
Lays eggs one at a time on plants, floating-plant roots or spawning mats, attached by sticky threads; spawning season April to September in the wild.
A group; one male with 2-3 females.
40 L planted tank with spawning mops.
Warm water and live food.
About 10-20 eggs a day for about a week; eggs hatch in about two weeks. Young mature at around 10 months.
Baby brine shrimp from day one.
One breeding tank for the golden topminnow, drawn to scale from the breeding guide.
Water: 18–25 °C
A plan from the breeding guide and an adult size of 8.5 cm. Tank shape is a standard 2 : 1 : 1.2 box, at least 6 adult lengths long. Check each step in the guide above.
A 120 cm rack for breeding the golden topminnow in numbers.
In total: 4 tanks, about 240 L of water. A litre of water weighs about 1 kg, so check that the floor and rack can take the weight.
Sizes are worked out from the breeding tank in the guide. Tanks fit a standard 120 cm rack when they can; bigger tanks go on their own stands.
Males have iridescent gold or blue flecks, 7-11 faint dark bars and red dots on the sides, and rows of red spots on the tail; females and juveniles lack the bars, gold flecks and red spots but may have small bluish spots.
Typical for egg scatterers
Feed live or frozen food twice a day. Keep males and females apart if you can.
Eggs are scattered over mops or fine plants, often at first light. Remove the parents straight after.
Most eggs hatch in 1–2 days. Keep the tank dim and remove white (fungused) eggs.
Fry use up the yolk and start swimming. Feed infusoria or liquid fry food several times a day.
Switch to newly hatched brine shrimp or microworms. Start small, daily water changes.
Add finely crushed flake. Sort fry by size so the big ones don't eat the small ones.
Most small fish reach about 2 cm in 2–3 months and can join the main tank.
A general guide for this breeding type. Days change with temperature and species.
Feed live or frozen food twice a day. Keep males and females apart if you can.
Set up a virtual breeding tank and see what would likely happen.
An educational estimate from the breeding rules, not a promise.