Tetradon dwarf: content and photos. Fish tetradone: description

Recently, in pet stores you can buy a variety of exotic fish. One of the most unusual, but very remarkable inhabitants of aquariums is tetradon dwarfish. About this cute and funny fish, many know very little, so they often make mistakes in their content.

General information

Dwarf tetradons are distant relatives of the most famous poisonous fish - fugue. Some aquarists are afraid of keeping them, because they believe that their mucus also contains toxins. But there is no official confirmation of this opinion.

Tetradon dwarf in the wild lives in the southern Indian state of Kerala. These small freshwater fish live in a system of lakes and canals that have a silty or sandy bottom. Their Latin name is Carinotetraodon travancoricus. A tetradon fish will never swim into the open sea, and therefore it is not necessary to add water to aquarium inhabitants.

Tetradon has an intense yellow color. Adult individuals reach only 2.5-3 cm in length. Tetradon yellow dwarfish - the smallest of all the relatives of its family. His skin is smooth, without spines and needles on his stomach. This is different from his famous relatives.

Sexually mature males have a brighter color. Often they have a dark strip, located in the center of the tummy. The females have a more rounded shape. The eyes of these fish rotate independently of each other. This feature of the anatomy allows you to view the surrounding world, almost without stirring. Dwarf tetradones are able to change their color depending on their mood. It ranges from yellow-green to almost brown with dark spots. Their belly is white or yellowish in color.

Dwarf tetradons are very curious. They watch with interest all that happens behind the glass. Such fish can eventually recognize the owner, who feeds them daily. In good conditions, they live up to 6-7 years. Fish tetradone is still rare on sale, but its beautiful coloring and unusual behavior are increasingly attracting the attention of aquarists.

Making an aquarium

Tetradon dwarf, whose photo is rapturous, does not require any special adaptations in the aquarium. It will be enough for him to plant the soil with various algae, in which the fish will hide. Also, you can put various bizarre snags or branches on the bottom of the aquarium, which will serve as additional protection. The capacity thus designed will provide a large field of activity for curious and fast tetradons, and also reduce the level of intraspecific aggression.

This kind of fish prefers quiet water, so its flow in the aquarium should have an average power. For such inhabitants, a regular partial replacement of water is required. Dwarf tetradone in nature lives in water bodies rich in various thickets and shelters, so he prefers the same conditions in aquariums. To diffuse sunlight, floating plants can be used. In such conditions, this type of fish is characterized by increased activity. An aquarium with dwarf tetradones is preferable to plant thin-leafed aquatic plants, such as Javan moss , cabobba, ambulia.

Conditions of detention

A 10-liter flask can contain no more than 3 dwarf tetradones. Accordingly, a 20-liter aquarium is suitable for a small flock of these fish, consisting of 5-6 individuals. And the female should be more than the male, in order to reduce the risk of their persecution by very loving "grooms." With a greater density of population, the conditions of detention become more complicated, and the risk of fighting fishes among themselves increases.

Tetradon, whose content in the aquarium is hindered by its increased sensitivity to nitrates and ammonia, can normally live only in ideal water quality. That's why you need to constantly monitor the level of chemicals. Also, you should change the water in time. Its temperature should be in the range 22-28 ° C. The stiffness is dH 4-25 °, and the acidity is pH 6.5-7.5. Fish need aeration, filtration, substitution of a third of the volume of water every week.

Features of the content

Dwarf tetradone, whose content in the aquarium is dictated by its predatory nature, can hunt for different livestock. It belongs to the family of four-toots, which feed not only worms, but also mollusks, such as snails. That is why tetradone (its maintenance with various small livestock will lead to its extermination) will not allow other fish to multiply in the aquarium in large quantities.

Ration

Aquarium tetradons excellently eat frozen and live food. At the same time, they use very dry food very reluctantly, so that ready flakes or granules will not work for them. In nature, tetradons feed on insects, small invertebrates, snails. In the aquarium they need to provide a similar diet.

If there are no snails in the tank with these fish, they must be given as feed. In this case, small animals should be selected. Such additional feeding will not only enrich the diet of tetradones, but also will periodically erase their constantly growing teeth. The best tetradons eat small snails, such as fizza, melania, coil. From frozen fodder to these fishes the most suitable is the bloodworm, daphnia, artemia. They are very well eaten by tetradones when mixed with living microorganisms, for example, with a tube man.

Tetradons leave a lot of waste after feeding, so do not give them a lot of food at once, so as not to pollute the water. They should immediately eat their diet.

Neighborhood with other fish

Tetradon dwarf is a small fish, but this does not prevent it from being very active and energetic. Such features allow you to fight for food with some larger inhabitants of the aquarium. Tetradon dwarf, the content of which is possible with large-sized mobile, but not aggressive fish, well coexists with the disintegration of Espei, ototsiklyusami, danio Khopra, iris.

