Tetra's in a coomunity tank not breeding

[rgg]

Hi ,
Was a old member of this group left my old company in that matter lost my login & password so logging in as a new member.

I have a massive 150G tank with many types of tetra's such as bleeding heart, Rainbow, Rummy Nose, Red eye, phantom or Diamont , Blood fin Tetra's they totally are close to 50-70 in numbers. With lots of plants in them.

I also have 4 Black ghosts in with them with a lot of hiding places.

Majority of the tetra's are close to 2 inches.

All of these are been in my tank for about more then an year in that tank. none of them have died as i keep a close eye on these.

I do a regular water change, My cycle of water change has been at least once evey 2 weeks of close to 30-40%.

My readings in the tank are
pH: 6.8
Hardness: varies from 11 -12 dGH
Temperature: 75-81 F (24-27 C)

Ammonia and nitrates are pretty much under permissible limits though did not do a check recently.

I wanted to know what else should i do to make them breed.

Note that as a precautionary measure i use melafix and primafix in the mentioned quantities in the bottle at least once every month when i do the water change.

I feed them tetra bits and occationally bigger flakes.
Note that when i use tetra bits the water kin of turns red, But with flakes the water colour does not change, But the ammonia and nitrate levels will still be within or less than 20's level.

I am using an external Ehim filter, With 2 areaters. The ehim filter has a nozzle which eases out the water pressure during ejection as well as during suction.

Also i do not find any egg's or broken pieces of them .

please suggest me changes if i have to make so that my tetra's breed.

also wanted to know if tetra's breed in community.


- Raghu

[t_chelle16]

As far as I know, tetras aren't the easiest thing to breed, so I'm not all that suprised they're not breeding in a community tank. And even if they are, chances are the eggs are getting eaten by the other fish.

Here's a nice article on breeding them:
http://www.flippersandfins.net/tetrabreedingarticle2.htm

-Chelle

[rgg]

Hi Chelle,
Thanks for pointing me the article, Will try this and let you know soon if i succeed in this. Planning to try this out on a pair of Black skirt tetras.

-Raghu

[kc5gvn]

Hi rgg, In 35 years I've only heard of one instance where Tetras bred in a community tank. They were Black Neons.

[rgg]

Got a 35 G used tank from one of my friend and have used the filter media of that of my existing massive tank.

I have allowed the tank to cycle, And then will try out my luck as suggested in the link. Planning to separate the female Black skirt tetras out by next week. I do not wanna disturb my planted tank, Have to figure out a way to separate the femals now.

Have any one tried to take out the fishes in a planted tank without disturbing the plants. Since i have a tank with lot of plants and have fertiliser and clay mix at the bottom of my tank, Pulling out even a single plant means a days work to clean it out. And a weeks time to cycle it out.

Will be of great help if you folks have any suggessions.

[t_chelle16]

I haven't tried it in a planted tank, but I have africans in a tank full of caves. I've had moderate luck putting in a glass jar. Eventually, the fish I want will swim in to investigate and I can put the net over the end and lift the whole thing out. It's pretty time consuming, though, because you have to wait for the right fish to swim in.

-Chelle

[rgg]

Tried my luck chasing one of them by the method you suggested and caught it in less than 20 minutes.

Uh!!!! thanks a lot chelle, It worked.

But left it again, Waiting for my 2nd tank to cycle now.

-Raghu