Scientific Name: Hasemania nana, Lütken, 1875

Family: Characidae

Origin: South America / São Francisco River Basin

Sociability: School

pH: 6.0 to 7.2

Temperature: 22 to 28°C

Water hardness: soft to medium

Life expectancy: About 5 years

Maintenance: Easy

Adult Size: Approximately 5 cm

Food: Omnivorous, accepts everything, to encourage reproduction and keep your fish healthy and with beautiful colors, it is recommended to offer live food at least once a week.

Recommended Ration: MegaFood Tropical Basic accompanied by MegaFood Spirulina

Sexual dimorphism: The male is smaller, more colorful and the belly is straight. The female has a less intense coloration, the belly is plump and is larger than the male. Important: these characteristics appear in fish at the end of the juvenile stage and in adults, the sexual difference between offspring is more difficult to be observed.

Behavior: They are schooling and peaceful fish.

Reproduction: Oviparous, are considered free spreaders, as the female releases her eggs into the water and the male swims around fertilizing them. Eggs hatch within a few hours when kept at a higher temperature and after two or three days of hatching the fingerlings have already consumed the contents of the yolk sac and begin to swim.

There is no parental care among fish of this species, from the moment the pups are free-swimming, specific rations can be offered for oviparous fingerlings and live food such as infusoria, microworms, brine shrimp, as the pups grow food larger living can be offered.

Newborn eggs and fingerlings are very sensitive to light, so an aquarium with several floating plants to attenuate the light is necessary.

It is recommended to use an internal foam filter or put perlon in the water inlet of the external filter to avoid sucking the puppies, when in aquariums suitable for reproduction.

Minimum aquarium size: 50 liters.

Other information: As they are shoal, these tetrinhas should not be kept in groups of less than 5 individuals, the larger the shoal, the more natural their behavior. The disputes over territory or females are magnificent to watch, the males (usually the biggest among them) face off and display their fins and colors in as much splendor as possible. They are beautiful fish for planted and themed aquariums!

The genus Hasemania is one of the few among the Characidae family in which the species does not have an adipose fin.

These fish show their coloration vividly only when kept in an ideal environment, fish in a stressful situation (store batteries, right after transport, etc.) can show a very pale color, which is easily reversed when transferred to a location with parameters and species-appropriate needs.

It is extremely important to monitor the water parameters, for which periodic pH, GH, KH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate tests are recommended. There are products that constantly test certain parameters, without the aquarist needing to do them all the time, and that allow 24-hour monitoring, they are Seachem Ammonia Alert and Seachem pH Alert – both available in our “Medicines and Tests” area. All other chemical tests can also be found in the same above-mentioned area of ​​the website.

Equally important is the constant maintenance of the water temperature to avoid sudden drops that can lead to the weakening of the animal’s immune system and the emergence of diseases. This maintenance is achieved with the aid of heaters and/or thermostats – the latter being the most recommended, as they have a mechanism that controls the temperature, thus avoiding excessive heating of the aquarium water – and it is monitored using thermometers that can be either internal and external. Accessing our area entitled “Temperature” you will find several options for thermometers, heaters and thermostats.

Fish that can be placed with tetras: Tetras are shoals, you must place 3 units (minimum) of the same type of each tetra. In addition to other male and female tetras of any other variants, you can place them together with all small and medium-sized acidic fish. Do not place them with adult mites or river fish (they can eat them if they fit in your mouth). You can adapt them to neutral pH and place with all fish of this pH. We don’t recommend putting it in alkaline pH, as it decreases its life expectancy from hours (depends on the acclimatization) to years and will silently mistreat them, forcing its nature (we don’t agree).

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Scientific name(s): Astronotus ocellatus

Family: Cichlid

pH: 6.5 – 7.2

Temperature: Does not tolerate cold water. Ideal 22 – 25 °C

Sexual Dysmorphism: Few differences. Males a little bigger and more colorful as adults.

