Blue Neon (Paracheirodon Innesi)

2023 Author: Molly Page | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 22:49

Neon fish, or neon blue, is one of the most popular inhabitants of the aquarium. These Amazonian beauties attract primarily with their magnificent coloration. The back is dark green, the abdomen is yellowish-white. A strip of green "neon" light passes through the entire body.

Keeping neons is easy, but breeding is only available to aquarists with some experience and knowledge.

Future producers are selected at two or three months of age. It is best to grow neons on live food. You should not abuse bloodworms and tubifex, since the likelihood of fish getting gastrointestinal diseases is possible. Water containing neons is of medium hardness (6-15 °), with a neutral or slightly acidic reaction (pH 6.2-7.2), and a temperature of 20-23 ° C.

Twenty days before the expected spawning of neon females, they are separated from the males by a semi-permeable partition or seated in separate aquariums and heavily fed with cyclops, daphnia, enchitrea, tubifex (for the best effect, the tubifex is enriched with vitamin E).

Related article Green neon (Hemigrammus hyanuary)

It is very important to properly prepare the water for spawning: it should be soft (0.5-2 °) and acidic (pH 5-6). It is this water, in combination with a 2-4 ° C increase in temperature, that stimulates spawning.

You can get soft water by distillation. The acidity is increased by adding peat extract, decoction of oak bark or alder cones to the water.

I have been dealing with neons for years. For spawning, I use spawning grounds with a volume of 2-4 liters at a water level of 12 centimeters. To prevent the fish from eating the caviar, I put a separator mesh on the bottom. The gap between the net and the bottom is at least 1 centimeter. As a substrate, I use Thai fern, Javanese moss, nylon washcloths.

I plant a couple in the evening, since spawning most often occurs in the morning. If after two days spawning does not take place, then it is necessary to replace one or another producer, more often the male. Of course, one must remember that fish spawn in complete silence and the slightest disturbance in the calm frightens them.

As soon as the eggs are deposited, the producers must be deposited, the net must be pulled out, and the spawning box must be shaded. First, you should select unfertilized eggs with a pipette and add methylene blue for prevention at the rate of 3 cm ^{3 of a} 1% solution per 10 liters of water.

Caviar develops in 18-24 hours. On the 6th to 7th day after hatching, the larvae begin to swim freely. At this time, the fry should be given live "dust" sifted through the finest sieve.

Next, you should begin to gradually increase the hardness of the water. I increased the stiffness with the so-called "dropper". Freshly settled water drips into the jig until the water in it acquires the usual hardness (6-15 °).

The fry are fed in low light around the clock (they are afraid of bright light). There should be a lot of food: in the first 7-10 days, juveniles feed especially actively and grow rapidly. As the fry grow, they need feed of larger and larger sizes.

Related article Red neon (Paracheirodon axelrodi)

Producers in 7-10 days can be planted again for spawning. The female is able to lay up to 400 eggs. My neons spawned at the age of 7-8 months, but they can multiply even earlier.

When breeding red neon (Paracheirodon axeirodi), the same rules must be followed, but these fish love warm water (26-28 ° C) and high spawning grounds (30-35 centimeters), since spawning occurs at the very surface of the water.

Source: M. Obodnikov, magazine "Aquarium", 1994-2