In the modern world, an aquarium is gaining more and more popularity. This rather interesting piece of furniture can be found not only in large-sized apartments and offices, but also in rather more modest rooms or offices.
What is the reason for such an unprecedented demand? It is rather difficult to single out any one factor. However, first of all, aquarium fish among lay people are appreciated due to their unpretentiousness to food and extraordinary ability to have a calming effect even on the most excited person.
Who lives now in the average aquarium? As a rule, these are catfish, guppies and neons. Care and maintenance do not require special skill.
This article is aimed at introducing readers to perhaps one of the most moving types. So the fish is neon. What do we know about her? Unfortunately, not so much. But in vain. This inhabitant of the underwater world is quite interesting, and in fact you can talk about him endlessly.
By the way, according to experts, if you just decided to do aquarium work, remember that what you need is a neon fish. Maintenance and care will be easy, and the experience you get will be almost priceless.
General information about fish
Aquarium neons, like almost all the fish that live in apartments and offices, have a prototype massively living in the wild. In this case, streams and rivers of Brazil, Peru, Colombia and South America can serve as a natural environment .
In those places where neon fish is found, as a rule, very soft and clear water, which is abundantly saturated with substances released by fallen trees. Accordingly, it is recommended to create similar conditions in home or office aquariums.
Neons, the compatibility of which with other species, as a rule, does not cause much trouble, are small and fairly peaceful inhabitants of the underwater world, having a bright attractive color, green-blue eyes and transparent fins. They are very smart and swim in packs closer to the bottom. The fish grow to a maximum of 4 cm in the aquarium. Their feature may be the presence of a shiny blue band passing through the entire body.
In aquariums, you can keep red, black and blue fish of this species.
Neons Care and maintenance. How to prepare water and soil?
These fish live well in aquariums of completely different volumes. The water temperature can range from 18 to 28 ° C, but the most suitable should ideally not be warmed above 20-24 ° C. In such conditions, neons will be able to live in the aquarium for almost 4 years. At higher temperatures, they quickly age and, accordingly, will delight the owners much less.
Neons, the care and maintenance of which does not imply the presence of any additional skills, are not particularly demanding on the composition of the water and the amount of oxygen in it, but still it is best to use soft peat water.
The presence of a huge number of living plants will favorably affect the fish.
For purely aesthetic reasons, it is better to use dark soil in aquariums, since neon has a better bright color against its background.
Under conditions of poor maintenance and stress in connection with transplantation and transportation of fish can completely discolor.
We combine fish without problems
Experts say that neon can not be kept in the same aquarium together with aggressive species of fish, since they risk being eaten almost immediately. In small aquariums, they also can not be kept together with goldfish.
It is worth paying attention to the fact that neons are schooling fish, so you need to buy at least 4 of them.
If water is saturated with air for this species, it is not necessary to create its flow, but it is better to use a special atomizer that creates the smallest bubbles.
We feed the pets correctly
Neon need not be fed some special food, any food, whether frozen or dry, or live, is suitable.
By the way, the food should be medium-sized, because the fish is small, and this, accordingly, means that it can easily choke on a large one. Types of food should also be changed periodically, and once a week it is necessary to do a neon unloading day.
In addition, fish do not need to be constantly fed with live bloodworms - they are very prone to obesity.
Neons - fish, the reproduction of which does not cause unnecessary trouble
Immediately, breeding neon is a rather difficult task. Experts say that an inexperienced person cannot even distinguish between the sex of the fish, because the differences between males and females are not very obvious.
The male is slightly smaller than the female, and the female, in turn, has a more complete belly. There is a difference in their neon band: the male is almost flat, and the female is slightly curved in the middle.
To spawn fish planted in a group. For breeding, high purity distilled soft water is used with the addition of a decoction of cones or oak. The water temperature should be at the level of 22-24 ° C and ambient light. In hard water, fish are not fertilized.
Spawning usually happens in the morning, after which the fish are cleaned into the aquarium, and the light is completely removed from the spawning ground, because the neon caviar categorically does not tolerate it.
For spawning, it is necessary to prepare a substrate. To do this, you can put a clean lump of fishing line or a bunch of willow roots in the spawning ground and fix it with glass weights.
During spawning, neons, the care and maintenance of which require special attention, can lay almost 200 eggs. After one and a half days, larvae form from eggs, and after five days, the larvae turn into fry. After that, you need to return the light to the aquarium.
Fry should be fed with the smallest food, and gradually add more hard water as it grows.
What are they sick with?
Neons - fish whose reproduction takes place several times a year, lend themselves to all types of both infectious and non-infectious diseases.
In general, they do not tolerate stress, unsatisfactory conditions of detention and the absence of a pack-type life.
It is worth being careful, because your pets may well get plistophorosis, unfortunately, an incurable disease that only their species undergoes.
Red neon
Externally, this species is slightly larger than ordinary representatives and grows up to 4.5 cm in length. It has a slightly elongated body and a bright, extensive red color over the entire belly.
Containment conditions are the same as for ordinary neon. But it is advisable to change the water once every two weeks. They are not very sensitive to fluctuations in water temperature and transplant. In captivity almost do not breed.
The spawning conditions are identical, as for the usual type of neon. The female can lay up to 160 eggs for spawning, although, of course, fry will not appear from all.
Black neon
The size of this type of neon is the same as the parameters of ordinary neon, but black has excellent color. In body shape, it looks like red neon, but it has an olive-brown back, and a shiny neon golden-green strip stretches along its body. Below the main neon strip, another one passes - with an uneven lower edge.
The conditions of reproduction and maintenance are the same as for red neon, but it is worth noting that black neons are less demanding, so they are more suitable for beginner aquarists. Subsequently, it will be quite possible to get more whimsical and capricious species.