Aquarium fish blue tetra Kerry in Europe appeared as if from nowhere. In 1976, the Czech aquatic botanist Karel Rataj brought back a large collection of living aquatic plants from South America. Together with them, several eggs of this charming fish from a Brazilian river with beautiful name Igarape de Pista de Pongo. Among the brought floristic trophies, K. Ratai found 9 tiny fry, which gave rise to the European population of the blue tetra kerry. There is no doubt that in subsequent years there were other, already purposeful, importations of this attractive characin to Europe. And the ease of breeding Kerry has led to its widespread use in amateur aquariums.

Photo blue tetra kerry

Already at the first acquaintance with the blue Kerry tetra, the surprising similarity of its coloration with the well-known and long-time popular royal tetra Nematobrycon palmeri attracts attention. Because of this, Russian aquarists dubbed the Kerry a false royal tetra.

I somehow don’t like it when they strive to double different, not even related, but similar in appearance fish, calling one of them false. We have heard of a whole series of such innocent "false" fish. It seems that such a name should immediately cause disdain for them, prejudice as to some kind of falsehood, fake. Why do we offend a beautiful fish? Already the second is better spread from someone light hand title - " purple neon”, although Kerry is not neon at all, and his color is by no means purple.

German lovers have just a kerry tetra - a royal tetra (Kenigtetra), and palmeri - a tetra-emperor (Kaisertetra)! Now that's respect!

Only very popular fish are closely monitored and subjected to persistent,
careful selection by amateurs. They are often and massively bred, they note attractive color metamorphoses that occur when there is some kind of distortion in the fish genes, they try to fix the most attractive and promising of them. Such a fate was prepared for the carry.

For thirty years of their continuous reproduction, amateurs have identified interesting deviations (mutations) in color, which have been fixed and replicated many times. To date, I know of two of them: the Super Blue tetra carry, i.e. "super blue", and the Goldpink carry is "gold pink" (or "rose gold").
Both are periodically put up for sale by the German company Glaser, which specializes in rare species. aquarium fish. Some information about these kerries can be obtained on the Internet or from Moscow aquarists who already had some experience with "purple neon".

Photo blue tetra kerry female

When I became interested in these fish, the first thing I did was interview my friends. Some interesting details emerged. It is believed, for example, that the super blue tetra Kerry the fish very capricious and tender, easily dies, and pink-gold is so unattractive (as they sometimes say, “nothing”) that it’s not particularly advisable to deal with it.

Amateur aquarists in the bulk of the people are generally unpractical, and they do not care about other people's mistakes. So I decided to confirm this axiom to find own experience. However, by that time, the pink-gold carry from Glasera had disappeared, and I had to limit myself to super blue.

And so on March 3rd, 2010 I received 20 Inpaichthys kerri Super Blue super blue Kerry tetras from Germany.
On one Czech site, photos of shoals of these fish in large aquariums were posted. In flocks, entirely azure, sky-blue males and dark, blackish females were clearly visible. I expected something similar from my purchase. However, the fish that arrived did not look super blue, but black. It took a detailed examination to find out if the individuals in my flock were of different sexes.

Kerry fish are restless, mobile, and it turned out to be quite difficult to catch the difference.

DESCRIPTION OF TETRA KERRY

It turned out the following. The males of the Kerry blue tetra are slightly larger, their blackness gives off a dark violet (here's a purple neon for you!) Or a thick blue, which is better visible from above, and the female is simply black or black and gray. The fins of males are colored as follows: dorsal - dark gray or smoky black, anal - with redness (dark brick), fatty - slightly azure. The bellies of both sexes are milky white.

As with regular tetras, the Kerry tetra is highly dependent on the position of the light source. The most beneficial fish look at side lighting, and worst of all at the top, that is, just the kind that is practiced in modern aquariums. And again the similarity of color with palmeri appeared, this time with the so-called "black", or Nematobrycon amphiloxus.

Without postponing reproduction for later, I selected three pairs and planted them in pre-prepared spawning grounds with soft, slightly acidic water and bunches of Javanese moss, and placed the rest in a 35-liter whole glass jar without soil and also with a large bunch of moss. All aquariums were equipped with box-type sponge filters.

