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Hello everybody! I have been trying to collect all the information on how to breed tetras, and Lemon Tetras in specific. I know the basics, but I would deeply appreciate it if someone would post their own acconuts, advice, and gendering tips. Thanks for your time.

I have just found a article written on here in Tetra Talk on Lemon Tetras. I now understand how to go about doing everything, but if someone would like to, they can post advice and personal experiences. Thanks.

Wasn't my little piece was it perchance?

Basic prescription is lots of live food in the run up to spawning, and an aquarium sited so that it receives morning sunshine, as this is a known and well-documented stimulus.

Also, young Lemons that have just matured take time to get in gear. Males especially. If you get a batch of juveniles and raise them up, it might be advisable to use 2 males to 1 female for the first few spawns until the males 'get in gear'.

Don't forget the egg trap! You'll need it, believe me!

And also, make sure you have some infusoria cultures fired up ready to roll for when the fry appear, because there'll be LOTS of fry from a good pair - a mature female Lemon can produce nearly 400 eggs!



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Awesome! Thanks! Yeah it was your very well written article on Lemons. I got the 10 gallon tank to do my spawning in, and I got the trap all figured out.

So, live foods (microworms, vinegar eels, and bloodworms) leading up to spawning, no food during actual spawning, and use a spawning trap. I got it. Thanks. When I get them to breed, eventually, I will post re3sults and all that good stuff.

What kind of trap are yu using? Rods? Mesh? Marbles?

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Mesh, like the fish net kind, just in yards of it, I will be cutting it into the perfect shape for the 10 gallon. Also, this is way off subject, but do you know how to prune Vals? The ones in my 75 gallon are getting way to long and are almost 3 ft.

3ft???

Sounds like you have Giant Vallisneria.

In which case 'pruning' is impossible. You cut the leaf of a Vallis, the leaf dies.

Best thing to do is get a smaller variety of Vallisneria as a replacement. Giant Vallis grows like stink, and will stage a campaign for world domination in your aquarium. I once made the mistake of putting some in a 2ft aquarium thinking it was regular Vallis, and ended up with an underwater prairie ...

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

It sounds like you've found the right place to get started, the lemon tetra spawning article. I can't really add anything that wasn't already said there, but I do have some personal experiences with spawning these fish. Frozen and freeze-dried foods work just fine as conditioning foods, even if they aren't fed all of the time. My lemons are spawning on a diet of mostly flakes.
The pH and hardness of your water matters little. My tank's pH is 7.8, and my lemons don't mind a bit. It is the stability of the tank that is important here, not the water parameters being 'correct'.
Don't forget, morning time is when lemons do their thing. I've only seen them spawn in the morning, and they usually start between 7-9 a.m.

Hopefully all the help you've been given will lead to some successful spawns!

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I've had them spawn in the evening, but very rarely. Twice in the 7-8 years I've had them. All other spawns have been morning spawns, and usually after a good dose of sunlight has struck the aquarium side.

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Good news, I got them to breed after trying my first time. Thanks for all the help you guys.

That's good news. You got them to spawn, are you working on raising the eggs now? Or, were the tetras too fast for you?

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Yeah, they were to fast for me, but now I have them isolated in a 10 gallon (setup with all the good stuff to breed em). It turns out I have 3 males and 1 female, and the female turns more translucent when breeding and the dominant male follows her into different bushes and they spawn. This time Im ready, theyre setup right under the window for some oldfashion sunrise sunlight.

EDIT: When the eggs hatch from this spawning tommorow morning, can I feed them microworms instead od daphnia? Thanks

Last edited by Characidae at 15-Mar-2005 23:20

I got them to spawn this morning and have the eghs safe and sound. They should hatch by tommorow. Can any one tell me if microworms will work instead of daphnia?