Did you know? Neon tetras are hardy fish but only as adults. Baby neon tetras, also called fry, are very weak and fragile. These tetras later turn into beautiful fish for your aquarium. But, what do baby neon tetras look like? Do you have any idea?
Baby neon tetras look like transparent glass structures floating in your aquarium. Many people get confused that these tetras are dirt in the aquarium. So, if you did not notice your neon tetra getting pregnant or laying eggs, you might have thrown them out of the tank already or the adult tetras may have eaten them.
Let us dive in more about what the baby neon tetras look like and how to care for them.
How To Know Your Neon Tetra Is Going To Lay Eggs?
To know that your neon tetra is going to lay eggs is the first thing to do before you get to see the baby neon tetras. As mentioned above, the baby neon tetras sometimes get eaten or even cleared out by yourself.
So, it is essential to know when your neon tetra is going to lay eggs. For this, you have to separate the male and female tetras first. The male tetras are slightly slimmer than females. Besides, the female has a curved blue line on their body.
The next step is to check out for the signs that your neon tetras are mating. If you can view that the female neon tetra is a little puffed or fat, you can safely assume that your neon tetra will lay eggs in a few days.
To get into the details, you can check my other article about ‘How To Tell If A Neon Tetra Is Going To Lay Eggs?’
How Are Baby Neon Tetras Born?
The baby neon tetras are not born directly as neon tetras are not livebearers. You will see that the neon tetras will spawn their eggs in a safe place. Moreover, the safe place I mention here is near plants or hideouts.
Hence, you need to keep plants in your neon tetra aquarium. For the best plants for your neon tetra aquarium, you can read 10 best aquarium plants for your tetra tank.
When Do The Baby Neon Tetra Come Out Of The Eggs?
After the neon tetras spawn their eggs, it will take almost 24 hours for it to hatch. The time taken might increase as well. Neon tetra will lay about 60 to 130 eggs at a time but only 40 to 50 of them have chances of hatching. So, do not be disappointed if you have less fry and more eggs.
What Do Baby Neon Tetras Look Like?
The baby neon tetras are wonderful creatures that need care from its owner. The fragile fry seeks help for survival. So, you must know how baby neon tetras look like.
First of all, let us talk about the color of neon tetra eggs. Neon tetra eggs are themselves a little transparent as they are yellowish-white in nature. There is a chance that the white eggs are not fertilized at all. For this, you will have to wait and see till 24 hours.
After 24 hours, the eggs hatch into larva state. Then, the larva turns into baby neon tetras. Such baby neon tetras look like glass particles in the water since they are transparent in nature.
It is a wonderful sight to see but do not be confused. The baby tetras are not dirt, insects, or glass particles that many beginners think they are.
Are Baby Neon Tetras Visible?
The answer is yes. The baby neon tetras are visible. Even though they look like transparent glass particles floating in the water freely, you will be able to spot them.
How To Care For Baby Neon Tetra?
There are a few things you can do to care for your baby neon tetras. Here I have listed them out!
- Set up a separate fry tank to keep the baby tetras safe.
- Protect the eggs by keeping a spawning mat or plants in your tank.
- Use a proper filtration system for the baby neon tetras.
- Keep the neon tetra fry tank at a dark place.
- Maintain appropriate hideouts for the baby tetras to feel secure.
Find out more from Tetra Fry Care – How to Care for Baby Tetras?. Similarly, you may also read Aquarium Filters Best Suited For Tetra Fish Fry.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Do Parent Neon Tetras Eat Their Own Babies?
Sadly, yes. Neon tetra parents do eat the fry or baby neon tetras. For saving your baby neon tetras, you will have to put adult neon tetras in another tank and use a fry tank or the breeding tank as their home.
Later when the babies grow up, you can reunite the babies with their parents. Even if the adult tetras do not eat the babies, the fry can get bruises as they are soft-bodied. Moreover, the fins of any other adult tetra can cause the death of the fry.
Hence, I would suggest you keep the fry and eggs in a separate tank. For it, you can check our article on Tetra Fry Tank Set-Up: Fish Tank Requirement For The Fry.
What To Feed Your Baby Neon Tetra?
The small fries that come out of the eggs will feed on the egg sacks entirely for the first few days. You will see the fry swimming freely in your aquarium in less than 5 days.
Besides, your job comes into play now! Now, you have to feed your fry with small amounts of food like egg yolks, infusoria, and rotifers. Make sure to use only a few drops of infusoria two to three times a day.
Once your fry is a few months old, you can start feeding them fries or micro-worms. Similarly, flake foods and fry foods are also available in the market. For more details, check out How To Feed Tetra Fish Fry Properly | Dos and Don’ts With Alternative Fry Food!
Last Words
In conclusion, neon tetras are the perfect pet for you and the presence of these tetras can surely brighten up your tank like no other tetras.
You can always choose to breed neon tetras at home and care for the fry such that these schooling fish create a happy school of their own. In this article, you have learned how baby neon tetras are born, how they look, and how to take care of the fry.
If you have any additional queries, you can always feel free to drop comments on the comment section below!
Related articles:
- What Do Neon Tetras Need In Their Tank?
- How to Prevent Neon Tetra Curved/Crooked Spine or Neon Tetra Disease
- Can The Neon Tetra Survive In a Fishbowl?
- Can The Neon Tetra Eat Goldfish Flakes?
