Aquarium fish rhodostomus, or red-nosed (red-necked, red-snouted) tetra (Hemigrammus rhodostomus), belong to the Kharatsin family. They were first described in 1886. The article will provide information about rhodostomuses - aquarium fish, keeping them in captivity and breeding.
Description of the red-nosed tetra
These small cute fishes got their name because of the bright red color of their heads and gills. Their body is translucent, with a bluish tint. The tail of rhodostomus fish, whose contents in aquariums, despite some difficulties in it, is quite common - striped, black and white. Black stripes overlap with the charcoal black color of the fish's eyes. Her fins are transparent. A characteristic feature of all Characins is the presence of adipose fin. In rhodostomuses, it is white-blue in color. In general, rhodostomuses look pretty elegant, and this is one of the main reasons for their popularity among aquarists.
Males and females are colored the same. They can be distinguished by the structure of the body: in the male it is more elongated, and the rear fin is decorated with a hook. Females have a more rounded, protruding abdomen, and in general they are usually larger. The total body length of the rhodostomus is from four to six centimeters.
Containment conditions: water requirements
Rhodostomus is a fish, the content of which at home has its own nuances. These fish are very demanding on external conditions. In nature, they live in southwestern Texas, Mexico, Central and South America. The climate in these regions is warm, it is mainly near equatorial and equatorial regions. Therefore, the owners will have to work hard to keep and keep the rhodostomus fish successful.
Many fish of the Kharatsin family have a bright color and serve as a real decoration of the aquarium. Fish of this family, including red-nosed tetra, live in the Amazon Delta. Water in the tributaries of this river is often opaque and even has a brown color due to the presence of fallen leaves and other organic compounds.
When breeding rhodostomus fish, its natural conditions must be taken into account. So, the lighting in the aquarium should in no case be bright - moderate or medium. The water temperature should be + 24 ... + 26 degrees Celsius. Water must be soft, allowable hardness - up to 12 °, but better not higher than 6-7 °. On some resources, it is recommended to mix water from forest puddles, distilled and rain in equal amounts for aquariums with rhodostomuses, adding peat broth to it. Other aquarists are not so radical, and recommend just using a water supplement called Blackwater (for example, Tetra Blackwater Extract). This will help to create conditions similar to the natural habitat of rhodostomus fish. Breeding it in this case has every chance of success. You can also just put some peat in a water filter.
Water should be replaced every week by about a third. Its filtration and aeration are required. As for acid-base indicators, the pH should be in the range of 6.0-7.0. The soil fraction is not particularly significant, but it is better if it is dark in color, as in the natural habitat of fish. In an aquarium, they usually move in the middle and lower layers of the water. The aquarium should be densely planted so that fearful tetras can hide among them if necessary. For this purpose, sagittaria, echinodorus, vallisneria, cryptocoryne are used.
Put the aquarium should be in a quiet place.
Compatibility
Aquarium fish rhodostomuses are schooling, with the leader usually not in the school. It is advisable to keep them six to eight individuals. The volume of the aquarium should be at least 50 liters. You can pick up for other rhodostomuses and neighbors other smaller ones: Hifessobricons, Hemigrammus, because the red-nosed tetras are peaceful, but at the same time quite shy.
Neons are suitable for rhodostomuses, and, despite their size, catfish corridors. These species are natural neighbors in nature. At the same time, the aquarium should not be overpopulated, there must necessarily remain a lot of free space for swimming tetras.
Feeding
Despite their exactingness to the conditions of detention, these fish are quite picky in food, and they are happy to eat both vegetable and animal feed. You can also give them high-quality dry flake and granular food (for example, Tetra or Sera for tropical fish), as well as frozen and fresh daphnia, cyclops, artemia, tubule, insect larvae. Dry food should be given less often, and at the same time, make sure that large pieces do not fall into the aquarium, since the mouth of this fish is small.
In order for rhodostomuses not to gnaw plants, plant extracts must be present in food. In general, these fish should be fed several times a day, but little by little. The rule here is this: food should be eaten by them in less than three minutes.
Breeding
Red-nosed tetras reach puberty at the age of 8-10 months, it depends on the conditions of detention. About a week before spawning, future parents are planted. Before this, they are fed only live food for some time. The approximate size of the spawning aquarium is 50 x 40 x 40 centimeters, the water level is at least 10 centimeters.
Rhodostomuses are fish, the content and breeding of which provides for compliance with a certain temperature regime. So, in a spawning aquarium, you should gradually increase the water temperature to +32 degrees Celsius. Hardness is gradually reduced to 1-2 °. PH values are 6.0-6.2. There must be small-leaved plants in the aquarium.
Usually a couple or a male and two females are planted, although some aquarists are sure that flock spawning shows the best result: the quality of the offspring born in these cases is significantly higher. The female tosses an average of 100-150 eggs, sometimes more or less. Immediately after spawning, parents are planted, and the aquarium is darkened. The caviar is weakly sticky, part of it is held on the leaves, the other falls to the bottom.
Fry is born in a day or two. On the third or fifth day they are given first an infusorium, then nauplii of brine shrimp, small cyclops, etc. In the aquarium for fry, water is replaced 2-3 times a week by about a quarter. The fry grow quickly, get their usual color at the age of two to three weeks, and by two months they already grow up to four centimeters in length.
Interesting Facts
- The best indicator of the state of the red-nosed tetra is a spot on the gills and head. If it noticeably turns pale, then the fish feels uncomfortable. First of all, it is necessary to replace the water in the aquarium and in the future to observe its inhabitants. Stress caused by bright lighting and the inability to hide from the light among plants, as well as moving or relocation to a new aquarium, may also be the reason for the loss of red-nosed tetra. According to scientists, when they were transported from their usual habitats and adaptation in Europe, the bright colors were partially lost, and in nature the rhodostomuses look more colorful.
- For rhodostomuses, water hardness indicators are very important. So, if it exceeds the optimal parameters, fish simply cannot be propagated. They will not spawn in such conditions.
Rodostomus or not?
According to some aquarists, completely different species are now grown in aquariums under the name of the rhodostomus - Petitella georgiae (red-snout false tetra) or Hemigrammus Bleheri (Bleer hemigrammus). Distinguishing these species is really difficult. They are painted almost identically and equally demanding on the conditions of detention, and their habitats partially coincide.
Today this question remains open. Perhaps changes will be made to the taxonomy later.
Finally
The article briefly talked about rhodostomuses - aquarium fish. Their contents and compatibility with other species have also been described. We hope the information will be useful to beginner aquarists. Subject to all necessary conditions and good care, the life expectancy of red-nosed tetras in aquariums is at least five years.