Ternecia

Ternecia warm-water spawning gregarious peaceful fish. Perfectly mastered behind the aquarium glass in all corners of the planet. Today, the popularity of this fish somewhat decreased, in my opinion – undeservedly. Of course, the variety of new life forms in our aquariums can only be welcomed. But old acquaintances the same should not be forgotten. Especially such a nice as black tetra.

Latin name: Gymnocorymbus ternetzi

Synonyms: black tetra.

Ternecia was described by the Belgian-British zoologist and ichthyologist George Albert Boulenger in 1895.

In the wild, the black tetra is distributed on the South American continent, namely Brazil, Paraguay, inhabits as a rule slow-flowing rivers and lakes (Mato Grosso, Rio Paraguay, Negro.).

Ternecia description

Ternecia has an original body shape, resembling a rhombus. To the features of ternecia also includes the presence of two dorsal fins, one of which is closer to the tail does not have hard rays and is fat. Caudal fin fork-shaped. The pelvic stretches all the way to the tail, because of which it is often compared to a skirt or a lady’s fan. The body is very strongly flattened from the sides. That, combined with the original shape and silver coloring, gives the fish the appearance of a jewelry piece, which the artist warmed with his hands, breathed inside his soul, thanks to which the product came to life. However, this is how it is – artist – nature – creator – God… perhaps it is better to stop here and not to go further into the maze of philosophy…..

There are three transverse stripes on the silvery body. The first of them crosses the eye of the fish, which has a yellow iris. The second is located just behind the gill cover. The third takes its origin from the front edge of the first dorsal fin and goes down to just below half of the body. Young fish have a more intense coloration than adults. But as sexual maturity is reached, the intensity of coloration decreases and on the silver background become clearly

distinguishable by the above-described black stripes. In the wild, the tetra fish reaches a length of six centimeters. In artificial conditions, its size rarely exceeds four and a half centimeters. There is a breeding form with long voile fins. There are also colored varietals, I think that here did not do without genetic engineering. Lives ternecia 3 – 4 years.

Ternecia maintenance

Ternecia is a gregarious, peaceful fish. For five to seven individuals need a vessel with a volume of at least 30 – 40 liters. Black tetra can jump out of the aquarium, so it is desirable vessel equipped with a lid or at least cover the glass. She does not tolerate loneliness. If it remains ternetia alone – becomes aggressive. A flock of several specimens can be kept with other small peaceful species, such as guppies, pecilias, swordtails. As a ground for the reservoir can be used river gray sand, small gravel or pebbles. It is desirable only that it had a dark shade, on which the silver coloration of fish will greatly benefit.

It is desirable to use small-leaved plants. Plant them in clumps necessarily leaving enough space for swimming. Optimal temperature for maintenance 22 -24 ° C. Hardness 8 °dH, but can withstand up to 15 – 17 °dH. pH 6.8 – 7. Lighting of the aquarium should not be bright. In bright light, the tetra fish looks pale. Ternecia likes fresh water. At least once in two weeks, you need to change one-fifth of the water freshly tempered. Do it better too not immediately, and gradually small portions distributed over several days. Fish poorly tolerates lack of oxygen, so in the aquarium for its content should necessarily provide artificial aeration. Feed can be small live feed (small moths, bark, daphnia, cyclops). When feeding moths, be sure to use a feeder. This species due to the anatomical structure of its mouth is difficult to pick up food from the bottom.

Ternecia propagation

For reproduction, usually take a pair of producers. Representatives of this species are quite prolific, so gregarious spawning is unnecessary, although it is sometimes used. To distinguish between male and female, you need some observation. Males, as a rule, smaller and slimmer than females, have a more intense coloration of the body, especially near the tail, and the edges of the caudal fin have a white border.

Preparation

Male and female is desirable a week before spawning should be separated and kept separately. For spawning will be suitable vessel volume of 30-40 liters. Preferably oblong. The bottom, which should be abundantly covered with small-leaved plants. To get to the eggs did not get mommy and daddy. Water preparation for spawning consists of standing tap water at least one day and softening its overall hardness to 4 °dH. The pH should be neutral, that is, equal to 7. The optimal temperature in the spawning tank is 24-26 ° C.

In the aquarium filled with fresh water, first sit the male. And after a few hours to him planted a female. The morning of the next day, when the reservoir will illuminate the bright rays of the sun (you can use artificial lighting) will begin spawning. The female will lay from 600 to 1000 eggs. When the producers will finish laying eggs producers must be removed from the spawning ground. As you can see the reproduction of ternetia is not too complicated.

After about 24 hours, the fry will appear. And in another 3 – 5 days the fry will swim and start to take food. Feed the fry can be infusoria, nauplii Artemia, boiled in a steep chicken yolk, dry milk. In the last two cases, the results will be slightly worse. As the fry grow, they should be sorted.

Young individuals reach sexual maturity at 6-8 months of age. After two years of age, breeding is difficult.

In 2011, the world saw the genetically modified GloFish fluorescent ternetia.

I think that the maintenance of ternecia even in a beginner will not cause big problems. And your indoor underwater world will only benefit from such an inhabitant.