Breeding Cory Cats and Neon Tetras

[amelia]

I've got three adult albino cory cats that my dad left me, and I'm interested in getting into breeding egglayers.. So I thought these would be good to start with. I haven't got a clue as to where to start, but I'm sure knowing whether my corys were female or male would be a bit of a start.. So how do you tell? What are signs of spawning? How do you breed them? What aquarium setup do you need as far as filtration, lights, and "accessories" (mops, slates, cones) go?

I am also interested in breeding both traditional neon and orange neon tetras. The same information as above would be appriciated GREATLY!

[Lydia]

I have bred cory cats, and it was easy. And it wasn't even on purpose. I had them in a fairly heavily planted 15 gallon and fine gravel substrate. The temp is 78-80 and the PH is 7.2 or 7.4 I think. I only had two of them, yet they bred and the eggs hatched. They have spawned probably 5 or 6 times. I actually just took them to a pet shop today because they bred too much (and I needed room for the babies to grow up). The last spawn was huge. There were eggs all over the glass, on plants, and on a shell I have in the bottom. If you keep any other fish with them they will more likely than not eat the eggs, so be careful about that. Good luck!!

[Damon]

I wouldn't choose either of those fish as a start for breeding egglayers. Cory eggs require work to keep the around and not eaten. Breeding neons happens more by accident that any serious breeding effort. Danios and white clouds are your best bet.

[Osiris]

Eggs are Eggs, couldn't you simply take the eggs and hatch them in a hatchery? to avoid troubles..

[TheOldSalt]

Sounds good, but eggs aren't eggs. Each type has various characteristics which make your plan either easy or impossible.

[Damon]

Neons, for example are light sensative and will not develop under bright lights. Cories need water movement to prevent fungusing.

[Osiris]

When you say neons do u mean neon eggs?

Cories eggs sound same as developing cichlid eggs, all eggs need water movement to prevent that..

[Damon]

Yes, neon eggs.

[Osiris]

O, am not saying all are same just similiar in way to hatch them, freshwater, little current to keep water moving, prolly wouldnt be too hard to hatch neons just breeding them i havent seen done in person.

[Z Man]

The Old Salt is correct in that some eggs will not hatch in soft water and others will not hatch in hard water. Also as stated some need light, others can't have light. Most aquarium fish will produce eggs but not all will hatch under your particular conditions. Yes all eggs are eggs but to get them to hatch is another problem.

[Osiris]

I was simply stating that anyone can hatch eggs as long as your water is correct. different fish differetn needs

[TheOldSalt]

It's the moving them that causes the problem. Some are tough, some fragile. Some are sticky, some aren't. Some are prone to meroblastic fault when moved, some aren't.

Eggs which can be moved without damage into a new location with suitable hatching conditions can of course be hatched in a separate container. Those that can't, can't.

How did we get on this?
Oh, right...neons.
Neons are cranked out by the millions on asian fishfarms year-round, so it's not that hard to breed them IF you follow the strict requirements for the job. Most beginners could hardly be expected to keep things that exact, though, so working up to them by practicing on easier species is a good idea. I like barbs myself, since they're trickier than danios and are easier to sell. Then you can move on to tetras which are harder, and once you've got the hang of those you might have a good shot at spawning Neons.