shawmutt
Aquarium Advice Addict
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:
Phew, I think that's it...any input would be appreciated!
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:
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?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.
Phew, I think that's it...any input would be appreciated!