Hyphessobrycon Amandae – Ember Tetra

Hyphessobrycon Amandae, or commonly known as Ember Tetra, is a small characin from South America. The details for this fish is presented below.

Origin

This fish originated from the Araguaia River basin of Brazil.

Habitat

The Original habitat of Ember tetra are quiet tributaries off the main river channels, backwaters and oxbow lakes. These fishes often gathers under cover of overhanging or marginal vegetation.

Maximum Size

Ember tetras reach a maximum size of only 2 cm, making it popular for smaller aquariums. The minimum tank size for these fishes is 40 Liters.

Water Conditions

Water condition should be slightly acidic with a pH of 5.5 – 7.0 for best colouration. The gH or hardness should be kept between 1 – 10. Best temperature for this species is 24 – 28 degrees Celcius.

Compatibility

This species is better kept with smaller shoaling fishes from the same origin, which are small South American tetras. Do not keep this species with larger sized fishes as the ember tetras will become snacks. Keep more than 6 of their own kind for shoaling purposes. Solitary ember tetras rarely have good appetites, which cause them to starve and die.

Top 5 Foreground Carpet Plants

Starting a new tank and still wondering what foreground carpet plants to use? This list will show you five of the foreground carpet plants that are commonly used in an aquascape to create a stunning underwater scenery.

Aquascaping Styles

Since aquascaping is a form of art, naturally there will be many different styles associated with it. Presently, there are two major aquascaping styles that are widely known to aquascapers. They are the Dutch style aquarium and the nature style aquarium. There are many other aquascaping styles such as the Taiwan style aquarium and the biotope aquarium, but these are not as common as the Dutch and nature style aquarium. Below is an explanation of the two main styles.

Low-Tech vs. High-Tech

There are two main types of aquarium setup: Low-tech and High-tech.

Low-tech aquarium, in theory, is an aquarium where we use minimal light or sunlight, no fertilizers, no carbon dioxide injections and no water changes. This type of aquarium works by having excess fish food and wastes that supply the plants’ nutritional needs. Lighting is supplied minimally using normal output fluorescent lamp or sunlight. Carbon dioxide is supplied by the respiration of fishes and the decomposition of mulm or organic matters inside of the aquarium. Water changes are not necessary in this type of aquarium because water changes could upset the chemistry of the established aquarium ecosystem. Ordinary soil are used as the bottom-layer substrate because of its rich natural content, most importantly, Carbon. This type of aquarium is self-sustaining through the complex interaction of organisms inside the aquarium. A book by Diana Walstad called Ecology of the Planted Aquarium covers every aspect of a low-tech, low-light aquarium.

What is an Aquascape?

An aquascape, basically, is an aquarium tank filled with live or plastic plants that are creatively arranged to simulate underwater gardens or to replicate a specific landscape in nature. A beautiful underwater garden or landscape can be created relatively easily today than ever before because of technological advancements that promotes the ease of creation and maintenance of a planted aquarium.