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Splash tetra - Copella arnoldi

MaverickGR

MaverickGR

Member
Joined
14 Oct 2019
Messages
26
Location
Athens, Greece
Hi all, I have a very specific question regarding the splashing tetras Copella arnoldi. I have set up a riparium specifically to accommodate these fish (see pic below), along with a group of bronze corys which are already in there now. I know these fish leap out of the water to spawn and I have read in several forums that aquarists have lost fish through small gaps in their lids. However, I have read from other sources that the fish can "only" jump up to 10-15 cm from the surface. In my riparium, the distance from the surface to the open top is 36 cm (~14").
So my question is this: Do I need a lid in my tank? tango_face_smile.png

Thank you in advance for your replies!

IMG_20190809_194000_2.jpg
 
Great! Thank you both for your input, I will be receiving the fish tomorrow (hopefully) so I will update the thread in the next few days 🙂
 
The fish are in, they were very shy in the beginning, only swimming in the back of the tank under the hanging planters. After a while they started swimming around in the rest of the tank, but they quickly retreated in the covered areas when they felt threatened. They ate a bit but not with much appetite, I will try some newly hatched BBS which will probably do the trick...

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Today I saw two males competing, they had developed a darker colour band on their sides. The fish hang out more in the open space generally. It seems they have started habituating in their new home 🙂

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Thanks, I've seen this paper, I've looked for all relevant published articles before purchasing them (I happen to be a Biologist 😉). Truly fascinating fish!

They seem to enjoy the added Pistia too...
 
A small update, the fish seem well habituated, they swim everywhere in the tank and are not too frightened when I pass by. They also have a good appetite now (in the beginning they were a bit hesitant to eat)! Males are sparring occasionally and the females have started developing an orange hue above their bellies, but I haven't seen any other signs of breeding behaviour (leaps etc).

 
Hello again, one of the males has been repeatedly leaping on the front panel of the tank for the last two days. I assume he has picked this spot because it has very little water flow/surface agitation. He chases away all the other males that enter this area, but he also chases females away, which I found weird... Perhaps he can tell that they're not ready to mate from their behaviour/posture? I'd appreciate some info on how to tell if the females are ready for breeding or not 🙂

Last time I measured my parameters, I had a pH of 8.03, dGH 10 and dKH 6, which are all on the high end of their range. I was thinking of adding some peat moss to lower the pH and soften the water a bit, but since I am already seeing some first signs of spawning behaviour, perhaps I shouldn't really change things... What do you think?

 
I got the first eggs today on the front panel! 🙂 I saw some increased activity last night, females were very close to the male doing the test leaps. Today I found the eggs, they were probably laid very early in the morning. I saw the male splashing them once before I left for work. Since it's a very small batch (probably their first try) I will just leave them there to see what happens and I'll wait for a larger batch to try and raise some fry.

IMG_20191106_082531.jpg

PS: I never got around to add the peat so I think I will not change anything regarding conditions...
 
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I've got good news and bad news 🙄

The bad news are that the eggs had dried out when I went home in the evening, the male had probably stopped splashing them at some point. My tank is open top, so the humidity is not very high above the surface, which could also have contributed to this... The good news is that I found quite a few eggs (also dried) on the back panel, between the planters, which means that the fish have been spawning frequently in the last few days. I guess the males are young/inexperienced and they can't take good care of the eggs. Hopefully they will become better at this 😉

I have now added a couple pieces of plastic sheet attached to the glass with suction cups (as spawning surfaces) so that I can remove the eggs easily if they lay them there. I'll keep you guys posted...
 
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