congo tetras

[Kaiti]

has anyone here successfully bred/ is anyone here breeding congo tetras? i have a pair that im pretty sure are male and female (basedon the fins) and considering they sell for a pretty good piece id like to give breeding them a try. anyone have any advice? thanks

kaiti

[Youkai]

Put them in a breeder tank...warm, small, well planted etc. Reduce pH to about 6 or so. Condition the adults on some high quality live/frozen food.
Remove adults after they spawn (they are egg scatterers).
Fry need infusoria at first, then something like micoworms, then newly hatched brine shrimp.

[Kaiti]

how big of a tank do they need? ive read they need a long tank.. like a 33 gal or something... but i dont have that. the biggest water bearing free tank i have is a regular 20, would that work?

thanks

kaiti

[Shane Tesser]

If all conditions are met via water type and food you should have success with congos. The only problems i ever found with them were that since they were egg scatteres, and with a low yield of eggs, most of the eggs were either eaten, or went mouldy. Java moss would be a definate plus to safely capture and hide some of the eggs, as well these fish need a very high oxygen content, which may prevent mould. I dont see a 20 being to small, thats about what most breeders use. As long as you follow what Youkai said, and condition with lots of live foods, everything should be okay. Good Luck :D

[Shane Tesser]

I should add, the price is because of the hatch rate...you may have 40 or so good eggs, but usually there is only a small percentage that ever hatch, and an even smaller percentage of that which actually live past being fry and grow into sellable fish at commercial level. Thus is the reason for the price.