Blue neon (Paracheirodon innesi) - bright, brisk, colorful aquarium fish, which the haracin family can boast of. Also, the fish is called ordinary neon and belongs to the group of tetras. In the wild, it can be met in the rivers of South America, where it joyfully rushes surrounded by a flock of self-similar.
Blue neon is not the only representative of its kind, in addition to it there are also red, green and even black neons. Their color gamut corresponds to the listed colors, and the name "neon" was obtained because the saturated band running along the entire body shimmers and shines like a neon lamp.
These fish are very small - even adults do not exceed 4 cm in size. Alas, those who want to buy only a couple, and preferably a boy-girl, will be disappointed. Firstly, it is very difficult to distinguish a male from a female, their only relatively visible difference is a larger size and a rounded strip along the line of the female's body. Well, and secondly, these creatures flock and even a couple in a large aquarium will experience some discomfort. Yes, and these small fishes do not look like a couple, it is much more interesting to observe their relations in a flock of six, or even ten or more individuals.
- unpretentious and very adaptive aquarium fish, which a novice aquarist can easily contain. It’s only a pity that these babies do not live too long, even under good conditions, their maximum life is 5 years.
Maintenance and care
Conditions
So, wanting to get a small flock of blue neons, first of all you should get an appropriate tank. Since these fish are very small, then for them (provided that there are no neighbors), up to 30 liters will be enough. Choose an oblong and low aquarium, the longer its length, the more space your pets can rush about. Ideally, the length of the aquarium should be between 30 and 50 cm. Of course, you can buy a couple of these crumbs and put them in a ten-liter jar, but how much it will look aesthetically pleasing is a question.
The second important indicator for neons in an aquarium is water. For them, soft, moderately warm water with a neutral pH reaction will be comfortable. If you want in numbers, then hardness is from 4 to 8 ° dH, temperature is 20-24 ° C, acidity is 7 pN.
And a few more nuances:
- Neons are quite capable of adapting and feeling comfortable in harsher water up to 15 ° dH, however, in this case, it’s not possible to separate them completely. However, about reproduction later.
- As for the temperature, the rule characteristic of many small species applies here - the more degrees the thermometer column, the shorter the life of the fish. In this case, less is possible (they will hardly notice 18-20 ° C, unless a sharp jump), but more than 24 ° C is already extremely undesirable. Well, unless you decide in such a sophisticated way to get rid of boring species.
As for water changes, as a standard they are done once a week, but only for neons a large influx of new water can be harmful, so the maximum of the replaced volume is 10%.
The presence of a filter is mandatory, the compressor - as needed. And no strong currents! Firstly, neon is more comfortable in calm water, and secondly, they are small, and they will simply be constantly nailed to one of the walls.
What to be guided by when choosing soil and plants? The fraction and composition of the soil does not matter (unless you thought of using marble chips, which increases hardness), but the color is better dark, then the color of the fish will increase. Plants are also any, but it is better to have dense thicket thickets, so that it is sometimes more convenient to hide in them. Just leave a place free of everything so that the fish can swim well there.
And more lighting, it should be muffled, diffused. Bright light scares, and the color of neon then becomes less spectacular.
Feeding
When choosing food for blue neons, the main thing is diversity, and they will eat everything. Mix dry and live food, then your fish will look and feel healthier. But! In no case do not overfeed these gluttons, and once a week a fasting day will be useful to them.
Also note that neons are very small representatives of the underwater fauna, and some feeds that are too large for them need to be ground beforehand.
Compatible with other fish
When it comes to neon, the question of who gets along with is practically not worth it. These are peaceful aquarium fish that can perfectly coexist with other peaceful fish. Only too large species, for which neons can serve as food, should be excluded. It is clear that, together with predators and too aggressive fish, keeping them is not recommended.
Alternatively, in the same aquarium with neons, you can plant parsing, cardinals, pecilia, guppies or barbs.
Breeding
Want to breed blue neons at home? Get ready, it will be difficult.
However, the main problem is the difficulty of reconstructing sterile conditions for spawning. And the need for very, very soft water (3 ° dH or less) only adds to the hassle.
So, we take a well and very carefully crafted small spawning. A ten to twenty liter volume will be enough. There is such a thing as an “all-glass aquarium”, if you can find one, you are a big plus, but it is better to disinfect it first.
We attach to the spawning any variant of the spawning substrate that you like (moss, separator mesh, small-leaved plants pressed to the bottom), and do not forget to process it well. We pour the softest water into it, which we are able to find (in extreme cases, we prepare it ourselves) and raise its temperature to 24 ° C or a little higher. We remove the light as far as possible, create a very thick shadow. No sun, it is fatal to caviar.
Next, select future manufacturers. Can you confidently distinguish between a female and a male? Feel free to plant them and keep them separate for about a week or two, while transferring them to exceptionally lively and varied feeds (daphnia, bloodworms, cyclops, but no tubule). If not, then just use a large enough group of neons so that representatives of both sexes are surely caught there.
In the evening, almost at night, we plant the fish in a prepared spawning ground and wait. If everything goes as it should, spawning will begin in the morning. The amount of eggs laid by the female varies between 50-200 eggs.
At the end of spawning (the male will cease actively chasing the female), the fish need to be jailed. At the same time, if you are planning the second stage of spawning (females can spawn again in ten days), then it is better to lay the males separately so as not to confuse them with those that are just preparing for spawning.
It takes a day to ripen the eggs, all this time the spawning should be well insulated from the light. Hatching larvae do not need food, the fry will appear somewhere on the fourth or fifth day, and then a small fraction of the scattered light can be allowed into the spawning ground. The fry is fed with “live dust”, a little later with a rotifers.
While the juveniles grow, a little more hard water is added to the growth aquarium, where it is located in very small doses. This is the only way kids can be accustomed to increased rigidity.
Blue neons begin to be considered adults and, accordingly, sexually mature after five months. By the way, for breeding it is better to use it is young, not old fish.