Then things didn't go according to plan. Spawning of the Kerry tetra in spawning grounds did not take place after a week. One of the females was killed by the male. I tried to express eggs from females - almost nothing happened (I was afraid to injure).

He left two males (selected!) together in a 15-liter spawning tank, and reunited the females with the flock.
Almost immediately, unpleasant white spots appeared on the backs of several specimens (in front of the fin). It soon became clear that this was something like an epidemic, which at first spread only among males, and in all this infection arose in the same place already mentioned.

TETRA KERRY DISEASE

Tetra kerry disease was most similar to that caused by the bacterium Flexibacter columnaris. This pathogenic organism is not terrible for strong individuals, but crowding and poor maintenance contribute to its mass development.

Given the speed of manifestation of the disease, one must think that the fish brought this disease with them.
After 2-3 days, ulcers and saprolegnia appeared in place of white spots (secondary fungal disease that occurs on dead tissues).

Photo sex marker tetra kerry

In addition to clean, fresh, daily water changes, I used medicines in the recommended doses: Biseptol, Bactopur and Mycopur (SERA), but I failed to overcome the disease, and most of the super blue kerries died by the middle of the second month.

Attempts to separate the content of infected fish did not help either. Three specimens survived, having lost any mating interest by that time, most likely due to the consequences of the disease.

In this sad story, meanwhile, there is a bright and at the same time somewhat mysterious and incomprehensible page. Kerry, refusing to spawn in randomly selected pairs, already on the third day began to spawn in a flock and continued to spawn, not paying attention to the disease, literally “until the last”!
The “fighters” dropped out one after another, while in the meantime I collected 30-50 eggs from under the grate every evening, of which, unfortunately, only about 10% survived. Either the disease that struck the parents had an effect, or it was a sign of the obviously general degeneration of the species due to its mutation.

It was obvious that all the fish that arrived from Germany would gradually die, and one could only hope that they would have time to create a new home flock.
What was incomprehensible in this story was that the surviving fry did not accept the illness of their parents in any way, showed a good appetite and grew at a normal rate.

Signs of coloration appeared at the age of one month in the form of a black longitudinal stripe. Since all spawning lasted for 1.5 months, fry of different ages were brought up together, and they had to be fed taking into account their size, but in general, the main food was brine shrimp nauplii with the addition of brackish-water rotifers home breeding and ciliates-shoes.

TETRA KERRY SPawn

In the epic with blue kerry tetras, as you can see, I used a flock of prolonged spawning, when a pair is not selected by an aquarist, but is formed by fish arbitrarily ready for spawning.

The conditions for such spawning of the Kerry tetra depend on the size of the spawning flock. For "volley" (pair) spawning, a small capacity -10-12 l can be used; this space is usually enough for manufacturers, but given that good female can spawn more than 350 eggs (I didn’t have a chance to observe this in super blue kerries) and with a favorable outcome for one fry, in this case you will have only 30 ml of water, then it is better to take a larger breeder.

Photo fry tetra kerry

As a spawning substrate, kerries need bushes of small-leaved plants (or moss), squeezing through the thickets of which, characins and spawn in portions of 3-10 pieces. Spawning water: 0.5°dGH, 0.4-0.5°dKH, pH 6.2-6.8 at 26-28°C.

Spawning in the blue kerry tetra occurs at any time of the day, but most often in the very early hours, in low light.
Producers planted in the evening spawn the next day or the next day.

According to my observations, in calm water spawning occurs with difficulty or even fails, at the same time, intense blowing provokes it: kerries like to feel the flow of water that makes them move. To create a current, you can place a low-power, approximately 2 W, water pump near the bottom and direct its flow along the bottom.

When spawning of the Kerry tetra takes place in a common aquarium as part of a flock, the leading male takes a comfortable position near a small-leaved bush or a voluminous bunch of moss and waits for a ready female, vigorously driving away competitors. Of course, the water in the tank must correspond to spawning parameters, and a protective net must be placed at the bottom.

