Detailed Explanation of Neon Tetra Breeding Methods and Techniques

The parent fish reach sexual maturity at 10 months of age. Distinguishing males from females is relatively difficult. Generally, males have more slender bodies, while females are plumper and thicker. Cover the bottom of a 30cmX25cmX25cm fish tank with fine hair grass. Keep the water temperature at 5-26°C and the water pH at 5.6-6.5, and the adjustment should be made slowly so the parent fish have an adaptation process (or use extremely soft double-distilled water, adjust the pH, and aerate it for later use). Place a pair of parent fish in the tank in the evening; the female usually hatches fry at dawn the next day, and the fry swim and feed after 4-5 days. The female lays 200-300 eggs each time.

Neon tetra breeding is relatively difficult, mainly because of the high water quality requirements for breeding and the special care requirements for the fry. For breeding water, use extremely soft distilled water, then adjust the pH to 5.6-6.5 with sodium dihydrogen phosphate, then aerate it with a larger air pump for 2-3 days, and pour it into wide-mouth glass bottles for later use. On the bottom of each wide-mouth glass bottle (mouth diameter 90 mm, height 180 mm, depth 130 mm), lay a layer of nylon mesh plate (the mesh size should prevent the parent fish from passing through), and place a little fine hair grass on the mesh plate, then put a pair of parent fish in each bottle. To increase output, 50-100 glass bottles are usually needed in the hatching room.

In the evening, place pairs of parent fish into the glass bottles, and cover the surroundings of the bottles with paper to create a dimly lit environment. They generally begin spawning the next day; observe once at around 10 a.m. Any parent fish that has finished spawning should be removed immediately, while those that have not yet spawned can remain in the bottle; if the parent fish still have not spawned by the third or fourth day, those bottles should also be removed. During the spawning period, the parent fish should fast to avoid spoiling the water quality. Bottles that have already spawned should be gathered in one corner, and at 9-10 p.m. a manual egg-picking procedure should be carried out, sucking out all the unfertilized white eggs in the bottles with a pipette, and concentrating the fertilized eggs in a 30cmX25cmX25cm fish tank for hatching. The water used in the hatching tank is the relatively clear upper-layer water poured together from the spawning bottles; because the breeding water for neon tetras is slightly acidic and highly soft water, old water must be used as hatching water and must not be replaced with new water. Concentrate 400-500 eggs in each tank; the fry hatch after 48 hours, and the water temperature should always be kept at 25°C. The sides of the tank are best pasted with paper to avoid too strong light causing fry deformities.

Because the fry are tiny and swim only a little, they can only feed when the food reaches their mouths. For the first food, sift egg yolk gray water through a 200-mesh net, then feed it drop by drop with a pipette; after some time, when the fry swim normally, switch to egg yolk gray water sifted through a 150-mesh net. Because the fry grow slowly, the period of feeding on egg yolk gray water is longer than for other small varieties. In addition, the hatching water for the fry is extremely soft, and the water temperature is completely different from that of daily rearing water. When the fry grow to 5 mm, store some daily rearing water of the same temperature in a 50cmX40cmX40cm aquarium, and concentrate the fry together with their water in the aquarium so that the fry slowly adapt to the water quality of the daily water. At this time, the fry can be fed small live food, and 1-2 tablets of oxytetracycline can be dissolved in the water to prevent bacterial infection. When the young fish show red and green coloration on the body surface, transfer them to a large aquarium 80 cm or 100 cm long for rearing until they grow into adult fish.