Lemon Tetra
Contents:
- (FRESH) spawning Lemon Tetra (Hyphessobrycon pulchripinnis)
by oleg-at-llustig.palo-alto.ca.us (Oleg Kiselev) (27 May 92)
by oleg-at-llustig.palo-alto.ca.us (Oleg Kiselev)
Date: 27 May 92
TANK: 10 gal tank in my office, near the window and the one a bit farther
away from my terminal than the other tank.
FILTRATION: AquaClear-150 (with 2 sponges) and AquaClear-200 (with sponge
and carbon) external power filters going full blast. With media and wear
that makes the total water flow on the order of 150-200 gallons/hour.
DECOR&PLANTS: A couple of large pieces of home-cured driftwood displacing
some 3-4 gal of water block and break up the filters' waterfalls, creating
a well-circulating but relatively calm waters in the front sections of the
tank. Large growths of Java moss line the wood and are bunched into 4-5"
clusters at the ends of the tank. A few java ferns and a lone bolbitis
are loosely anchored on the wood. There is no gravel or any other substrate
in the tank, so the higher order plants (2 Anubias nana) get to endure
hanging in mid-waters and trailing their roots. There is a Monstera vine
(Mexican Breadfruit plant) growing next to the tank and a few of its
roots are trailing into the tank to the benefit to both the plant and the
tank.
LIGHTS: None, just the light from the reflective-coated office window and
the office lighting when I am there.
FISH: 2 males and 1 female H. pulchripinnis (Lemon Tetras) + a number of
fry.
WATER: Bottled water. The tank loses 1-2 gal/week due to the high
evaporaion (the tank is not fully covered) and to the Monstera's appetite
for water. About every 2-3 weeks, usually soon after the new batch of
drinking water bottles had been delivered to the office, I "vacuum" out
about 2 gal of water (which is then used to water plants in the office) and
top off the tank with the fresh bottled drinking water. Never measured the
chemistry, but I expect it's close to neutral on the alkaline side and
80-100ppm TDS.
FOOD: A mixture of OSI Freshwater Flakes and Spirulina-20, an assortment
of Hikari floating pellet foods for various fish which comes from a stack of
samplers I picked up at a recent pet fair. Pellets are pre-soaked in the
tank water and then given to the fish. I try to alternate the green (more
veggie) and brown (more meat) pellets.
TEMPERATURE: 78F (100W heater)
OBSERVATIONS: The fish have been exhibiting spawning behaviour on and off.
The fry are probably 2-3 weeks old (if they grow at the rate of H. flammeus)
and I have managed to see 3 of them of different sizes. I had no
expectation of fry because I have not fed the fish any live foods, these fish
are notorious egg-eaters, I do not feed any fry foods, and the powerful
filtration ought to chewed up anything that hatched. I did nothing special
to promote or encourage the spawning.
--
Oleg Kiselev, at home ....use the header to find the path
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