NEWS108
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until thenext dryperiod. "ACardinal Tetra
thatmanages tosurvive from the previous
year in the Rio Negro is a real veteran,“
jokesScott.
In the course of evolution the fishes have
adapted to theextreme livingconditions in
the dark, humin-stained, very soft water
and have sometimes evolved surprising,
evenbizarre lifestyles:theMarbledHatchet-
fish,everpopular in theaquarium,can leap
a longwayout ofwater,as cana tetra spe-
cies that jumps out of thewater to spawn,
attaching itseggs to theundersidesof lea-
ves and thus protecting them frompreda-
tors.
Weat amtrahaveworkedcloselywithPro-
ject Piaba right from the start.Theproject
is an ideal fitwith theprecept towhichwe
havededicatedourselvesatamtra formore
than 25 years – keeping fishes following
Nature'sexample.Forcarefulpreparationof
thewater is indispensable inprovidingof
the piaba with a natural biotope in their
newhome, the aquarium. But thismeans
avoidingchemicallyaggressivesubstances
thatcanspoil thewater.amtrahas reliedon
thepowerofNaturesince1986.amtra is the
only company on the market to offer a
mains-waterconditioner thatcontainsonly
pure, natural ingredients, and specifically
the substances that are present in large
amounts in tropical soft-water rivers and
streams, the so-calledDOC (dissolvedoxy-
gen carbon) compounds.Theseare, for ex-
ample, responsible for thedark amber co-
loration of the RioNegro, the home of by
far themostpopularaquarium fish,theCar-
dinalTetra.
Ifyouhaveanyotherproblems thenalways
ask for thenatural solution fromamtra.Your
localaquariumstorewillbepleased tohelp
you.
Becausewe at amtra, just like theUN, are
convincedof thesenseofProjectPiabaEco
Amazon,wepromote itwhereverpossible.
You cando soaswell bybuyingamtrapro
nature products.We undertake todonate
partofourprofits toProjectPiabaEcoAma-
zon.
Scott Dowd andwe at amtra areworking
together on a new idea, the development
of aQRcode.Scanning thiswill link theor-
namental fish enthusiastwith awebpage
wherehecanseehowhecanhelppreserve
one of the world's unique landscapes by
buying piaba and amtra products. "if it
helps the families tomake a living inhar-
monywith the uniqueworld of theAma-
zon, then it isagood thing," saysScott.
Weagree,andwe'reworkingon it.
Impressionof theRioNegro, thehomeof theCardinalTetra andmanyotherpopular aquarium fishes.
Aquarium-fishcollector atwork.