Food: Omnivore

Recommended Ration: MegaFood Carnivores  and as a complement MegaFood Tenebrio

Reproduction: Oviparous

Geographic origin: South America

The Oscar Fish is one of the several types of Acará Fish that exist. It is a fish of the Cichlid family and its scientific name is Astronotus Ocellatus.

Types of Oscar Fish: There are several types of Oscar fish like Oscar albino, Oscar albino pink, Oscar albino red, Oscar albino red tiger, Oscar black, Oscar tiger, Oscar bronze and the Oscar veil.

Care: Oscar Fish is fast growing and widely used in aquarium fish. In nature, its geographical distribution is in the Amazon basin and dams in the Northeast and Southeast. Oscar fish prefers a slightly acidic pH, between 6.5 and 6.8.

When raised in aquariums, partial water changes (20%) should be done more often in summer than in winter. The temperature must be between 21 and 26°C, at lower temperatures Oscar can stop feeding.

Oscar needs 12 hours of dark and 12 hours of light. At night, when at rest, he is almost lying down. Aquariums of 100 to 200 liters are needed for an adult individual and the aquarium must always be covered, as Oscar fish easily jumps out of the aquarium. It has dark coloring and mosaic designs when young and as it grows it gains light and dark patches of grayish green and orange. On the caudal fin there is an ocellus, a dark circular spot surrounded by a bright orange.

His hobby is tinkering with the decoration of the aquarium, even managing to take large stones from one corner to another, turning over the substrate and pulling out plants. There are reports of Oscar who eat from the keeper’s hand, let him caress his back, so they are very nice and sweet fish when used to their owner!

Reproduction: The ideal for reproduction of the Oscar is an aquarium between 200 and 250 liters. The water should be around 28°C.

There is a big stir in the aquarium before mating, and so-called ‘mouth games’ happen, which are a test of strength, where male and female face each other with their mouths wide open. After a few battles and biting each other, the couple move away from the other fish in the aquarium. A tile is placed facing downwards so that they prepare the place for spawning, the female lays the eggs in a circular motion while the male fertilizes them between 800 and 2,000 eggs.

After spawning, there is a great agitation in the water caused by the fish, with their fins, to oxygenate the eggs, and as a defense and protection against the attack of fungi and bacteria. After 3 or 4 days the eggs will hatch. The male then transports the fingerlings in his mouth to holes he makes in the substrate, taking care of them until they can swim on their own.

In the first days the fingerlings feed on the yolk sac. When this is finished, it is necessary to provide food such as beef pates, liver and non-fat fish, microworms and newly hatched brine shrimp. They should be fed every two hours in moderation.

For adults there are specific foods for carnivores, they also like small fish, heart and liver in small pieces. Vitamin ¨E¨ is essential in your diet, for its good development and good reproduction.

Always remember to have good filtration in the aquarium.

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Scientific Name: Betta splendens

Family: Osphronemids

Habitat: Southwest Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar)

pH: min: 6.8 max: 7.4

Temperature: min: 24° max: 28°

Hardness: min:4 max:8

Maximum Size: 6 cm

Sociability: Males are very territorial for this reason you can only have one male per aquarium, females are also territorial but they can keep together.

Maintenance: Easy

Aquarium Zone: Surface and half aquarium.

Food: Omnivore. Live food, specific feed, larvae, brine shrimp.

Recommended Ration: MegaFood Betta

Characteristics: This fish has the particularity of breathing atmospheric air thanks to organs called labyrinths that make the air pass very close to the bloodstream, providing the exchange of oxygen with the blood through diffusion.

Reproduction: Oviparous, males defend their territory formed around a bubble nest that they build and defend. The females “visit” the males who court them until they release the eggs, then and after fertilization the males place the eggs in the nest and expel the female from the territory. The hatch takes between 24 to 48 hours.

Sexual Dimorphism: Males usually have longer fins than females, the exception is the Plakat male that is confused with a female as it does not have as long fins as other males.

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