Ternetia is a popular aquarium fish. She is beautiful, hardy and undemanding, which means it is suitable for beginners. Fish are often recommended to settle in a common aquarium. But does everyone get along with thorns? Maintenance and care, nutrition, breeding, compatibility - in this article you will learn all about this fish.
general information
Aquarium thorns are schooling flocks and must live in a group of seven. They love dense thickets of plants, but there should be free space in the aquarium for swimming.
In nature, thorns live in small rivers, streams and tributaries in South America. They inhabit the upper layers of the water and feed on fallen insects. For sale, fish are bred on the farm. They live 3-5 years.
To what sizes does thorns grow? The maintenance and care of this fish is simple, because it has a fairly modest size - up to 5.5 cm. These crumbs look very impressive in the aquarium. The body is rhomboid, flattened laterally. Two black stripes pass along the body, the anal and dorsal fins are large. The black anal fin in females resembles an elegant skirt.
Views
There are several types of thornsia: classical, veil, albino and gold. Of particular interest is the products of the GloFish brand - genetically modified fluorescent fish.
These artificially bred pets have a bright color, which, under the influence of ultraviolet light, becomes even brighter. There are red, pink, blue, green, yellow and orange shapes. Coloring is inherited.
Red color is given to thorns by DNA fragments of red coral. They become green due to the presence of DNA fragments of jellyfish. Yellow (orange) color gives a combination of jellyfish and coral genes. How beautiful is transgenic thornsia? Photos show that such fish look, at least, unusual.
Recently, “caramels” have become popular - these are artificially colored fish. They can be bright pink, blue, green, orange.
Bright coloring is given by dye injection. Over time, it fades and becomes paler. Such fish are somewhat weaker and more vulnerable than their classical relatives. They live less and get sick more often. Coloring is not inherited. Ordinary or genetically modified thornsia is more suitable for a beginner.
Maintenance and care
The thorns are unpretentious and undemanding fish. They do not need a huge aquarium. It is enough to adhere to a simple rule - about 10 liters of water should fall on one fish. That is, a flock of 10-12 individuals will feel at ease in a 100-liter aquarium.
Comfortable water temperature - 22-24 degrees. The transgenic form needs a higher temperature - about 28 degrees. Hardness no more than 18, acidity level - 6.5-7.5 pH. Since they prefer shady ponds in nature, plants need to be planted in the aquarium to create natural shelters.
Filtration and aeration required. Every week you need to do a water change and clean up the soil. In the aquarium there should be enough space for swimming, it is not necessary to plant it too much with plants. On what background does thorns look better? The photos show that classic dark fish will look good against a background of light soil, and multi-colored ones against a background of dark. The aquarium can be decorated with stones, snags, grottoes.
Character
What is the nature of thornsia? The maintenance and care of the fish also depends on its temperament. As mentioned above, thorns are schooling fish. This means that living alone brings them suffering. In the company of fish are calm and peaceful. But, left alone, they become nervous and aggressive.
A flock can be kept with other types of fish. The thorns are active, moving fish. They can be divided into several groups and conflict with each other. In a spacious aquarium, they are kept in the upper and middle layers of water, swim freely. In a small container, with overpopulation and stress, they hide in the thickets of plants, floating out only for food.
Food
What eating habits does thorns have? The fish is omnivorous and not prone to overeating. Ternetia eagerly eats dry food, but they especially like live and frozen food - daphnia, coretra, cyclops, artemia.
If you feed the fish with a small bloodworm, then be sure to use a feeder. In nature, they grab insects in the upper and middle layers of water, so the mouth is anatomically arranged so that it is simply uncomfortable to lift food from the bottom.
Health and longevity of beauties largely depend on nutrition. It must be balanced and diverse. Do not feed the fish with cereals and granules alone. Be sure to include live food in your diet.
Gender differences
Even an amateur can discern the gender of thorns. Female thorns are large, full, with a wide “skirt” of the anal fin. The male is smaller, slender, with bright color. The caudal fin has a white edging, and the dorsal fin is longer, pointed.
Compatibility
By the nature of thorns, they are classified as peaceful fish, but this is only true if they live in a large flock and in an aquarium of a suitable size. Who can get along with thorns? Compatibility with peaceful fish - gourami, angelfish, discus, lalius, mollies, swordfish, guppy, neon, gambusin, rassibi, peaceful catfish.
You can not keep in the same container with veil-tail, barbs, cichlids and other aggressive fish. The thorns will attack the slow veil-tails and cut off their fins. If thorns are kept in small groups (for example, only 2-3 individuals in an aquarium populated by other species) or in an overpopulated aquarium, they can become aggressive and literally terrorize other, smaller and quieter fish.
Breeding
At 8 months, thorns, reaching a size of 3-5 cm, are capable of reproduction. Smaller or larger fish are not allowed for breeding. A 50-liter spawning aquarium is filled with water at a level of 5 cm. Moss is placed on the bottom. The temperature is set at 24-26 degrees. Need a good aeration.
Three days later, one pair of producers is placed in the spawning ground. They need to be intensively fed with live food, not allowing its residues to settle on the bottom. After 3-6 days, spawning begins. The female will give out about 1000 eggs in small portions. After spawning, the parents are immediately removed.
Water temperature rises to 28 degrees. After a day, the larvae come out, after 3 days they begin to swim. Young animals are fed live dust. As the fry are grown, the fry is sorted, since the thorns are prone to cannibalism.
Ternetia is a beautiful, bright and easy-to-care fish. Both classic and color forms can decorate any aquarium. Even unusual luminous multi-colored individuals do not require any special conditions and live long enough.