Glowlight Tetra Care | Hemigrammus Erythrozonus

The Glowlight Tetra is a beautiful freshwater fish of the Tetra family. Its scientific name is Hemigrammus Erythrozonus. Glowlight tetra fish is a type of tetra fish that has a nice bright strip along their body. The color of their body shows up in a dimmed aquarium light. A school of glowlight tetra fish can impress any person; it seems like a group of small glowing bulb moving together.

With aging, the body color of the glowlight tetra becomes more and more saturated. Therefore, the fish acquires a better appearance. Glowlight Tetra is unquestionably beautiful and surprisingly very easy to care too. The fish originated from the clear streams of South America. Glowlight tetra fish are a great addition to any community aquarium.

Glowlight tetras are a schooling fish, so you will want to buy at least six or more. The Glowlight Tetra is a very beautiful tetra with an orange-red stripe that runs along its semitransparent body. Adequate levels of aquarium lighting with a dark fish tank bottom can help improve the colors of the Hemigrammus Erythrozonus. Compared to other commonly available tetras, glowlights are slightly smaller. Regardless of their size, this fish should be kept with species of similar size and non-aggressive. Like other small tetras, such as the Neon Tetras. This fish will do its best in an aquarium with live plants and natural habitat and will perform better in small schools (shallows) of 5 or more.

Glowlight tetra adds beauty to a heavily planted tank whereas the plants provide a hiding place for the fish.

Prevention Is Better Than Cure:

Always Wear a Protective Mask when you go out. Its better to use a N95 Mask.
Always Wear a safety Goggles.
Make Sure you Wash your hand with a soap for at least 20 Seconds.
Carry A sanitizer when you go out.

Origin and Distribution

Glowlight Tetra comes from the Essequibo basin in Guyana and has been found living on the Essequibo, Mazaruni and Potaro rivers. The areas of these waters are tannins. This condition makes the water naturally soft and acidic, giving a perfect condition for the Glowlight Tetra to thrive. Previously it was named as Hemigrammus Gracilis, but scientists changed it later to the current name, Hemigrammus Erythrozonus. However, scientists endure to study this Glowlight tetra fish and, ultimately, can move it to the Cheirodon genus. Today Glowlight tetras are bred in Asia and Germany and distributed across the globe.

Characteristics

Scientific name: Hemigrammus Erythrozonus

Common Names: Glowlights, Glowlight Tetra, Fire Neon Tetra

Origin: South America (Guyana)

Family: Characidae

Adult Size: 1-1.5 inches

Behavior: Peaceful and Schooling

Lifespan: 4-5 years

Tank Size: at least 10-Gallons

Diet: Food Pallets, Food Flakes, Brine Shrimps, Larva (Omnivore)

Breeding: Egg Scatterer

Ease of breeding: Easy

Substrate Type: Dark Preferable, Any

Lightings: Low to Medium (Need of complete Darkness for reproduction)

pH: 5.5-7.5

Water Hardness: 4dGH to 15 dGH

Water Movement: Moderate

Temperature: 74-82 F

Breeding Temperature: 82 F

Care: Easy

Glowlight Tetra Habitat and Care

The habitat of Glowlight Tetra is in the north of South America. These fish are found in small rivers with the turfy bottom which is created by rotten leaves. This is the reason behind the water of their habitat is brownish and acidic water. The almost complete absence of calcium in the bottom covered with leaves results in a low level of water hardness.

When Glowlight Tetras are kept in a darker tank, they appear to be most attractive. You can easily create a similar habitat from where these tetras come from. For this, you need to choose a darker substrate like aquarium soil, aquarium sand or gravel. For me, aquarium soil works the best since I can create landscapes and aquascape similar to the place glowlight tetra are found. You can even add floating plants to give the final touch to the perfect habitat of Glowlight Tetra.

Glowlight Tetra is hardy fish, and these fish can tolerate a wide range of water parameters. But the ideal water perimeter you need to maintain are:

Soft and slightly acid water
Hardness from 6 to 15 dGH
pH of around 6.6

The warmer temperature in the upper 70s

Colors and Markings

Glowlight Tetra is favorite among hobbyists tetras due to the color and markings on their body. Like most of the tetra fish, they are peaceful and are easy to care for. These fish are quite small as compared to other tetra being only an inch and a half long.

