# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Characins >  How to breed Rummy Nose Tetra?

## ms

Hi,
Does anyone here have any experience breeding Rummy Nose Tetra? I think I have some free time on hand and a spare 1.5" tank after upgrading to a 4".

How can I differentiate between the sexes of the Rummy Nose?

I read that the diet need to be changed to that of live food and the ph of the water to be soft.
I also read that I would need rain water and floating breeding wool for the eggs.

Can anyone offer any advise?

THanks.

MS

----------


## benny

I think not many of us here breed tetras. I do know that Randy Carey is an expert on the subject and you can try searching for his site. May have some useful information.

www.characin.com

www.twowethands.com

Cheers,

----------


## mickthefish

ms,
if your still interested in breeding them , ive got a mate who breeds them ,
i could ask him for the info, he's very precise on his water conditions, 
he did tell me that they don't get their red nose until they are at least 9 mths old, let me know and i'll get the info for you.
mick

----------


## Justikanz

If I didn't remember wrongly, for most tetras, it will involve feeding them live food to plump the females, identify the pair you want, prepare a smallish tank, use cool soft (and conditioned) water with low pH and place the pair in the tank in the evening when the female is plump with eggs... 

The tetras should spawn at first light and the adults should be removed and the tank covered completely. Strangely, tetra eggs are photosensitive...

----------


## nostalgia

Any more info? I like rummy noses too! Good for indicating the quality of water and they look very pretty swimming in a school!

----------


## mickthefish

ive just got the info of my mate , ph 6, zero hardness add some blackwater extract, use short woolmops by small cut to no more than 2ins about 6 in all, they are night spawners, egg are very light sensitive, cover the tank with a towel, when fry are free-swimming the food has to be the smallest you can get, ie infusoria , green-water, etc.
hope this is some help.
cheers. mick

----------


## celticfish

i have a 4ft planted tank with CO2 but nothing else.
shaded but receives at most 2 to 3 hrs of light.
suc-EI fert dosing and 30% water change every week.
water temp about 25 to 27 degrees.
fauna 12 x rummies, 10 x oto and some yamatos.

so far after about half a year i have "saved" fry from three spawnings.
first was one, second three and the most recentt, a week ago, one.
i feed them once a day in the morning and those are the times i spot the fry.
almost one half of the tank is a java fern forest. 
this is where the fry hide apparently.
i suspect most of the mortality goes to the planaria in the tank.
(i am going to start a pogrom on them this weekend!  :Evil:  )

first food is just a small tank with java ferns and moss.
i supplement micro life with some live tubifex and powdered dry foods.
can't tell how effective this method is as i have never had a large batch to raise. 
do a search on green water as i think it will be more effective if you manage to save a large batch of fry.
my current hero is growing in a small betta tank.

what i've gleam from the site quoted by benny follows.
pick a male and female. usual method to tell - female are bigger and have rounder bellies. male smaller and sleek in shape.
feed live foods to condition the adults and then cross fingers and hope for the best!  :Opps:  
water quality should be soft and acidic.
some people use moss and mops, others use a full netting that covers the whole bottom of the tank.
after spawning the parents are removed 
eggs hatch in a day or two max.
the eggs as mentioned earlier are light sensitive so cover the tank and aviod bright lights. 
the will stay on the bottom till the egg sac is absorbed. 
occasionally the will struggle from the bottom and this is when its dangerous for them as other fish may see them and start hunting for them. 
once they are free swimming you can feed infusoria or green water.
when they can accept BBS then you have pratically got a home run.

they are really cute miniatures of the adults as they colour-up.
yes, they are one of the more disciplined schooling tetras.

----------


## pususuti

Thank you Celticfish for your feedback. My rummy nose had spawned twice so far and I've had them for nearly 2 years now. I still cannot tell when they are going to do it until it's too late, and the others are swimming around them and picking-off the eggs. What are the tell-tale signs that spawning is on the way? The others that had spawned in the same tank are the congo tetras, black neons, and cherry barbs.

