Best way to capture eggs from spawning danios and tetras?

I've got 2 tanks, and both have fish spawning most mornings. In one tank, the danios go crazy, spraying eggs all over the substrate most mornings. I raised 1 fry accidentally by moving a plant from the Danio tank to shrimp tank, where the fry was able to grow up. In the other tank, the long fin Black skirts spawn in the darkness most mornings. I've never been able to actually see the eggs dropping since they spawn so early, but I can see the rainbows feasting on the eggs as they spray around. Is there anyway I can capture these eggs? A spawning mop of some sort? The tanks are heavily planted so maybe just some java moss? Thanks for any advice

 

Set up a separate tank for breeding, use marbles in the bottom so eggs can settle in between them and take parents out when done.

 

I've got 2 tanks, and both have fish spawning most mornings. In one tank, the danios go crazy, spraying eggs all over the substrate most mornings. I raised 1 fry accidentally by moving a plant from the Danio tank to shrimp tank, where the fry was able to grow up. In the other tank, the long fin Black skirts spawn in the darkness most mornings. I've never been able to actually see the eggs dropping since they spawn so early, but I can see the rainbows feasting on the eggs as they spray around. Is there anyway I can capture these eggs? A spawning mop of some sort? The tanks are heavily planted so maybe just some java moss? Thanks for any advice

Another option is to make a spawning mop.

 

You could also use some java moss to catch some of the eggs.

 

Set up a separate tank for breeding, use marbles in the bottom so eggs can settle in between them and take parents out when done.

Hmm.. no I was wondering how I can capture the eggs inside the community tank.

 

If you can spot any eggs, in the past, I have used a childrens' medicine dropper to suck in each egg, and deposit gently to wherever you plan on trying to raise the fry. It works, but time consuming. If your're looking for a mop just to catch them, fish will still eat the eggs off whatever you're using. Best chance is to remove the eggs.

 

My best luck has been using marble to golf ball size rocks on an otherwise bare bottom tank. I tried using a mesh grid once but actually getting the eggs out from under it was a real pain, you can just use a narrow tube to vacuum between the rocks. I have actually had ok luck letting the fry grow in display tanks with rocky bottoms, the better fry tend to survive by darting in and out to hide and graze on any mulm. I have filled those tanks in with sand to reduce my success rate recently. I want to open up a tank for another project. Good luck with it. It's amazing watching some of these fish do their thing. What are the parameters on the black skirt tank? I haven't gotten successful breeding from any tetra besides silvertip.

 

I'm not sure about tetra eggs but I have successfully gotten peacock gudgeons eggs and put them into a fry box. They hatched about a week or so ago but are so teeny tiny I am not sure how many there are lol. With these eggs they were laid and kind of stuck on a plant leaf. So I carefully pulled the leaf off and put the entire thing in the fry box. I'm not sure how tetra eggs are?

 

When I had zebra danios I would gravel vac after/during spawning and pick out the eggs from the bucket with a flashlight and pipette.

 

My best luck has been using marble to golf ball size rocks on an otherwise bare bottom tank. I tried using a mesh grid once but actually getting the eggs out from under it was a real pain, you can just use a narrow tube to vacuum between the rocks. I have actually had ok luck letting the fry grow in display tanks with rocky bottoms, the better fry tend to survive by darting in and out to hide and graze on any mulm. I have filled those tanks in with sand to reduce my success rate recently. I want to open up a tank for another project. Good luck with it. It's amazing watching some of these fish do their thing. What are the parameters on the black skirt tank? I haven't gotten successful breeding from any tetra besides silvertip.

The tetras are breeding almost every morning right now. I haven't seen the eggs yet, but the rainbows follow them around going crazy so they are definitely eating every last egg. The tank parameters are:

Ph: 7.4
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20-30 (20-25 after water change, 30-35 right before)
GH: 160-180
KH: 2
TDS: 370

My tap water comes out 0GH, 0KH so the water is hardened with Seachem equilibrium, which has worked wonders for my plants. I'm sure the rainbows and tetras would do fine in soft water, but 0gh is pretty dang low. Either way the Tetras are breeding great in there right now. I think they may have paired up.

 

I'm breeding CPDs and I rotate 2 spawning mops between the main tank and the fry tank every few days, while picking up and transferring any eggs I see on the substrate with a pipette.

 

Another option is to make a spawning mop.

A spwaning mob is used for fish that stick their eggs to plants and roots.
These fish are eggscarterers to me so I doubt a spawning mob will is usefull for these fish.

 

Mops or Java Moss will work with the Tetras. The eggs they scatter are adhesive, while danio eggs are not. Given a bushy plant, most tetras will dig into it to release the eggs so that they are not so easily found by chasers.

 

I'm breeding CPDs and I rotate 2 spawning mops between the main tank and the fry tank every few days, while picking up and transferring any eggs I see on the substrate with a pipette.

Do you have any suggestions on the best spawning mops to buy?

 

Do you have any suggestions on the best spawning mops to buy?

I made my own out of yarn, super cheap. There's lots of guides on how to do this online!

 

I made my own out of yarn, super cheap. There's lots of guides on how to do this online!

That sounds way better. I’ll give that a shot. Thanks!!