Crenuchus spilurus
The Crenuchus spilurus is naturally found in the Orinoco and Amazon river basins, South America. The fish can mainly be found in forest streams and channels. Very often the fish can be found in forests flooded during floods, among the thickets of coastal vegetation overhanging the water. The water in these places has a brownish colour due to substances released during the decomposition of leaves and tree branches at the bottom.
Crenuchus spilurus has a dark gray, brown or brownish body coloration, which varies depending on where the fish live. at the root of the tail plumage there is a large black spot. Adult males are larger and more colourful than females. Their dorsal and anal fins are elongated. In nature, fish reach a size of 7 cm, although in the aquarium, their length is usually less than 5 cm.
The Crenuchus spilurus is a peaceful, shy fish. Keep these fish ideally in a species aquarium. If, however, is intended to keep in a common aquarium, then in a neighbour to them to pick up a comparable size of peace-loving fish. Adult male Crenuhus tulle become territorial, but all their conflicts on this occasion never ends with any injuries. In order to reduce the likelihood of territorial conflicts in the aquarium need to delimit the territory of the rows of stones or plants.
As the soil in the aquarium is desirable to use sand or a mixture of sand and fine gravel. Snags and flat stones should be placed at the bottom. Adding the bottom of pre-dried leaves of beech or oak as possible simulates the natural habitat of fish, and in addition, such a substrate is eventually formed a colony of bacteria, which serve as good additional food for fry.
Water parameters: temperature 20-28° C, hardness dH 1-5°, pH 4,0-6,5. Requires filtration, aeration and a weekly change of 1/5 of the aquarium water with fresh. Do not introduce fish into an aquarium that has not yet established a biological equilibrium.
The lighting should be low. The daylight hours should last approximately 10 hours a day. When planting plants in the aquarium, take this into account and select species that can thrive in these conditions, e.g. Singapore moss, Cryptocorina vesiculosa. Also, place bundles of floating plants on the water surface.
In nature, the fish feed on small invertebrates, insect larvae and crustaceans. Under aquarium conditions the fish are fed with a variety of dry food, as well as live and frozen Artemia, Daphnia, chironomid moths, etc.
Reproduction
The Crenuchus spilurus spawn in small caves or among the fallen leaves of trees. During the spawning period, temporary pairs are formed among the fish.
With the onset of spawning, males occupy a small temporary area with some shelter and then try in every way to attract one of the females. As soon as one of the females responds to the advances of the male, she swims into his cave, where she later spawns. The female lays her eggs on the ceiling of the cave and then leaves the spawning site. The male takes care of the clutch and then the fry.
It often happens that the young spawners eat all of their eggs. Do not in any way be tempted to collect all the eggs and incubate them artificially, in which case the chance of obtaining viable offspring is much lower than with the presence of the male.
The eggs incubate for 36-48 hours, and after another 4-6 days the fry begin to swim and feed. The male for about 2 weeks looking after the fry, after which it is advisable to remove the fry in another aquarium.
The fry are fed with specialized fry food and Artemia. The fry are fed 4 times a day.
