body is filled with eggs when sexually mature. Meanwhile, in choosing the male candidate, choose the most colorful one!
Tank Condition
Once you have selected your candidates for spawning Black Neon Tetra fish, it is time to prepare the breeding tank. To produce the optimal number of fry, prepare a 10-gallon tank with dark-colored floor materials. The lightings must be dim. Place a few floating plants or cardboard on the tank’s sides if the lighting is bright.
When talking about water conditions, in the beginning, keep the temperature at 24 degrees Celsius. After a few days, elevate the temperature slowly until it reaches 26.7 degree Celsius. The tank’s water acidity has to be very soft, with a hardness of around 4 dGH and a pH of 6.0. They require a softer and more acidic water condition to spawn.
Spawning Technique
After you set up the breeding tank, it is time to put the candidates into it. For them to spawn, feed them with live foods, such as mosquito larvae and brine shrimp. For the female’s breeding place, you can use live plants with a fine texture.
To further encourage the Black Neon Tetras to spawn, you may filter the water using an aquarium- safe peat to make it softer. When done right, the spawning process will usually happen early in the day. The female will scatter the eggs onto the plants/media that you provide. After the spawning process is done, remove the adults to avoid the eggs and the fry from being eaten.
The eggs will hatch around twenty-two to twenty-six hours, and the fry appears three or four days later. The fry is easy to raise, and it can be fed with commercially available fry foods. Young Black Neon Tetras should be kept separated from the adults until they are large enough not to be eaten by them.
In conclusion, spawning Black Neon Tetra fish needs a few steps and preparations. As long as you follow the tips and guidelines, you will have a higher probability of succeeding. Good luck!
https://www.thesprucepets.com/black-neon-tetra-1378291
https://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/characins/blackneon.php#Breeding%20/%20Reproduction