Obviously, it is not necessary to wait until the end of spawning, but simply at the end of the day, with a siphon tube, collect the laid eggs from under the grate, and at the same time the accumulated debris. AT last resort, the eggs can also be sucked straight through the grate without lifting it. Then, from the sludge, select (in the light) healthy caviar and move it to a separate bowl with water from the spawning ground.

Hatching occurs 18 hours after spawning, and after 98-122 hours the larvae pass into the fry stage and begin to feed.

Tetras carry during spawning, very small eggs are thrown, and the hatched larva is also very miniature: the diameter of the egg is 0.95 mm, the length of the newborn at the time of emergence from the shell is 1.7 mm.

The situation is saved by the unusually rapid growth of fry: before the moment they start swimming, they manage to almost double in size due to the yolk sac. These rates continue to be maintained. The maturity of ordinary kerries under favorable conditions of detention occurs after four months. At the same time, their super blue relatives also ripen.

Feeding juveniles of the Kerry tetra is not difficult, so a fish that has switched to afloat after a day of taking the starting food (ciliate, rotifer, cyclops larva) is able to swallow even Artemia nauplius. Kerry juveniles are inactive, hide in the vegetation until the color appears, then its activity increases and the fry rise to the upper layers.

Photo blue tetra kerry

Nursing fry has no features. And the endurance of young carries indirectly confirms the following fact, told to me by V. Miloslavsky, to whom, as usual, I gave the fish to prepare illustrations for this article.

This time the subjects of photography were a pair of spawners I selected and a few Kerry larvae. At the end of the shooting, Vladimir returned the “waste material” to me, and then drained the water from the tank in which the fish were during the photo session, almost to the ground level, turning off, of course, the heating pad and the lamp.

When, a month later, the vessel was required for photographing the next batch of fish, an almost centimeter-sized, completely healthy fry was found in it, which successfully endured both the inevitable temperature changes in such conditions (it was in the spring with its unstable weather), and a meager diet, consisting exclusively of a self-reproducing population of benthic microorganisms, and even forced to be content with not open water, but miserable puddles left in the gravel pits.

I.VANYUSHIN, Mytishchi, Moscow Region

Magazine Aquarium 2010 № 5

Family Characinidae.

Range: Brazil.

Water temperature: 24-27.

Acidity: 6.5-7.5.

Hardness: 1-12°H.

The volume of the aquarium for a small flock: from 70 liters.


Purple neon kerry (Inpaichthys kerry) in its name has the abbreviation INPA, which stands for Brazilian Institute of Amazonian Studies. The fish lives in the upper reaches of the Rio Aripuana.

At first glance, Kerry is very reminiscent of royal tetra(Nemaioerycon palmery). This similarity gave the fish a second name - false royal tetra or blue emperor.

The fish were brought to Russia back in 1979 from Czechoslovakia by the famous Moscow aquarist V. Potapov. He managed to breed them, and a little later presented them at a citywide aquarium exhibition.

In their natural habitat, they live in running water, the hardness of which is 1-2 °, pH 6-6.8, temperature 24-27 ° C.

The fish easily adapt to aquarium conditions and live well in water with a hardness of up to 12 °, pH 6.5-7.5, at a temperature of 24-27 C.

They are unpretentious in feeding - they eat both dry and live food. Feeding aquarium fish must be correct: balanced, varied. This fundamental rule is the key to the successful keeping of any fish, be it guppies or astronotus. The article talks about this in detail, it outlines the basic principles of the diet and feeding regimen for fish.

Sexual dimorphism is not very clear. The male is slimmer than the female. The coloration is bright blue with a purple tint, the adipose fin is pale blue. The female is more angular, the abdomen is noticeably pronounced. Its coloration is duller, yellow-brown tones predominate, the adipose fin is red-or orange-brown. The maximum size is 5 cm, usually 3-4 cm. The maximum productivity is 350 eggs per spawning, an average of about 200. The eggs are glued to plants. The caviar is small, about 1 mm in diameter. Hatched after 18 hours (at a temperature of 26-28 ° C), the embryos are about 1.5 mm long. The larvae pass to an independent life when they reach a length of 2.5 mm. At this time, they greedily pounce on any small food: rotifers, brine shrimp nauplii, etc. Juveniles grow rapidly. Already at the age of four months, the fish become sexually mature.

