▷ Glowlight tetras in the aquarium | All information, keeping and breeding

Datasheet Glowlight Tetra

German name:
Glowlight Tetra

Scientific name:
Hemigrammus erythrozonus

Origin:
South America (Guyana)

Size:
3.5-5 cm

Aquarium

Length:
at least 60x30x30 cm

Contents:
from 54 liters

water values

Temperature:
23-28ºC

pH:
5 – 7

GH:
0 – 15 °dGH

CH:
3

Behave

Area:
middle to top

Lining:
Frozen and live food such as mosquito larvae, water fleas and small crustaceans, granules, also vegetable food

Behave:
basically peaceful

Number:
Group housing of at least 10 animals

Difficulty level:
Beginner

Mirko Rosenau – stock.adobe.com

Glowlight tetras come from the Rio Essequibo in South American Guiana. The animals are in trade Offspring from Europe or Asia.

Glowlight tetras live in the middle and lower water regions. They prefer dark areas in slow-moving waters.
An aquarium for glow-light tetras should therefore be set up in a dark place.

Glowlight tetra form small territories. The most dominant glow light tetra is usually in the darkest area.

Nevit Dilmen, Redglow, CC BY-SA 3.0

Glowlight tetras stay lower the brighter the place is. After the plants have been cleared, the glow-light tetras are therefore much closer to the ground than before.

Many tetras and other fish species form such territories if the population is so thin that it is worth forming territories, such as cichlids, swordtails, neon tetras, etc.
Only when there is danger do they form a tight group for a short time. In the aquarium e.g. B. for larger maintenance work in the aquarium. They quickly get used to simple water changes, so they don’t leave their territories because of it.

For the glow-light tetra, there are small stocks, e.g. B. 3 tetras in a 60 liter aquarium, conditions as they exist in nature in the rainy season.

Due to flooding there is enough space to stake out areas.

Swarms form primarily under enemy pressure. As flooding recedes, residual water will decrease and predator numbers will increase.

A dark substrate is recommended for glow-light tetras. The current should only be light, especially when using floating plants.

Plants for an aquarium with glow light tetras

Suitable aquatic plants for an aquarium with glow-light tetras are plants that cast shadows and plants that get by with little light because a lot of light is intercepted on the water surface.

Most of these plants are not easy to keep. Therefore, many fast-growing plants should be added in the initial phase.

Disputes in glowlight tetras

Glowlight tetras sometimes fight among themselves, especially the males. However, this does not usually result in injuries. These are courtship and threatening rituals that are common among tetras. The females do not fight among themselves.

However, if too many glow-light tetras live in a tank and it gets too cramped for them, they may bite off each other’s dorsal fins. That’s why you can sometimes see glow-light tetras with bitten off dorsal fins in dealer tanks. Once the animals are properly housed, the fins will grow back.

Breeding of glow-light tetras

After the act of spawning becomes the spawning pool darkened. This inhibits the development of phototrophic unicellular organisms.

The eggs are 0.5 to 1 millimeter in size. Fertilized eggs are clear and transparent. The larvae hatch after 24 hours.

The young fish feed on the yolk sac for 4 to 5 days. After that, they need very little food.

The best food for the larvae is dust food from ponds, i.e. microorganisms such as rotifers, etc. Rotifers are fed 4 to 6 times a day as soon as the young are free-swimming.

Glowlight Tetra Source: Image on Wikimedia Commons License: Public domain Author: Strolgen

If the rearing tank is well covered with weeds and there is a lot of java moss in it, the microorganisms living in it may be sufficient for at least some of the young fish to get through.

Dust food can be given as additional food. Too much dust food is often given. Initially, a few drops of Liquifry can be added to the pool 2 – 3 times a day or 1 to 2 teaspoons of hay or straw infusion several times a day.
The young do not eat the food directly at first. The feed serves primarily as food for bacteria. Bacterial blooms develop due to the unused feed. The bacteria in turn serve as food for infusoria. The infusoria are eaten by the young fish.

However, tetra spawn and young are particularly susceptible to bacterial and infusorian infestation. That is why humic substances are often added to the aquarium. Humic substances inhibit bacterial infestation and at the same time inhibit colonization of the surfaces of spawn and fish skin with fungi. Antifungal agents are then not necessary.
It is reported that humic substances introduced naturally via leaves, peat or alder cones are more effective than so-called extracts from the aquarium trade. An alder suppository is used for approx. 25 liters of water.

On the second day after free swimming, some young animals may take freshly hatched Artemia. Slightly larger young fish can also be fed Cyclopse.

The water must be very clean for the first two weeks. In the 10 liter tanks often used for breeding, 5 to 8 liters of water should therefore be changed daily. The water is sucked off very carefully and as far up on the water surface as possible. A finger is held directly in front of the hose at the outlet in order to be able to stop the suction quickly.
A fine-pored filter cartridge can also be slipped over the end of the hose so that no fish larvae are sucked in.

A very fine filter mat also makes changing the water easier. The water hose is then simply held behind the mat. Microorganisms also live on the mat, which are often taken as food in the first few days.

The bottom is only vacuumed off when the juvenile fish are reasonably easy to spot. Before that, the floor is simply swept away with a fine brush. The filter usually absorbs the dirt that is thrown up quickly.

In small tanks with a capacity of 5 to 10 liters, the water with the brood can be carefully poured into another tank of the same size. The floor and walls of the old pool are then cleaned. The tank is then clean for the next transfer. Only part of the water is sucked out of the new pool. In doing so, e.g. B. put a filter sponge over the suction hose.

A few large snails are used in larger tanks. The snails clean the floor and walls and prevent food from rotting in the tank.
The snail droppings are carefully sucked off with an air hose. A thin, clear plastic tube is attached to the hose.

The pipe is carefully guided across the floor. The drain is regulated at the other end of the hose with the thumb. There should only be a weak suction.

Fish that still get into the tube are seen immediately. When the blocked end of the hose is held above the level of the water, the young will flow back into the pool with the water in the hose.

New water is refilled drop by drop. A canister is used for this, on which the number of drops can be adjusted with an air hose and a regulating tap.

A breeding tank on the community aquarium

A 10 liter breeding tank is placed on the community aquarium. The breeding tank is supplied with water via an internal filter with a hose connected to the outlet.

The water runs back into the community pool via an overflow. The overflow is protected by an Artemia sieve.

In this way, fresh water comes into the breeding tank without the need for a separate filter. Water changes in the breeding tank are not necessary because the water is changed via the main tank. A spawning grid is installed at the bottom of the breeding tank to protect the eggs.

A few glow-light tetras are placed in the breeding tank. When eggs are on the bottom, the parents are returned to the community tank.

A few drops of antifungal agent can be added to the breeding tank.

In this way, different species can be propagated, e.g. B. copper tetras, neon tetras and leopard rasbora.