----------


## hermes73

Hi - I know this is an old thread, but I finally managed to video my rummy nose tetras (Hemigrammus rhodostomus) breeding. They've been at it I really don't know how many times, although the eggs never survive (let alone fry) because it's a biotope/community tank. When there were cardinal tetras as well, the cardinals would trail the frisky rummy nose tetras and eat the eggs, and the rummy nose tetras would repay the cardinals by doing the same thing when the cardinals bred (far less often).

Video isn't great quality - the rummy nose tetras breed first thing in the morning when I'm just crawling out of bed, so I had to use my iPhone. Plus the front of this aquarium is curved glass, which doesn't help.

If it's useful information for anyone: water temperature typically ranges 28-30 degrees Celsius (averaging 29.5), pH 4.5-5.5, kH 0-1, GH 5-6. No, I don't notice any particular pattern as to what triggers breeding... it just happens: could be after a water change, before a water change, after being fed live food, after having been fed nothing for Tetrabits for weeks.... Breeding is a mass orgy, as you can see. I think a largish shoal probably helps and gets them all in the mood.

Video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMwyr...&feature=g-upl

----------


## 14litre

> Hi - I know this is an old thread, but I finally managed to video my rummy nose tetras (Hemigrammus rhodostomus) breeding. They've been at it I really don't know how many times, although the eggs never survive (let alone fry) because it's a biotope/community tank. When there were cardinal tetras as well, the cardinals would trail the frisky rummy nose tetras and eat the eggs, and the rummy nose tetras would repay the cardinals by doing the same thing when the cardinals bred (far less often).
> 
> Video isn't great quality - the rummy nose tetras breed first thing in the morning when I'm just crawling out of bed, so I had to use my iPhone. Plus the front of this aquarium is curved glass, which doesn't help.
> 
> If it's useful information for anyone: water temperature typically ranges 28-30 degrees Celsius (averaging 29.5), pH 4.5-5.5, kH 0-1, GH 5-6. No, I don't notice any particular pattern as to what triggers breeding... it just happens: could be after a water change, before a water change, after being fed live food, after having been fed nothing for Tetrabits for weeks.... Breeding is a mass orgy, as you can see. I think a largish shoal probably helps and gets them all in the mood.
> 
> Video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMwyr...&feature=g-upl


thanks for sharing the video.

did the eggs survived this time round?

I have watched the video and only managed to see the tetras chasing each other. is that how they breed?

I am planning to rear neon tetra. for my case, breeding them would be difficult I guess, given that I am having a small tank. but it would be fun to learn how they breed and great if it came true some day, somehow.  :Grin:

----------


## bettatail

Same thing happen in my tank.'











the video.
http://s817.photobucket.com/albums/z...rrent=5485.mp4

----------


## stormhawk

> I am planning to rear neon tetra. for my case, breeding them would be difficult I guess, given that I am having a small tank. but it would be fun to learn how they breed and great if it came true some day, somehow.


This site will help you out: http://neontetras.info/

----------


## 14litre

> Same thing happen in my tank.'
> 
> the video.
> http://s817.photobucket.com/albums/z...rrent=5485.mp4


It's great news, even better with the pictures and video. 
And thanks for highlighting the eggs in circle. 
It really helps because I am just starting to learn on tetra breeding.

----------


## 14litre

> This site will help you out: http://neontetras.info/


great stuff! thanks for sharing the site. looks like it is slightly different between neon and rummy nose, especially on the lightings. I don't think my neon tetra will ever breed in my small tank.  :Razz:

----------


## keitaro

hello sorry to dig up an old post.

I was wondering since i am on a budget and have recently moved countries about the following.

I recently got some neon tetras and are getting some of these rummy nose tetras.

I got the tank with a guppy breeder thrown in for free. 

It is one of the clear floating breeder tanks in the water with the plastic stopping the fish from getting to the babies.

If i colored it darker to reduce light and put the fish in there when they spawn (if they spawn) would the eggs safely get down into the safe zone and get some fry ? 

has anyone tried i don`t have room for a second small tank at this time and would love to give it a try.

thanks
Dave

----------


## lucasjiang

Personally I don't think it would work as the floating breeder tanks are a bit too small. After you put a thick clump of moss or a spawning mop for them to spawn in, there wouldn't really be space for the fish to swim I guess. And if the whole tank is bare, I don't think they will spawn either.

----------

