Breeding neon tetras?

[Angellove78]

I've been reading up on neon tetras. I have a female and male with 3 platy fish in a 10g. They are in a darker corner in my house with a night light. I know they are soft water fish. But the pair I have seem to be very hardy in hard water (well water) with high ph. I've been increasing the light little by little ever few days, but not much. Mostly at night (feeding time range) anybody got any tips or tricks? I just find it interesting that they loop around each other. And I'm not sure if my platy's will eat the eggs (if they spawn) They will be hard to see in the white gravel too. Should I pull my platy's and neons out when/if I see eggs.

 

[KuhliCray]

Lowering the ph and hardness will definitely encourage them to spawn more. Add some tannins and driftwood. Since they scatter eggs, make sure there are pebbles and stones at the bottom for fry to hide under when they hatch. Once you lower the ph, be patient, they're difficult to breed! I've never gotten mine to breed, (yet) but hopefully you will have better luck than me!
EDIT:
You have more than just 1 male and 1 female, right? They need a large school with different genders.

 

[Fresh2o]

To add to this, I would remove the platys. Without them in this size of tank you would have a better chance at maintaining water quality.
I thought Tetras laid adhesive eggs and others such as danios laid non-adhesive eggs (scattered).

 

[Angellove78]

No, I've read everywhere that you take a male and female and put them in a tank together in darker spot with low light. Then increase the light slowly. And when you do a water change to make the water alittle cooler, as in the wild would be rain. And they will Spawn. There's better changes if the water is murky so they can't find the eggs to eat them. And the eggs will have better changes of survival. The only thing I worry about is my 3 platy's. I'm just waiting for them to grow alittle more and I'll be moving them out. And the 2 neons will be the only ones. I have white gravel rock. I moved my neons to this tank cause my angel ate one. Didn't want to loss them. Knowing they are hardy. Hard to find.

 

[Angellove78]

To add to this, I would remove the platys. Without them in this size of tank you would have a better chance at maintaining water quality.
I thought Tetras laid adhesive eggs and others such as danios laid non-adhesive eggs (scattered).

Non adhesive is when then lay their eggs on plants and stuff right? And adhesive is when they just scatter them on everything yes? If that's true then they would be non adhesive. They scatter.

 

[Fresh2o]

Non adhesive is when then lay their eggs on plants and stuff right? And adhesive is when they just scatter them on everything yes? If that's true then they would be non adhesive. They scatter.

Actually the other way around. But you are correct on the scattering with neons. I had gold tetras lay eggs in a thick mass of flame moss and just assumed the eggs were sticking to the moss.

 

[Angellove78]

Sorry, meant they would adhesive. So confusing trying to get everything down pat sometimes. Yeah, I'm gonna move the platy's out within another month or so. That way I can work with the neons alittle better. I'd love to get more of them so I can get a school going . Fish Store only had 3 and I live a hour away. I usually order fish online cause the store always gives free ich with fish. Lol! But at least I saved some.

 

[KuhliCray]

Neon tetras ARE non adhesive. To clarify, I looked it up online. And by adding more neons, it will make them happier and swim around more. I've kept two tetras before and they never chased each other and just sat at the bottom of the tank all day. I added more and they immediately perked up. While it might be possible to keep 2 tetras and get them to breed, it's not likely.

 

[Angellove78]

Neon tetras ARE non adhesive. To clarify, I looked it up online. And by adding more neons, it will make them happier and swim around more. I've kept two tetras before and they never chased each other and just sat at the bottom of the tank all day. I added more and they immediately perked up. While it might be possible to keep 2 tetras and get them to breed, it's not likely.

Mine chase and twist around each other, alot. We'll see. They are suppose to be soft water fish. So everything is different.