Tropical egg laying fish breeding?

I have a large tropical fish tank and would like to breed some tropical egg laying fish. I have looked on the internet and it seems that minnows or neon tetras would be a good idea. I ume I will need to get a seperate tank to breed them in. Whats the minimum tank size needed to breed some minnows (possibly white cloud mountain) and how many male/female fish should I buy? Do they need a pump, filter and heater?? Thanks