Alestopetersius nigropterus
Alestopetersius nigropterus or Alestopetersius ansorgii naturally inhabits the Congo River. To date, the distribution area of these fish is not clear. The fish are undemanding and can be recommended to novice aquarists.
Adult males Alestopetersius nigropterus are more colorful than females, their dorsal and anal fins are elongated. During the pre-spawning period red pigmentation appears on the body of males. Females are slightly smaller than males and their coloration is mostly silvery. The maximum size of the fish is 5-6 cm.
Alestopetersius nigropterus are peaceful, swift and a bit timid fish. These fish would be ideal cohabitants in a large aquarium with other peace-loving fish species. The most suitable neighbors for them will be fish living in similar environments in nature. Keep Alestopetersius nigropterus need a group of at least 8-10 specimens. Floating in a friendly flock of males, in the process of courting females, will demonstrate their contrasting coloration and unrivaled appearance.
An aquarium of at least 100 liters is suitable for keeping the fish. Decorating the aquarium is not important, these fish feel well and without it, but the aquarium should ideally be designed to resemble a river bed with a substrate of stones of various sizes, sand and small gravel. You can also place snags at the bottom, but in any case, care should be taken to provide enough space for free swimming fish.
Water parameters: temperature 22-26° C, hardness dH 1-10°, pH 5,0-7,0. This type of fish is sensitive to the content of organic matter in the water, so it requires good filtration and aeration. Also requires a weekly replacement of 1/3 of the aquarium water with fresh.
Ambient light of moderate intensity, lasting about 10 hours a day.
In nature, Alestopetersius nigropterus feed on small insects, crustaceans and plant seeds that have fallen into the water. In the aquarium, the fish are fed live and frozen food such as chironomid, daphnia and artemia. Also, the fish do not refuse dry food in the form of flakes and pellets containing spirulina. The fish need to be fed twice a day.
Reproduction
Alestopetersius nigropterus is a spawning fish. During spawning, the female fish hatch eggs on plant leaves. In general, the breeding of these fish is not difficult.
Spawning aquarium, which first need to place a few bushes of moss or any small-leaved plants, you need to create a small stream of water. Spawning stimulate the increase in water temperature to 27° C. It should be noted that the best results can be achieved by setting aside in nerestovik group of fish consisting of an equal number of males and females. Once spawning is completed, the producers are removed. Larvae hatch in 1-1.5 days, and after another 4 days fry begin to swim and eat. Fry in the first week of life are fed live dust, and then begin to give artemia.
