Hyphessobrycon flammeus
by Kevin Korotev
From Splash, newsletter of the Milwaukee Aquarium Society
Aquarticles
I imagine an old-timer could have taken one look at this fish and known what to do. You
know the type. He/she steps up to a tank, leans over JUST far enough to identify the
species, snorts some unintelligible Latin and proceeds to tell you how to get them to
spawn, "blah-blah-78 degrees-blah-blah-3 days later-blah blah…" The
old-timer will then walk away leaving you humbled. An experience like that also leaves me
a little miffed. I want to shout at their back, "OH YAH? Well, come back here and
write that down…"
That’s why we’re asked to write articles, I guess.
Hyphessobrycon flammeus is one of those "bred by the thousands"
Florida farm tetras. I’ve seen it named "flame" and "von rio". It
is of the same basic body shape of the serpae and the yellow tetra. It’s an
attractive little fish with red shading that nearly qualifies as ‘rose’.
With tetras, I’m learning to isolate the sexes for a time before attempting a
spawn. This practice benefits the female by giving her time to produce eggs without mating
pressure. This separation also gives the males, if a pugnacious species, time to heal and
fatten up. The females are put in the prepared spawning tank. The males are put anywhere
you can duplicate the conditions of the female/spawning tank.
I used a 20-gallon long with about 12 gallons of R/O water. I do not know how important
it is to use water this soft. It may be a simple matter of using SOMEWHAT softer water
than what they’re used to. The DIFFERENCE may be the trigger more than the degree of
difference. I packed the bottom and one end with dense plastic plants. I guessed at 76
degrees as a good temperature. It worked, so again, I do not know if this was optimal. The
final preparation was to lower the light intensity. The 30" strip light was moved to
the back of the top and cocked in a manner that shed the least amount of light.
It doesn’t take long for the females to become heavy with eggs. When they do, add
the males. Some experienced keepers suggest a cessation of feeding at this point. I
didn’t quit altogether, but I did reduce feeding for the next three days. It seemed
to me that if I kept their hunger sated, they may ignore any eggs scattered amongst the
plants. I removed the adults on the third day, because that is the estimated incubation
time. If they’d been left any longer, newly hatched fry would certainly become lunch.
After removing the adults, I turned the lights off and threw a blanket over the tank.
I’m told that some young tetras are light sensitive. If Hyphessobrycon flammeus
is one of them, then I’m a genius. If not; no harm was done.
The first of what became hundreds of fry appeared within hours of removing the adults
and draping the tank. I felt like a kid again sneaking under the blanket with my little
flashlight to spy on the wigglers.
Within a few days, I replaced half the water with aged tap (R/O water being void of
mineral content) and slowly re-lit the tank. Micro-worms and paramecium were only
necessary for a short time. Baby brine shrimp were taken soon after.
So, if the old-timer does a "blah-blah-blah…" on your tank of Hyphessobrycon
flammeus, you can now say something like, "Oh yah? Did you incubate in the
dark?" or, "Did you use straight R/O?" See who’s humbled then.
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