Glowlight Tetra has a translucent silvery body and colorful striped running from head to tail. The red and golden stripes resemble bright glowing bulb, which is the reason it got its name as Glowlight. The stripes are similar to species of Rasbora, commonly known as Glowlight Rasbora.

The fringe resembles the bright filament in a light bulb, hence the common name of Glowlight. The same iridescent red color is present on the anterior edge of the dorsal fin, while snow-white borders the anal and pelvic fins.

Tankmates

Hemigrammus Erythrozonus are school fish; so, you need to keep at least six or more of them to your tank. You can also keep them with other small and non-aggressive fish, including other small Tetras, Barbs, Danios, Cory Catfish, and peaceful Loaches.

Although glowlight tetras are schooling fish, they usually do not group up with other species. You need to be careful while choosing a tankmate for your glowlight tetra fish. Avoid any large fish whose mouth is big than the size of the tetra fish and any predatory fish who can make them a one time snack. The majority of livebearing fish like guppies molly, platy and other tetra species can be an ideal tankmate.

Tankmates:

Same Species: Safe

Peaceful fish: Safe

Aggressive: Threat

Semi-Aggressive: Threat

Plants: Safe

Non-aggressive Invertebrates: Safe (Shrimps, snails, crabs)

Glowlight Tetra Diet

Glowlights are omnivores so; they will eat all kinds of foods. It is essential to feed small-sized foods and vary the diet. It is better to give the fish a small portion at a time feeding then 2 to 3 times a day. Their diet may include; bloodworms, water flea, brine shrimp, food pallet, etc. To keep the Hemigrammus Erythrozonus fish in the best shape and color, you must feed them regularly with live and frozen food. You can purchase different excellent quality food flakes from the market.

I have chosen the best food for your glowlight or any other tetra fish you can buy on Amazon.

Aquarium Care

Glowlight Tetras are hardy fish; they can thrive in a wide water parameter. But as the aquarium is a closed system, regardless of the size of the tank, it needs some maintenance. Over time due to the evaporation of water various chemicals such as nitrates, nitrites, ammonia spikes up due to decomposing organic matter. Therefore, you need to replace your tank water at least once a week. You need to perform a 10% water change every week. Doing a lot of water changes can negatively affect your aquarium nitrogen cycle.

Sexual Differences of Hemigrammus Erythrozonus

The female Glowlights carry eggs so, they are larger compared to males. The male is more slender in the abdomen and is more colorful compared to females.

Breeding the Hemigrammus Erythrozonus

Setup The Breeding Aquarium

To breed glowlight tetras, firstly, you need to separate a breeding pair in a breeding tank about 10 gallons in size without lighting at first and then gradually increase the light until spawning occurs.

Feed them with a high protein diet. Do not overfed females, as some cysts may appear and the glowlight tetra fish may not reproduce later.

Now, you need to add floating plants to the breeding tank “thai plants or any small-leaved plant” will be the best.

The breeding ta should be at the minimum, about 15 Centimeter in height.

When gradually increasing the light intensity, don’t go to its maximum, since glowlight requires a peaceful environment, the light should be soft and dim and cover your tank with dark paper.

Maintain The Required Aquarium Parameter

Glowlight requires a different kind of water chemistry for breeding. Therefore, you need to set the tank water similar to the lakes and rivers where they are found. Prepare the breeding tank with soft water no more than 6dGH and pH between 5.5 and 7.0. Keep the water temperature warm, i.e., 78 to 82 F.

Now let the water settle for 5-6 days.

Introduce Breeding Pair To Breeding Tank

On the 6th day introduce your breeding pair to the breeding tank and leave them as it is. Do not disturb then as it can ruin the whole process. It might take them a day or two to start spawning which can last for an hour or two.

The female glowlight tetra fish lays 50 to 500 eggs depending on the age and reproduction level. After the eggs are laid, you need to separate adults from the eggs since they will eat it. The eggs are transparent or yellowish color. After 30-35 hours larva appears in the eggs. You need to make sure that the tank is well covered and dark.

Care For The Glowlight Tetra Fry

Once they hatch and are free swimmers, you need to feed them with infusorian like brine shrimps for two days then you can give them larger pallets.

During this period the juveniles are susceptible to all kinds of diseases. Therefore you need to take care of water quality, food quality, temperatures, and lightings.

The juveniles grow fast, spending most of their time under plant leaves. When they become one month old, the glowing stripes start appearing on their body. And they start schooling at the age of 1.5 months old.