GlowLight Tetra

By: Trigun
 
Common Name: GlowLight Tetra
 
Latin Name: Hemigrammus erythrozonus
 
Origin: Originally from the Essequibo River, Guyana in South America but, most in the trade now are farm raised.
 
Temperature: Not critical:Anywhere from 70-80°F (21-26˚C)
 
Ease Of Keeping: Very Easy, great beginner fish also a wonderful addition to any advanced planted tank.
 
Aggressivness: Very easy going: They can become agressive toward each other if not keep in groups of 6 or more.
 
Lighting: None in particular but, low light makes their neon strip really stand out.
Adult Size: 1.5 Inches (4.5cm)
 
Minimum Tank Size: 10 Gallons
 
Feeding: Tropical Flakes are fine as a staple diet but, they also love freeze dried blood worms.
 
Spawning Method: Egglayer
 
Comments: These are great fish to start the hobby out with and are also a great challenge for the expert aquarist to try and breed. The minimum tank size I listed is ten gallons but, I found that Glowlights do much better in groups of about 12(The usual group of six is fine though)so to keep the larger groups a tank size of about twenty or more is best. Glowlights also love alot of cover and are great for the planted tank. Glowlights don't really require any special water conditions and will adapt to any Ph, hardness, ect. but, I have noticed that the color of their neon strip fades to a pale grey when the water quality is bad or shifts rapidly. They are non-aggressive so they will be great tank mates with any other tetras; because of their small size they are not suited to a tank with large predatory fish. Sexing is difficult when the glowlights are young but, when they are older the Females will be a bit larger and more rounded then the smaller more slender males.