All of the above is just the fruit of observing this type of aquarium fish and collecting various information from owners and breeders. We would like to share with visitors not only information, but also lively emotions, allowing you to more fully and subtly feel the world of aquarism. Register on, participate in discussions on the forum, create profile topics where you will talk about your pets in the first person and firsthand, describe their habits, behavior and content, share your successes and joys with us, share experience and learn from experience others. We are interested in every bit of your experience, every second of your joy, every realization of a mistake that makes it possible for your comrades to avoid the same mistake. The more of us, the more pure and transparent droplets of goodness in the life and life of our seven billionth society.

purple neon kerry

Meet neon black and neon purple! The fish will not come as a surprise to anyone, because everyone knows it and it is it that will be the first to catch your eye when you enter the aquarium department.

Shining, like signs of a night city, the side stripes of the fish became their hallmark in the aqua world. But few people know that in addition to red, there are also their counterparts, less known to the public, but very, very undeservedly.

Otherwise, this fish is called purple neon or false tetra. Originally from Brazil, lives in the Aripuana and Madeira rivers. At aquatic life a body of this kind elongated in length, moderately high, rather slender and slightly flattened laterally.

The color of the belly is light, the fins are transparent, having a subtle yellowish tint. The adipose fin is bluish. In females, the back is colored brown, extending to the sides. The adipose fin in females is brown-red.

The fish outside the walls of the aquarium appeared relatively recently. It has been known to modern aquaristics for no more than 20 years. And as soon as it was discovered, it immediately received universal recognition and love from aquarists around the world.

The unique coloring, peaceful disposition and amazing schooling behavior made the fish one of the most popular in the world, and put it on the same level as the blue and so beloved by us. But not only purple deserves a place next to the best representatives of the underwater world.

black neon

For the first time representatives of this species freshwater fish described by Gehry back in 1961. This fish picks up in the basins of the Rio Paraguay and Rio Taguari, which are located in the south of the Pantanal reserve.

The reserve is a colossal swampy area. Its area is about 200 square kilometers.

This species of fish is on the verge of extinction in its natural reservoirs and has long been on the list of animals listed in the Red Book. It is now almost impossible to find wild specimens of this species on the market. All black neons found on sale are grown on farms in Europe and the Far East.

The black diamond inhabits shallow bays and tributaries, areas of flooded forests and river banks. In the native element, water in this species has an acidic reaction.

It usually has a brown color. This is due to the presence in the water of tannins and other chemical substances released from decaying organic matter.

- fish, quite easy to keep in freshwater aquariums.

It is not necessary to have extraordinary skills and knowledge. What you need to know: Neons are pack creatures. This fact determines the beginning of the choice of housing for pets.

Black neon, like its counterparts, likes to occupy the middle layers of water in the aquarium. If you keep fish in small numbers, then you will not be able to enjoy their species interaction. The black neonchik will reveal the splendor of coloring only when there are from 10 individuals in one aquarium. A similar behavior is with a colleague - purple neon.

When choosing a container for neon, you need to remember that the more spacious the aquarium, the more beautifully the fish will reveal their behavior, especially in a flock. An aquarium for a flock of 10 individuals should be selected from 120 liters.

And it is desirable that the aquarium was retracted in length. Neons are fish that can live in different conditions, but most important aspect it remains that the fish needs to be settled in an already established aquarium. If some fish can feel comfortable in water poured into an aquarium a day ago, then for neon given period should be about a week.

Aquarium Compatibility

As mentioned earlier, neons are the most peaceful fish on the planet, and even if many peaceful fish have intraspecific strife, you will not notice this in this type of underwater inhabitants.

If we talk about compatibility with other fish within the same aquarium, the quiet ones have never touched anyone. What you should think about is not to touch them.

