Setting up breeding tank

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shawmutt

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Dec 21, 2002
Messages
2,648
Location
Greencastle, PA
Ok, I give up. I can't find any hatchet fish, cardinals are too expensive, and I'm not ready to buy neons and lose my whole tank to ntd. So...if I can't buy them, I'll breed them! I tried looking stuff up. I bought a book. I broke down my 5.5 gallon tank and cleaned it all out to use. I've a few questions:

:?: The web sites say to put a male and a female in a acidic, very soft tank. I can easily do this, by using distilled water and a little R/O right, and pH down (man, just thought of another question!). But...the tank would never have been cycled. If I seed the tank with stuff from the 30 gallon, it will affect the water quality. Will an ammonia spike occur and kill all my fry and possibly the adults?

:?: Will pH down hurt the fry? I have peat granules for a canister filter and one of those old internal bubble filters, would that be better?

:?: Do they need to display any kind of courting, showing that they are ready to spawn? I hear all about cichlids courting, but the impression I get about cardinals is that you just plop them in the tank and they lay eggs and fertilize and that's it. Actual quote from one of my fish books:

If you are regularly employed, you will no doubt want to breed your fish on weekends... . Most characins, if in tiptop condition, will spawn two days after introduction, although, quite often, there are those that will spawn the following morning.
:?: Let's say it happens, they lay eggs, I get them out and the eggs hatch. What am I going to do with 130 fry? Should I just go out and get a larger tank for breeding? Let's say the impossible happens, and some mature past the fry stage...how long should I wait before moving some to the main tank and bringing the rest to the lfs?

Phew, I think that's it...any input would be appreciated!
 
I think you should throw some marbles in the bottom, for cover for the fry. I think you dont need to worry about a cycle, just do reg. water changes. I think you might be able to pull it off.
 
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