MP. & C. Piednoir
Ember tetras Hyphessobrycon amandae; attempting to breed tetras in a school frequently results in the spawning pair’s tankmates eating the eggs.
the tank off, and if the room is bright, cover
it with the towel again. The eggs will take at
least 48 hours to hatch and another couple of
days for the larvae to become free-swimming
(depending upon temperature and species).
It is best not to disturb the tank during this
time. If the eggs and fry are light sensitive,
shining a light into the tank to check on
them may cause harm.
Hans-Joachim Richter
Flame tetras Hyphessobrycon flammeus; when eggs are seen in a tetra spawning tank, the pair should
be moved back into the community tank immediately, as they will eventually eat their own eggs.
66 www.tfhmagazine.com
The First Week
Is the Most Critical
Five days after the eggs are laid, add a
source of very small food to the fry tank.
Use a few ounces of green water, but if
that is unavailable, use some vinegar
eels. If neither of those live foods is
available, the next best choice is “sponge
grunge.” Carefully lift the sponge filter
from the fry tank and squeeze it in the
tank water. This will release millions of
microorganisms from the sponge into
the water where the fry can get at them.
Commercial fry foods can be used, but
they do not contain the living things
that trigger the very small fry to feed.
Microworms, an excellent live food, are
often too large for the very small fry and
should be saved for feeding later.
The first week will be the most critical
in the lives of the new tetra fry. If they
can get enough food to grow to a size
that allows them to eat larger types of
food, then they stand a good chance
of surviving. Do not give into the
temptation to feed larger foods like
fry powders, microworms, or Artemia
August 2009