With whom do neons feel comfortable? Our heroes get along well in the same aquarium with the following fish:

  1. All livebearers.
    Viviparous fish are absolutely non-aggressive towards their tank neighbors. The only aggression is the interspecific rivalry of some males for a female in mating season. Skirmishes are purely symbolic in nature and very rarely cause serious damage. Mollies, platies, swordtails and guppies will be great neighbors for our neon.
  2. The neon community is able to exist peacefully in one aquarium with all labyrinths.
    Lyalius, macropods, and gourami are ideally peaceful companionship for kids. Only the mating season can be a small problem. When a couple spawns in a nest of bubbles that is under the surface of the water, the male, fiercely guarding it, is able to drive other fish away from the restricted area. But such warnings in a large communal aquarium rarely end in serious skirmishes.
  3. Danio.
    One more schooling fish, peaceful, like neon. There will be no problems with these fasteners either.

And immediately it should be noted with whom it is not desirable to keep the fish. The first dangerous enemies of neon are large African cichlids. Seeing the kids, the hunting season will immediately open for them until they eat everyone to the last.

Another enemy of neon in the general aquarium will be aquarium carp: telescopes, veiltails and koi. The fish are herbivorous, but upon reaching a fairly large size, they simply swallow the babies swimming nearby.

Conclusion

Neon black and neon purple occupy a worthy place among the most beautiful fish in modern freshwater aquariums. Babies are so fond of our compatriots that they occupy a leading position in the popularity of keeping in home aquariums.

It does not cause difficulties even for kids, and they themselves can brighten up the leisure of the whole family and for long hours to rivet their eyes on the amazing creatures from the waters of Brazil living in the house.

Description
Characins, or tetras, as they are called abroad, inhabit the tropical waters of both the Americas and Africa. Most of the 400 species contained in aquariums come from the "black waters" of the Amazon and surrounding areas. They are distinguished by their small size, bright coloration and flocking behavior. In twilight streams under a thick canopy rainforest bright colors are necessary for unmistakable recognition of relatives. Life span aquarium species usually does not exceed 3-5 years, and they become sexually mature at 6-12 months. Males are brighter and slimmer than females, their abdomen is pointed, fins are often more magnificent. Spawning is seasonal - summer, often stretched for several months. During this time, they are able to throw several times.

Content
Keeping in an aquarium is quite simple. These are schooling fish, so it is recommended to keep them in a group of 4 or more individuals. The volume of the aquarium should be at least 40 liters (10 liters per one or two individuals).
Optimal water parameters: temperature 22-25°С, dH 2-20°, pH 6.4-7.5. It is important to change 1/5 of the volume of water weekly to fresh settled.
Soil: dark sand or gravel.
Lighting should be intermittent, so areas with shade are necessary in the aquarium.
It is recommended to plant the aquarium with dense vegetation (Echinodorus, Javanese moss, Cryptocoryne, Thai fern), but at the same time leave enough space for free swimming.
Any other peaceful fish are suitable as neighbors for the minor, except for veil-shaped fish, the long threadlike fins of which minors like to gnaw.

Feeding
Food: live, additionally vegetable, substitutes.

reproduction
A spawning aquarium (a couple of fish were successfully bred in a 15x10x10 cm tank) with a cage and a few bushes of plants, such as Java moss, pinnate and other small-leaved plants. A. Polonsky recommends the bottom and side walls cover with black paper. Some aquarists do without separator nets and plants. Lighting is weak, diffused (in no case not direct rays of the sun). Water: 22-24°C (higher than at the content), dH 0.5-4°, KH 0°, pH 6-6.5 (in a number literary sources recommend peat and aerated with small bubbles), a layer of 10-12 cm. Fish at the age of 10-12 months are better suited for breeding. Before landing for spawning, males (the most mobile, slender and well-colored) and females with a full abdomen are kept separately for 2 weeks at 19-21 ° C and are well fed with a variety of food (V. Nikolaev stopped feeding the day before landing for spawning). A couple of fish or a group with a slight predominance of males are put to spawn in the afternoon, they are not fed in the spawning aquarium. They usually spawn the next day in the early morning, and sometimes even at night. If the pair has not spawned within 2 days, then the male must be replaced. The female lays up to 250 non-glutinous eggs, which get stuck in plants or sink to the bottom. After spawning, the net and plants are removed, after shaking the eggs from the net and plants, the aquarium is darkened, since the eggs develop better in the dark, and the larvae are afraid of light. The incubation period is 18-24 hours, the fry swim after another 4-5 days. Starter food: ciliates, rotifers. The first 2-3 weeks in an aquarium with fry, the lighting is very weak, diffused. Puberty at 7-11 months.

