NEWS102
14
The first
Tyttocharaxcochui
arrivedas food fishes for leaf-fishes in1949.
Tyttocharaxmadeirae
canbe recognizedby thedark tips to theunpaired fins.
Lexicon
Tyttocharax cochui
Microbrycon:
means“tinyBrycon”;Brycon is
another tetragenus.
Pterobrycon:
means“wingedBrycon”
Tyttocharax:
means“small Charax”;Charax is
another tetragenus
cochui:name inhonor of the
exporter FredCochuof Paramount
Aquarium
madeirae:
means“of the (Rio)Madeira”, the
type locality
tambopatensis:means“of the
Tambopata (River)”
mentioned several times, theygrow toonly
2-3cm long–all
Tyttocharax
speciesareeasy
tomaintain intheaquarium.Theyare robust
little fishes that can generally also be
maintained in the company of other
peaceful species. If you decide to keep
them in a species aquarium, then it
shouldn’t be too small, as these tetras are
extremely lively fishes that require space
inorder todisplay their natural behavior.
Tyttocharax
are very peaceful and leave
aquatic vegetation completely alone.These
fisheswill accept all the usual fish foods of
suitablesize,generally includingdried foods
as well. The water in the natural habitat is
soft and slightlyacid,while in theaquarium
Tyttocharax
have proved undemanding in
this respect,as longasthewaterparameters
avoidextremes.Waterwithahardnessof 5-
20°dGHandapHof6.5–7.5 isverysuitable,
although neither hardness nor pH should
fluctuateona regularbasis.
These tetras are shoaling fishes or – more
accurately–social fishes.Theyareonlyrarely
seen swimming in regular shoals.But there
is always something going on in an
aquarium with
Tyttocharax
, as these little
fishes chase one another and display
constantly.Ifyoudecide tokeep
Tyttocharax
then you should obtain no fewer than 10,
better 20 individuals. These tetras are
uninteresting if kept singlyor in too small a
group.
Breeding
Asalreadymentioned,Roloff spawned the
first
Tyttocharax
cochui
imported.
However detailed breeding reports are
lacking to the present day. These little
fishes practice internal fertilization, but
the details of how they go about it is
somethingonly theaquaristsof theworld
can find out. When attempting to breed
them it is important that plants are
available, so that the females can lay their
eggs on the undersides of the leaves.
Ludwigia
and similar plants that grow up
to the water’s surface are particularly
suitable for the purpose, as
Tyttocharax
are reluctant to leave the upper third of
thewatercolumn. It isalsowise tousesoft
waterwithapHof around6 for breeding.
