Amapa glow tetra - Hyphessobrycon amapaensis

The Amapa Glow Tetra (Hyphessobrycon amapensis) from Brazil in South America, shining with a striking red stripe in the body center, is a very pretty and peaceful small schooling fish for the aquarium. This relatively slender tetra grows to a length of only 2.5-3.5 cm. Males are much more slender than females and have elongated rays on the front of the anal fin. Amapa glow tetras are silvery to olive-silvery in color and have the namesake striking red glow stripe that runs across the eye to the base of the caudal fin. Running parallel to this is a longitudinal black stripe just below. The fins are transparent.

Hyphessobrycon amapensis as a social group fish needs the security of its swarm of at least 8-10 conspecifics. When stressed, the fish will group together to form a shoal, but when they are relaxed, they can be found singly or scattered in small groups throughout the aquarium. In the wild, the Amapa Glow Tetra occurs over gravelly and sandy bottoms, the water is brownish and contains Humic substances. In the aquarium it should have 60 cm edge length or more. A good edge planting is useful, because the small fish like to hide there, as well as sufficient swimming space. The water should have 23-28 °C, the pH-value can go from 5 to 7. Soft to medium hard water is necessary for the Amapa Glow Tetra, and the addition of humic substances to the aquarium promotes not only the colorfulness, but also the health and well-being of these pretty little ornamental fish.

With other peaceful, rather small fishes the Amapa Glow Tetra likes to get along in the community aquarium, and also with dwarf shrimps it gets along very well. Conceivable would be with this rather the middle water layers inhabiting small tetra even a attitude together with peaceful dwarf crayfish. Possibly very freshly hatched, still very small shrimp babies fall victim to the fish. Somewhat larger and of course adult dwarf shrimps have nothing to fear from the Amapa Glow Tetra.

There are even reports of offspring in a community aquarium with a suitable stock, but if you want to raise a larger number of Amapa Glow Tetras, a separate breeding aqu arium is definitely preferable. The Amapa Glow Tetra Hyphessobrycon amapensis is quite easy to breed with a little effort. Like all tetras, this fish is a free spawner. Adult Amapa Glow Tetras are unfortunately also quite spawn predators, which is why a spawning grid in the breeding aquarium can be advantageous. In the breeding tank you should pay attention to soft and slightly acidic aquarium water with a low pH value of about 6. A water temperature of about 23-28 °C is ideal. The breeding aquarium may be planted, and a dense blanket of floating plants for darkening has proven successful. After spawning, the adult fish must be removed from the breeding tank. The larvae of the Amapa firefly are initially fed with fine food such as slipper lizards and later also with artemia euplii, microworms and rotifers.

The bright Amapa Glow Tetra is an omnivore and needs very fine food due to its size. A high quality dust food or a very fine granular food for small omnivorous aquarium fish is well suited. Occasionally you should supplement the menu of the Amapa Glow Tetra with very fine Live food such as Artemia nauplii or Grindal worms, small mosquito larvae or copepods and fine frozen food.

Our recommendation: The NatureHolic Main Feed is a professional staple feed for all aquarium fish. We supply Hauptfeed in the form of soft granules, which, thanks to its grain size of half a millimeter, can be easily absorbed by small to medium-sized fish. The soft consistency resembles the texture of insect larvae in nature and protects the fish mouth from micro-injuries.

Our plant recommendation: For planting, use NatureHolic InVitros. These are free of snails, planaria and other unwanted co-inhabitants. Also free of algae spores, bacteria and fungi.

Expert Tip: We recommend for fish keeping the NatureHolic 3 Phase Liquid. The care set offers the best all-round protection for your animals. It ensures optimal conditions for successful breeding and keeping.