These fish are native to Brazil, in particular, their habitat is the Aritsuanan River. I would like to note right away that Kerry Inpaights are very unpretentious, and therefore they are suitable as an ideal option for beginner aquarists and other lovers of home aquariums.

Slender light bluish males are amazingly beautiful, as a rule, they are slimmer than females and shimmer with bluish hues when reflected light hits them. Their terminal anal fin is presented in the form of a rounded shape.

Kerry inpaicht females have a more rounded abdomen and are colored yellow-brown. The anal fin of females appears pointed at the tip.

Also, their adipose fin can be safely attributed to the features of the difference between males and females of Kerry inpaicht. Males have a bluish fin, while females have it mixed with reddish colors.

In aquarium habitats, these fish reach a length, mostly up to five centimeters, and live for about four years.

Peace-loving kerries inpaight stay in packs, and therefore it is better to keep them in an amount of at least six to eight pieces. In flocks, the fish feel much more comfortable, look great and become less shy.


It is very important to choose right choice the angle of illumination, because sometimes, in the rays of light reflection, the fish can shimmer with beautiful lilac shades. Particular emphasis should be placed on the side illumination, then the fish will begin to stand out due to the increasing contrast.

The nature of males is unchanged. Every now and then, being close to the females, they stay at different angles, clearly demonstrating their beauty to them, which can also please the observer.

Kerry inpaight fish can easily be kept both in a separate aquarium and in general, next to other peaceful underwater inhabitants.

It is very good if the fish adjacent to them are commensurate with the Kerry Inpaight in size. The volume of the aquarium tank should be fifty or more liters, moreover, have a length of fifty or more centimeters. In such a space, a flock of kerry inpaights of six individuals will feel comfortable.


In addition to the size, the aquarium should be quite densely planted with vegetation, among which there will be floating plants, as well as provide free space for the flock to swim. Mostly, the fish choose the middle and upper layers of the aquarium's water space, where they spend most of their time.

For the proper content of kerry inpaight, pay attention to the water parameters, they should be as follows:

Temperature 23-25°C;

Rigidity dH from 4 to 18 degrees;

The balance of acidity pH should correspond to the indication of 6.5-7.5;

Filtration required;

aeration;

Daily change pure water approximately 1/5 that of the total volume of the aquarium.

Strictly observe the dosage of feeding, as Kerry Inpaights are very prone to overeating. The diet may include various feeds: dry, live, frozen. In general, in proper nutrition fish should be dominated by food of animal origin.

Periods, it is necessary to feed them and vegetable feed, in the form of flakes. Kerry Inpaights love to eat various small insects, when hunting for which, they can jump out of the water quite briskly. Consider this feature of your pets and cover the aquarium with a lid.

Reproduction Kerry Inpaight

By the fourth month of its development, Kerry Inpaicht reaches the period of maturity. It is advisable to start breeding fish around the six-month development period.

These fish, without exaggeration, among all their species, are among the easiest to breed. Definitely, even the most unprepared aquarist can easily get fry from Kerry Inpaicht. For the spawning of one pair of fish, even a small aquarium of five liters will do.

Observe the water parameters in the aquarium necessary for spawning:

Temperature from 24 to 28°C;

Hardness dH one to two degrees (to achieve the required hardness, use melt or rain water, previously filtered with a carbon filter);

Acidity pH - 6.0-6.5;

Water level up to 15 cm.

For spawning fish better fit lighting of medium intensity, and bushes with small leaves will serve as a substrate for caviar.