SYN: None PD: The body is brown to silver in color with the back darker than the belly. The upper part of the iris is red. In males, parts of all fins are red. The female's have light pink fins. A black stripe extends from the base of the tail to its apex. Also near the base tail, the color is lemon yellow. At the tips of the dorsal, anal, and pectoral fins is a white fringe. SIZE: To 3" (7.5 cm) SS: None HAB: South America; watershed of the Rio de la Plata in Argentina and Paraguay S: middle TANK: 20" (50 cm) or 10 gallons (35 L). This fish cannot be kept in tanks that contain live plants as they will be eaten. Use plastic plants and rock formations for decoration. Leave large, open swimming areas and use a filter that creates strong current. WATER: pH 5.5-8.5 (7.0), 2-35 dH (10), 64-86°F (18-30°C) SB: A hardy active fish that is suitable for any beginner's community tank. Likes to school. Occasionally it may nip at long, flowing fins of other fishes. SC: Small Doradids, Corydoras, Loricarids, some robust tetras, gouramis, barbs, danios. FOOD: Flake; plant matter; live; insect larvae, Brine Shrimp, Tubifex, small aquatic insects. SEX: Males are smaller and more colorful. B: Easy to breed at 75°F (24°C). Spawning takes place among hardy plants and is stimulating by morning sun. The eggs hatch is 20-24 hours. Remove parents after they are laid. Start feeding with small live and dry foods. BP: 4. The Buenos Aires Tetra is easily bred. R: One of the most popular of all aquarium fishes. It was introduced in 1922, but has lost popularity because of its tendency to eat live plants. DC: 1. A sturdy fish with the annoying habit of eating live plants Recent articles about fish Overfishing may hurt Amazon forest trees (2/5/2008) Overfishing is reducing the effectiveness of seed dispersal by fish in the Brazilian Pantanal, reports Nature. The research suggests that fishing practices can affect forest health. Scientists find fish that literally lives in trees (10/17/2007) Scientists have found a fish that literally lives in trees, according to research published in The American Naturalist and highlighted in New Scientist Magazine. Piranhas originated when Amazon was flooded by seawater (12/4/2007) South America's piranha family of fish -- notorious as eaters of flesh -- can be traced back to a single ancestor which dispersed when the Amazon was flooded by seawater some five million years ago, report researchers from the Institut de Recherche Pour le Developpement (IRD). Today piranhas are exclusively freshwater fish found from the Orinoco River basin in Venezuela to the Parana in Argentina. |
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Copyright Rhett Butler 1994-2009 The copy for fish.mongabay.com was written in 1994-1995. Therefore some information such as scientific names may be out of date. For this, I apologize. Feel free to send corrections to me. |
