Black neon: description, content and breeding

Neons are very popular small aquarium fish. They belong to the class of ray-finned fish and belong to the haracin family. There are several types of neons, which are divided by color: red, blue, green, black, gold. Black neon (another name for Axelrod's black neon) is a peaceful fish that loves to swim in flocks. Neons became inhabitants of aquariums in Russia in 1963 and since then have been the favorites of both children and adults.

Black neons are freshwater fish. In the wild, they live in South America. They can be found in Uruguay, in the Takuari River basin, as well as in fresh water bodies of countries such as Bolivia and Paraguay. Neons prefer places with sluggish currents, flooded forest areas, shallows.

This type of neon has an elongated body, flattened from the sides. Along it there are 2 stripes: the lower wide one is painted in a dark, almost black color, and the upper narrow one is silver. The iris of the eyes is red in the upper half due to the large number of capillaries, the mouth is small. The adipose fin is black-green, the rest are yellowish. The tail is divided into 2 transparent lobes.

The body length of black neons in an aquarium reaches 3.5 cm in males and up to 4 cm in females. The latter look much larger than graceful males. During the fight and during the breeding season, a shiny strip in males becomes noticeable on the tail. Black neons are nimble fish, shiny and bright.

To make black neons feel comfortable in your home aquarium, the following important points should be considered.

• Volume. It is calculated based on the fact that a pair of neons has 15 liters of water. But since these fish are often kept in schools of 7 or more, this number of fish requires about 70 liters of water. Be sure to cover the aquarium on top after the fish start, as black neons can easily jump out of it.
• Temperature conditions. The recommended temperature for these fish is 20-24 degrees Celsius. Higher rates make black neons age quickly and live half the life.
• Water composition. The water in the aquarium should have an acidity of 6-7.5 pH and a hardness of 6-10. A couple of times a month it is necessary to replace 1/5 of the water with fresh water. It is also necessary to purchase a well-made peat filter for the aquarium and take care of good aeration.
• Lighting. Black neons prefer not very bright overhead lights. The darker the inside of the aquarium, the brighter the color of the fish will be.
• Priming. Against the background of black soil with an opaque back wall of the aquarium, a school of these fish will look especially impressive. For the soil, sand or any other substrate is suitable, on which you can put a little boiled peat and dry leaves on top.
• Plants and decor. Black neons love space overgrown with plants. It is recommended to plant Javanese moss, Cryptocoryne, Echinodorus. Ceramic pots, grottoes, small caves are suitable for decorating the bottom.

Under natural conditions, black neons feed on small crustaceans, insects, and mosquito larvae. When kept at home, they are omnivorous fish, they can be fed with live, high-quality dry and frozen food. You can give bloodworms, tubifex, brine shrimp, for a more nutritious diet, vegetables, frozen daphnia and cyclops should be included in the diet. Food should be given in small portions.

It must be remembered that black neons have a small mouth, therefore, the food must be well chopped. Another characteristic of neons is that they do not pick up food that has fallen to the bottom. The more varied the food, the brighter the color of the fish will be.

In order to breed black neons, you need to purchase a spawning aquarium with a volume of 20-35 liters in the shape of a rectangle. The water in it should not be higher than 30 cm and have a temperature of 25-27 degrees. The aquarium must be thoroughly washed, darkened on the sides so that direct light does not enter. The spawning water must be settled, it can be treated with anti-fungal drugs or methylene blue.

At the age of 7 months, black neons are capable of producing offspring. The optimal time of the year for breeding these fish is spring or summer. Selected large-bellied females and males are not recommended to be fed before spawning. 2-3 days after being placed in the aquarium, spawning occurs, which lasts 1.5-2 hours, the female spawns from 100 to 500 eggs. You should know that you cannot leave neons in the aquarium after spawning, as they can eat caviar.

After a day, larvae emerge from the eggs, which are at first motionless and hang in the water. After 3 days, they begin to move around, and they can already be fed a little with food crushed into dust. Lighting should be added gradually. Fry of black neon gray with transverse dark stripes. For the first 14 days, they hide under the leaves.

Babies grow very quickly. After 2 weeks, both stripes and eye color are already clearly pronounced. At about 5 weeks of age, fry look almost the same as adults. The fry can be put into a common aquarium, in which the temperature should be raised by 1-2 degrees. If stripes fade in young neons, then this may be a sign of a fatal disease.

Black neons are suitable for keeping with any peaceful fish. They should not be kept with large fish, especially predatory fish. For joint placement, viviparous fishtooths, zebrafish, rasbora, catfish corridors, gourami, dwarf cichlids, lalius, guppies are ideal. Neons can seamlessly coexist with shrimp. Black neons are attractive and peaceful aquarium fish. Their maintenance does not require any special skills, so they are suitable for beginner aquarists. Contemplation of a shiny flock of black neons will certainly give you a lot of positive emotions.

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