FishProfiles.com Message Forums

hi folks - i've just purchased a trio of splash tetras!!!
i had never seen them before, tho i've got footage of them breeding on video (geek!). anyone got any experience with these beautiful fellas?

thanks, justin

someone has recommended splash tetras to me for surface dwellers but i have never heard of them and cant fin any info on the either, so i will join your call for help.

Splashing Tetras, Copella arnoldi, are attractive and relatively peaceful Characins, suitable for a community aquarium containing similar sized fishes, but which have a trick up their sleeve that makes them one of Nature's showpieces - this is the ONLY fish in the entire world that lays its eggs out of water!

Ruda Zukal wrote an article, published in the February 1977 edition of Tropical Fish Hobbyist magazine, which includes colour photographs of the species in action during spawning. For those aquarists intent upon trying out this unique species and its acrobatic reproduction, some of the notes from his article will be useful.

First, persuading this species to spawn is not particularly difficult. All that is usually required is a correctly set up aquarium, and good feeding. The fishes will enthusiastically do the rest! A breeding aquarium for this species should have a gap of approximately 2 inches between the water surface and the cover glass, and onto the cover glass, one or more broad green plant leaves (or a synthetic substitute) can be placed. Aquarium temperature for breeding should be 25°C or 26°C, and the water should ideally be slightly acidic and soft (low mineral content), resembling their native South American waters. However, the species is adaptable, and if it shows signs of engaging in enthusiastic spawning in your regular aquarium water, stick with what works! The aquarium should furthermore be furnished with plant thickets interspersed with open spaces, the reason for this becoming apparent later. Cabomba or Hygrophyla are pretty good choices for this.

Introduce into this breeding aquarium several females, and condition them with live food beforehand for two to three days. Then, introduce the male. The difference in finnage makes determining the gender of this fish easy, apart from anything else, the male has an asymmetrical tail, with the upper lobe enlarged. In breeding plumage, so to speak, the male is resplendent, and he soon begins taking an interest in the 'leaves' above the water. When this happens, and he starts adopting a distinct head-up posture in the water, the females start taking an interest in him.

Zukal mentions a fact that will be of use to the aquarist, and was of use to him when photographing the species in action. Instead of hanging around with the camera gear for 12 hours per day, waiting for the fish to spawn, he discovered that the fish respond to changes in barometric pressure. A sudden sharp drop is usually associated with the onset of rain, and the species is all the more likely to spawn after such a drop. This allowed Zukal to plan his photo shoot, and produce the spectacular photographs seen in the article.

Spawning begins when one of the females moves side by side with the male, at a head-up vertical angle. Suddenly, the pair will launch themselves out of the water like rockets, and stick to the underside of the cover glass beneath the 'leaf'. How they achieve this is still not fully known, but they manage to adhere to the cover glass long enough to deposit up to a dozen eggs. The male will accept invitations to spawn from every ripe female in the vicinity, and pretty soon, the aquarist will have over 100 eggs to watch over! Considering the gymnastics involved in this reproductive procedure, all the eggs are fertilised, which is quite an achievement!

Once the females no longer contain eggs, they lose interest in the proceedings altogether. At this point, they can be removed. The male, however, launches into caring for the eggs. He hovers strategically, not unlike a U-Boat waiting to pounce upon unsuspecting shipping, at a suitable vantage point, usually under the cover of the plant thickets thoughtfully provided by the aquarist as cited above, and periodically darts out to splash the eggs with his tail fin. Thus the male solves the problem of keeping the eggs moist quite neatly.

Hatching time is around 48 hours after fertilisation, and the fry simply fall into the water. At this point, the male can be removed, and the usual feeding régime for Characin fry implemented. Infusoria and newly hatched brine shrimp are the foods of choice, though a preparation such as Liquifry can aslo be used. Zukal states that the growth rate of the fry for the first month is relatively slow, then speeds up noticeably in the second month. Even so, with a reasonable degree of care and attention, the aquarist can expect to raise a fine lot of fish in about 3 to 4 months.

Incidentally, if anyone can obtain that back number of TFH, the photographs taken by Zukal are stunning - he actually managed to capture the moment at which male and female left the water, heads out of the water, tails still submerged, a feat which makes the article marvellous to behold even today, 27 years after it was first published!

Needless to say, from the standpoint of general maintenance, this species MUST be kept covered at all times. Its spawning gymnastics leave the aquarist in no doubt that this is truly a rocket-propelled jumper, capable of travelling a fair distance through the air, and if losses due to unwanted aerial excursions are to be avoided, a cover glass is essential. Other than that, it is undemanding in its maintenance requirements, males in particular are showy and graceful aquarium occupants, and the fish is also noted for its peaceful disposition, making it suitable for mixed Characin or other community setups with such fishes as Corydoras, Barbs (except fin-nippers such as Tiger Barbs), Rasboras and Danios. When not spawning, maintenance temperature should be around 22°C or 23°C, as the Splashing Tetra naturally inhabits shaded waters with overhanging vegetation that are slightly cooler than those exposed to the full glare of the tropical sun. Oh, and the species is fond of jumping out of the water to catch small flying insects, so if you have access to mosquito larvae, allowing some to become adult mosquitoes, then letting these loose under the cover glass, will give the Splashing Tetra some fine sport and help condition the adults for breeding into the bargain. The article mentions that Dr Herbert R. Axelrod examined the stomach contents of Copella arnoldi in the wild, around the Rio Trombetas, and every specimen examined contained ants in its stomach, so the species is definitely insectivorous in the wild. Consequently fruit flies and mosquito larvae, as well as adult mosquitoes, will probably be the best foods for conditioning breeding adults, with Daphnia and other perennial favourites following closely behind.

For those who want one of Nature's real showpieces, a spawning novelty that is relatively undemanding, handsome in appearance, and astonishing to behold in action, the Splashing Tetra fits the bill nicely. Give six or eight spceimens a home, and you too could witness its stunning gymnastics - the only fish that lays its eggs out of water!



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I have a group of 4 splashing or splash tetras (whatever you like to call them) and they are a very beautiful and peaceful fish. Unfortunetely I think mine are all males, although one of them, has a suspiciously shorter upper caudal fin, but it is still longer than the lower caudal fin. I was the one who suggested them to you

thanks for the info - my splashes are breeding as i type, very cool!!! (as are my pencilfish and sterbai....spring is in the air!)

Jase, if you can get pictures of them breeding, this will be a major achievement ... especially if you catch them in mid leap as Zukal did for the photos in his TFH article ... he must have shot a LOT of film rolls to get those pics!

Needless to say, congratulations on your breeding success. Post pics of the fry when they hatch and let us all go dewy-eyed over the babies!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Could someone post a picture of these guys. I woudl LOVE to see what they look like.

Pics and spawning attempts account:

Splashing Tetras Page 1

Another pic plus some info:

Splashing Tetras Page 2

Russian page with some good pics of Pencilfish and Splashing Tetras:

Splashing Tetras page 3

Excellent shot of male:

Spalshing Tetras Page 4

Enjoy!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Hey Thanks That REALLY helped Those are some cool looking fish! I wonder if I coudl find any of those around here... oh yea and woudl they be a good community fish I have a 10 gallon community tank I am trying to redo what does everyone think?

Last edited by dvmchrissy at 13-Oct-2005 12:34

really nice looking fish, I'm going to have to look around for some too!

---

I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.
~ Mae West