Family: Characidae
Distribution: The Lapis Tetra was discovered in Brazil in 2002.
PH: 4.5 – 5.5 pH
Temperature: 24 – 28°C (75 – 82°F)
Hardness: 0 – 4 dH
Description: Still a peaceful and active member of the Hyphessobrycon species, the Lapis Tetra is also somewhat territorial with the males fighting amongst themselves for their places in the tank.
The males will grow to around 4cm, with the females hitting half a centimetre less. He will also have brighter colouration and elongated caudal and anus fins.
Hyphessobrycon cyanotaenia have very small eyes when compared to the rest of their bodies, which are proportionally longer than other relatives. Their fins are transparent but have a faint blue hue, especially when swimming past plants. Their anal fin, like their eyes, is also comparatively smaller. It also sports a long, thick streak of blue from its snout, down its body, ending at the middle of the caudal fin rays.
Diet: The Hyphessobrycon species thrive on an omnivorous diet that is primarily flake foods with occasional treats of live or frozen foods (1 – 2 times per week). Due to their small mouths, they require flakes to be crushed and frozen and live foods to be finely chopped.
Breeding: Due to their rarity, there is limited information available; however there are people who have successfully bred the Lapis Tetra in their tank. For this reason, the general Hyphessobrycon breeding method has been included.
Two conditioning tanks should be set up to hold a one-year-old male and a one-year-old female. These should be conditioned on Drosophila and insect larvae for two-to-three weeks, before the duo can be introduced into a 38L breeding tank. To set up a breeding tank, include many fine-leaved plants and a soft filtration system, but do not use substrate. Use water with a pH of 5.5 – 6.5, a dH of 2 – 4, and a temperature of 24 – 26°C (75 – 79°F). It is unknown if the eggs are light-sensitive, so it is best to keep them out of direct sunlight just in case.
It should take three days for the pair to spawn. If no eggs appear, recondition them. The eggs will appear in the leaves of the plants and the parents should be removed immediately after spawning (cannibalistic). A little over twenty-four hours after being laid, the eggs will hatch. The fry will appear few days later and should be fed on an initial diet of micro-organisms and baby Brine, and crushed flake ten days later.
The eggs and fry require weekly, partial water changes as they are susceptible to illness in poor water conditions.
Comments: Generally, the Hyphessobrycon species are easy to keep and good for beginners. Those with little experience may find they come across some difficulty when breeding.
Due to the scarcity of Hyphessobrycon cyanotaenia in the hobby, there is limited information available. For this reason, information has been included that pertains to the general Hyphessobrycon species.
Article/Books:
Recommended Compatible Species: They should live happily with other Tetra species (particularly the Neon Tetra and Black Tetra). They also should be good tank mates with Discus, Apistogramma‘s like Apistogramma Cacatouides and Apistogramma Borelli, Corydoras Catfish (particularly Corydoras Sterbai and Corydoras aeneus) Angelfish, Clown loach, the common Guppy and Platy and most Gourami (such as the Blue Gourami and Dwarf Gourami like the Honey Gourami) Also should live happily with most Danio (particularly the Zebra Danio and Pearl Danio) and also many Killifish could make great tank mates.
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