blackskirt tetra mating and temperature

stephanieleah

Hi all,

I recently bumped my aquarium temp from about 77' to 79' and out of nowhere my tetras started getting pregnant. At any given time one would be just pregnant (you can just see the swollen belly) and another would be full-blown-about-to-lay-eggs pregnant. I turned the temp down two days ago and haven't seen a pregnant one yet. I'm wondering about the correlation there. Does temperature matter?

And as barbaric as it sounds, I'm sure all of the fish were happy to have some extra food that week.

And it was also nice to see who is male and female and look at behavior patterns of the genders.

Stephanie

Byron

With most characins and corydoras, lowering the temperature (in combination with a partial water change) usually triggers spawning, providing the fish are "ready." This simulates a rainstorm in their natural habitat, and they spawn at the start of the rainy season when the rivers flood the surrounding forest and food is more plentiful. Do a major pwc with slightly cooler water (1-2 degrees) on a day with a low pressure system and it's almost a certainty.

They will spawn when ready of course, regardless; could have been just the right time. I have about 100 various characins in my 115g and it seems one species or other is spwaning regularly. Great to watch, "natura naturans" or nature naturing.

Byron.