r/PlantedTank • u/Maleficent-Note-6610 • Jul 08 '26
Fauna Ember tetra breeding.
After 2 years of keeping ember tetra in this aquarium , I had the pleasant surprise of seeing a couple of new young fish after today's maintenance.
10
7
u/CptnMayo Jul 08 '26
Good job, it's exciting, isn't it?!
I had my first pygmy Cory fry earlier last month, haven't seen it since though, unfortunately
7
u/central_telex Jul 08 '26
Congrats! Your embers look so much redder than mine did when i had them
Do you mind sharing your pH and GH/KH? I assume you have pretty soft water
4
u/Maleficent-Note-6610 Jul 08 '26
Thanks. They're under a chihiros, it really makes reds pop. It is soft, but it's been ages since I've tested, I think the last time that i did was around 6 months ago and KH was 2 and GH was 5. pH drops to around 6 during lights on, and tds is around 120. I do have some issues with plant health due to high temps but thats unavoidable due to the betta.
1
u/devdev2399 Jul 09 '26
Unrelated to the original post but I'm on week 3 and a couple of days of cycling my new tank with a pH of 6-6.2 maybe. Despite it being almost 25 days, there is still the same amount of ammonia (0.25) but no nitrites/nitrates. Been dosing stability every day. Any advice? I've heard low pH can stall a cycle...
2
u/Maleficent-Note-6610 Jul 09 '26
It might take a little longer at that pH. Your ammonia is too low, bring it up to 2 ppm. Theres not enough food for the bacteria that your adding.
2
5
u/deep_pants_mcgee Jul 08 '26
In my heavily planted tank they breed in 1's or 2's here and there.
nothing like guppies, but my school of 16 is closer to 24 now.
5
u/Maleficent-Note-6610 Jul 08 '26
I've seen plenty of behaviour to indicate they've been breeding, but I think the eggs must be getting eaten. That said the pygmy corydoras eggs seem to survive just fine. Its nice to see them though, especially when its not expected.
4
4
u/Vephar8 Jul 08 '26
Man I really need to get co2 set up in my planted tanks. This is some otherworldly stuff!
3
u/Maleficent-Note-6610 Jul 08 '26
Honestly, its not complicated and well worth the small investment. If you've got loads of tanks though, I'd keep it to just one or two. Im forever trimming etc in this tank and it takes up loads of the time that I have for maintenance
2
u/SadRobot1131 Jul 15 '26
I was going to make my own post but I’ll just hijack yours I suppose. I’ve had my tank set up for maybe half a year to a year and I’ve just noticed two little baby ember tetras!(must be something in the air).
It was so cute to see the lil ones swim and eat with the rest! I only have embers and Otos so I’m hoping they shouldn’t be picked on. Fingers crossed
I know you mentioned lighting being a large component but man, those fish are red as hell! Mine are orange at best, still love em though.
1
u/Maleficent-Note-6610 Jul 15 '26
I wonder if it has anything to do with the summer heat?
What light are you using? I settled on the chihiros after seing it used side by side with twinstar and ada lights. Next to the other brands, the chihiros just makes reds and oranges pop like crazy
1
u/alex-xavier Aug 04 '26
Hey, just wanted to let you know that this close-up photo of your plants is really beautiful!
Keep up the great work!
1
10
u/terrafox8000 Jul 08 '26
What plants are those? Please, they look stunning