Do not buy these inhabitants if the aquarium has individuals with beautiful fins. Dwarf tetradone can easily poobkusyvat them and deprive the fish of an attractive species. Also, do not keep these predators together with viviparous species, since in this case the chances of seeing the fry are reduced to zero.

Contents with shrimps

Dwarf tetradone and prawns live well in a large aquarium. For the neighborhood, shrimp Cherry and Amano are most suitable. Other freshwater species of these arthropods can also be used. And tetradon dwarf will easily cope with the fallen individuals, thereby cleaning the aquarium from pollution. He can regale and young shrimp.

Features of tetradones

These aquarium inhabitants can quickly acquire the shape of a bowl. For this, they inflate their bellies, filling them with air or water. Most often, this behavior is a response to any threat. Some aquarists note the increased occurrence of such behavior of tetradones in densely populated artificial reservoirs. When inflating, their size increases by 2-3 times, which allows scare away potential predators. Thanks to this feature of this type of fish, they can almost never be swallowed up by large neighbors. Another characteristic feature of dwarf tetradones is their ability to turn their eyes.

The manner of hunting

Aquarium tetradons are predatory fish, which has a very interesting manner of hunting. As a rule, they are located above the potential prey and carefully consider it, carefully aim. In a small area around the potential victim, these fish can catch her unawares. Only after a few seconds the tetradon attacks its prey. However, his jerk does not always bring good luck. Sometimes even a koretra manages to avoid a fatal attack. After an unsuccessful attempt, tetradon dwarf again begins to hunt first.

Schedule

It sounds strange, but the fish tetradon adheres to its daily routine. She wakes up when you turn on the lights or with the first rays of the sun at dawn. After warming up fins, these fish swim to the front glass of the aquarium and look out for the owner, who must feed them. After a tumultuous meal, each tetradonchik finds a secluded place, and life in an artificial reservoir calms down. Breaded adult fish fall into a slight drowsiness, and young individuals spend all their free time in games.

Sexually mature tetradons begin to pay attention to other neighbors in the evening. In this case, the males acquire a darker color and begin to float around the bunches of moss, waiting for the benevolence of the female and scaring off the rivals. Such flirting of the fish continues until about 7 pm. About 20 hours dwarf tetradons begin to settle for the night. However, they do not pay the slightest attention to the lighting of the aquarium.

Intelligence

Clever and intelligent fish is a dwarf tetradone. Its content in the aquarium is not particularly difficult. He quickly gets used to the owner and when he appears near the artificial pond he starts actively begging for his food. At the same time, the greatest playfulness is shown by females floating along the glass. Males show more patience and calmness, but when food gets into the water, they immediately attack him.

Reproduction

Fish tetradone is successfully bred in aquarium conditions, which is pleasantly different from other relatives. For reproduction, take a pair of fish or the best male and several females. Aquarists note the successful reproduction in fairly large flocks of dwarf tetradones. These fish breeds on the condition that there is a small filter and a lot of thin plants in the tank. Water is regularly replaced by small portions. Its parameters should be optimal for this type of fish. The temperature is set at the upper limit of the permissible range.

Feed the fish before spawning a pipe-man and such ice-cream food as a bloodworm. They are also given small snails. Ready-to-breed male gains intense color and a brighter pattern on the body. In this case, it flattenes laterally, becomes less round. The male begins courting the female with vigorous persecution. Often he bites his "lady" until she shows interest in him. Courtships often end in a site with low vegetation, where a couple produces eggs and milk for a few seconds. Most often this occurs near different mosses. Nerastitsya tetradon can be several times in one period. This happens until the female does not get rid of the whole caviar.

Fry growing

Fish spawn practically transparent eggs, the diameter of which is only 1 mm. It develops in those places where it fell into a shelter. Each female can give up to 100 eggs. Dwarf tetradons do not mind eating them. That is why the seed material should be moved to controlled conditions, where it can successfully develop before hatching of the larvae. You can assemble it with a large pipette. In this case, it is necessary to get rid of infertile or disease-infected eggs, which have a milky-white color.

A small container with water from a parent aquarium is suitable for growing fry. Its temperature should be the same as in adult individuals. To equip the aquarium use a normal airlift filter, which protects the fry from drawing inward. At the same time on its surface will proliferate useful to them microorganisms. It is also advisable to add to the aquarium some moss used in spawning tanks.

After 5-6 days, larvae of tetradones hatch from the eggs. For 2-3 days they feed on the yolk sac. Every day the fry will become more active. For normal development, they need very small fodder, such as grindal (micro-cherry) and infusoria. Further in the diet can include nauplii artemia. Only a month later the fry can consume frozen bloodworm. For 2 months they grow to 1 cm. All fry of different ages should be kept separately, since older individuals can hunt their small brethren.