Of
all the small Characins less that 3” total length (TL) that
carry the name “tetra,” the emperor tetra has to be
the king. Its coloration alone sets it apart from all others. If
that is not enough, it has something no other small Characin has,
a three pronged tail. Only the Congo tetra from West Africa has
a longer, more gaudy spike, which, like the emperor’s, is
more prominent on the male.
The emperor tetra, Nematobrycon palmeri, calls the San
Juan and Altrato Rivers of Colombia home. There are two color morphs
from these rivers that were once thought to be distinct species.
The males, who can reach 2 .5” TL, are the more colorful of
each color morph. R. F. O’Connell describes one of the males
of these color morphs as having silky olive coloration along the
back. The side is beige. The belly is ivory. A wide velvet band
flows from the snout to the caudal fin, narrowing at the peduncle
to form the center prong of the trident shaped caudal or tail. The
long anal fin has a yellow margin bordered by a thin black line.
On the rear above the dark band are flecks of metallic tints of
red and blue. The dorsal fin has a sickle shape to it with a dark
leading edge. In his book is a picture of the fish he describes
supposedly. In the 20th edition of the Innes book is a picture of
the same fish but with much more of a tan body, not a blue body
like R. F. O’Connell’s picture. Both are emperors; however,
the tan fish is the most common species. Females are easy to spot
since their features are the same but less vividly colored; besides,
they have a shorter middle prong in their caudal fin.
These fish are easy to keep. They prefer acid water but will tolerate
neutral water. They have a wide temperature range of 68 degrees
F (20 C) to 86 degrees F (30 C). They prefer a varied diet of live
and dried foods.
To spawn these fish requires very specific water conditions and
healthy, well-conditioned breeders. Having very small mouths, these
fish needs very specific water conditions and healthy, well-conditioned
breeders. Having very small mouths, these fish need very fine foods
initially to become ready to spawn. Their average clutch range is
20 to 100 eggs. In a group spawning act, males must be of equal
size, otherwise, large males will tend to horde all the females
for themselves. Spawning mops that aquarists use to spawn killies
or live bunch of plants of the Nitella or Myriophyllum species are
quite useful for spawning mediums. The male initiates the spawning
act by making trembling movements before the female to entice her.
The actual spawning occurs as the fish emerge from the mops or plants
that they make sudden dashes into while scattering their eggs. Nothing
seems to distract them once they start to spawn, including flash
bulbs and spectators. Most spawning takes five hours and occurs
between 8:00 AM and 1:00 PM on the second day of their habitation
of the breeding tank. By the evening, the aquarist should remove
the breeders irregardless of whether or not they have spawned.
The fry hatch best at 78 degrees F (26 C) in 30 hours. Fry are small
and very sensitive; henceforth, they need soft water up to 5 CdNCH
at zero carbonate hardness with a pH of 5.5 to 6.0. Old rain or
snow water that has been aged several months in the dark is ideal
for spawning; however, peat filtered water is not since it will
cause hatching problems and high mortality. Within 3 to 5 days,
free swimming fry are ready to eat San Francisco Bay brine shrimp,
whose eggs are small and contain less DDT than Utah brine shrimp
eggs. It is best to start the fry on infusoria for their first two
weeks and then introduce them to baby brine shrimp after they are
a bit larger.
|
Up
5
|
