Lantern carrier - Hemigrammus ocellifer

The South American tetra or lantern bearer (Hemigrammus ocellifer), which grows to a maximum length of 4.5 to 5 cm, comes from the Amazon basin, where it is fairly widespread and occurs mainly near the shore in slow-flowing or stagnant waters in floodplains. It is relatively high-backed for a tetra. Tail light tetras are largely silvery and have a black spot at the base of the caudal fin and the bright glowing spot that gives them their name (the tail light or lantern, respectively). The iris of the eye is red in the upper half, giving the fish a distinctive expression. The females are a little more high-backed and bulky than the males, and in the males the clearly visible swim bladder is somewhat bent downward. For the aquarium hobby the lantern fish was imported for the first time more than 100 years ago and since then it enjoys high popularity.

Hemigrammus ocellifer is a very peaceful small remaining schooling fish, which likes to group into a school in stressful situations. When the fish are relaxed, they tend to be solitary or in groups. A shoal should contain at least 10 animals. An aquarium from 60, better from 80 cm edge length is recommended for the lantern fish. In soft to medium hard water with a pH-value up to 7 and a certain humic substance content the tetra feels very well. The water temperature should be 22 to 26 °C. In the aquarium, the Lantern Tetra likes dense stands of plants at the edge and space to swim in the center ofthe aquarium.

In a separate breeding aqu arium Hemigrammus ocellifer can be bred, although a few things have to be considered: The lantern bearer here would rather like soft water with a low pH value of about 5.0 to 7 and a temperature increase to about 28 °C. The breeding aquarium should be somewhat shaded with floating plants. Moss clumps are added to the aquarium for spawning. For breeding the tetras can be kept in pairs or as a small shoal. The lantern tetra is a free spawner and a spawn predator. After spawning, the adult fish must be removed from the breeding aquarium. After 30 hours the fry hatch, after about 3 days the larvae start to swim freely. Then the yolk sac is used up and they have to be fed. Finest dry food or infusoria are suitable for this. Young tetra grow up quite fast and can handle artemia euplii already after two weeks. Microworms and cyclops are also good food for the growing ornamental fish. Since they can be bred well, the tail light tetras in the aquaristics come meanwhile quite predominantly no longer from nature, it concerns after-breedings.

Like most tetras, the lantern tetra is an omnivore. In the wild it likes to eat plant remains as well as worms, small crustaceans, insects or insect larvae. Besides live food and frozen food, a high quality flake food or a granulated food of good quality is certainly the right choice for aquarium fish.

The relatively small remaining taillights do not go for larger shrimp, but small juvenile shrimp are part of their natural food spectrum and can certainly be fed. Socialization with a well reproducing, robust species such as Neocaridina or Sulawesi Domestic Shrimp, but also with the larger Fan Shr imp or with Amano Shrimp works well. Hemigrammus ocellifer can also be socialized very well with peaceful dwarf crayfish . Other tetras and other peaceful aquarium fish also fit in a community tank with the lantern fish.

Our food recommendation: This NatureHolic Main Feed is a professional staple feed for all aquarium fish. Main feed we supply in the form of soft granules, which thanks to its grain size of half a millimeter can be easily absorbed by small to medium-sized fish. The soft consistency resembles the texture of insect larvae in nature and protects the fish mouth from micro-injuries.

Our plant recommendation: Use for planting NatureHolic InVitros. These are free of snails, planarians and other unwanted co-inhabitants. Also free from algae spores, bacteria and fungi.

Expert Tip: We recommend for fish keeping the NatureHolic 3 Phase Liquid. The care set offers the best all-round protection for your animals. It ensures optimal conditions for successful breeding and keeping.