# lemon tetras just laid eggs in my quarantine tank.



## ltshears (Feb 9, 2011)

i purchased 4 lemon tetras 2 days ago and put them in my new 10 gallon quarantine tank.. i thought one of them had ich this morning because i saw what looked like a white bubble type thing on its side.. I went to the doctor and came back home and i was watching 2 of them that were dancing around in the aquarium funny. and they were mating and laying eggs all over the fake plants in the tank? i have never had this happen before, i am excited, but i know the eggs probably will not survive as the parents are eating them as they are spawning.. is there anything i can do to increase the chance of any of the eggs surviving?


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

They are egg scatterers and the way I know of is to put some marbles all over the bottom where the eggs will drop and the adults can't get to them.


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## ltshears (Feb 9, 2011)

ok, there is gravel in the tank, i did see some of the eggs drop down into the gravel, so maybe a few of them will survive.. I was just surprised that they would mate so quickly after being moved from the LFS.. i don't even have live plants in there.. I can't move the adults out cause i have no where to put them, it wasn't planned so if they don't survive, its no big deal, i just thought it was neat that they were spawning..


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

If you remove the parents before too long there will likely be some eggs that escape. Lots of java moss on the bottom would help. Here are instructions to make an egg trap. DIY Egg Trap

If you decide to try raising fry start reading about it now. It requires special feeding and lots of water changes.


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## ltshears (Feb 9, 2011)

snail said:


> If you remove the parents before too long there will likely be some eggs that escape. Lots of java moss on the bottom would help. Here are instructions to make an egg trap. DIY Egg Trap
> 
> If you decide to try raising fry start reading about it now. It requires special feeding and lots of water changes.


thank you. thats a neat idea..


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Hehe,how cool.Ive bought bettas and spawned them the day after arrival.Something about shipping gets them in the mood.Wondering if your LPS just received them not that long ago....


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

In the wild changes in weather trigger spawning so I think sometimes the changes of temperature ph etc during transport make them think it's breeding season.


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## ltshears (Feb 9, 2011)

that could be it.. they must of thought it was breeding season.. its was neat to see anyway.. They are still doing well and are very active. i think i really like this species of tetra, they are fun to watch.


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## ltshears (Feb 9, 2011)

I just wanted to let everyone know that i now have lemon tetra fry. i was vacumming the gravel today and to my surprise i found 8 fry in my bucket. i put them back in the tank of coarse... what do i do now?.. i removed the parents out of the quarantine tank today to give the fry a chance, but i am not sure what to do now.. they are all hiding in the gravel, so not sure what to do at this point.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

General info on feeding fry: For very tiny fry 'green water is often used' or if there are lots of plants in the tank like java moss they will eat the tiny life off it that we can't even see. Boiled egg yolk can be fed in a pinch but isn't ideal because it gets the water dirty easily and clean water is probably the most important thing when raising fry (many people do large water changes every day or even twice a day). There are also commercial liquid fry food available. If you can get live food like daphnia or rotifers. Some people add adult daphinia to the tank, which are too big too eat when the fry are small but they help keep the tank clean and the fry eat the babies. I don't know anything about lemon tetras specifically so read up on them, other similarly sized tetras are likely to be raised by the same methods also.


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## ltshears (Feb 9, 2011)

thank you.. well i ran to pet smart and got some of the Hikari first bites? it says it is good for all freshwater fry.. i was going to get some baby brine shrimp, but they didn't have any so i am going to check a different pet store tomorrow..


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