pregnant neon?

[mcshell]

I've 2 neons, and recently one of them look like it's having a big tummy, then the big tummy becomes smaller, and then a few days later it becomes big again.
Does this mean this neon is a female and she's pregnant? What should i do if i want to save the eggs and babies? It seems to me neons can easily be scared, so I'm not sure if i should net them and put them to another tank.

thanks!

 

[theeyrietrainer]

well, first you gotta sex them. when you look at the irridescent blue strip, if its straight then its a male neon, but at half way it isnt straight, then its a girl. its very hard for the eggs. even if you save them, they virtually need no light cause they fungus easily. and then do hatch, the fry are like more needy than betta fry x10!

 

[mcshell]

do you happen to have pictures for male / female neons?
i can't tell the difference
the "fat" one's strip does look like it isn't straight, but it only looks like that when it becomes fat - in which the shape of the tummy kind of make it not straight...
currently they're just in the community tank, so even if she has eggs, i'm sure they'll all be eaten before i managed to find some!
shall i move the pair to an isolated tank?

 

[theeyrietrainer]

http://www.elacuarista.com/secciones/images/parachei_innesi.jpg

the lower one is the male, while the top one is the female.
its easiest to sex out girls when they have large stomachs cause their stripes curve the most. if your really so intent on breeding neons, you should isolate them in another tank. but you need right water parameters. best is to filter rain water, put them in the tank. put your neons, since they have adhesive eggs, you gotta add the plants! in the tank. turn on the lights, leave em. few hours later begin dimming them slowly. like dimming them a little in a few minutes. as you dim the lights, fill the tank with more water (i think you shouldnt fill it so high, like bettas, in half) slowly add more and more water. the tank should be full by the time the dimming is complete. let nature take its course. so people said it helps if you took aluminum foil and flash with a flashlight and moving it around and also taking stuff and banging it loudly at the same time. this will make it seem as a thunderstorm. since neons breed in the rainy season, this will ensure the young have the best chance of survival cause of the additional water. when you think the pair has done depositing the eggs, remove them immediately! there vicious egg eaters! now you have to leave the tank in complete darkness, when i mean complete darkness, i MEAN complete darkness. the faintest of light can cause fungus everywhere! so yeah...i forgot how many days later they hatch, but when they do, they need infursia. feed them that, or liquid fry food, as they get older, feed them other foods. dont forget lotza LOTZA LOTZA water changes!

best wishes mcshell,
theeyrietrainer

 

[Leopardess]

Neons should not be kept in groups less than six. They are schooling fish. Keeping two will stress them out as they are constantly in desire of other fish of their own kind. I suggest getting four more. It could jsut be a fat belly you see, ie the fish eats a lot sometimes.

 

[mcshell]

sounds like a tough job!!!
but thanks for the details, theeyrietrainer! I think the fat one is a female.

Leopardess, I started off with 3 neons and 3 cardinals, and they seemed to get along quite well. One neon died quite a while ago, so now i only have 2 left. I didn't get more since I was afraid the angels may attack them...
I was thinking that she may be just fat too.. but it'll be quite weird since i can see her big belly one day, and then another day she'll become much thinner, and then will have the big belly again!
I wonder what fitness center she goes to and I'd like to lose my belly too lol

 

[theeyrietrainer]

well, when it comes to breed neon tetras individually, most breeders will use only a pair as the ones that aren't breeding and are in the tank will have a fun feast! in the wild, sometimes pairs will go spawn themselves, but it is quite rarely. i used to have cardinals with neons, the school looked perfect and each species didnt mind, after all, it DID take them like, forever to notice that little difference and how they were different species!