# Red Ember Tetra



## dbrack (Aug 9, 2013)

Picked up some Red ember tetra today from Kettering aquatics. I got 7 and they are currently shoaling well with my neons. Their colours should pick up with age and as they become adjusted to their new tank. Sorry for picture quality outside of tank needs a clean and the camera isnt great 










here they can be seen (sort of) shoaling with my neons. photobombed by my bristlenose in the background.


----------



## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

dbrack said:


> Picked up some Red ember tetra today from Kettering aquatics. I got 7 and they are currently shoaling well with my neons. Their colours should pick up with age and as they become adjusted to their new tank. Sorry for picture quality outside of tank needs a clean and the camera isnt great
> 
> image
> 
> ...


way to go! red embers aren't common.


----------



## dbrack (Aug 9, 2013)

wilkinss77 said:


> way to go! red embers aren't common.


so I've heard, saw them listed on their site an thought id snap a few up while they had them . first time I've seen them and its always nice to have some slightly less common fish ! :lol2:


----------



## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

dbrack said:


> so I've heard, saw them listed on their site an thought id snap a few up while they had them . first time I've seen them and its always nice to have some slightly less common fish ! :lol2:


i managed to get 2 microsynodontis batesii cats- never seen them before! a shop on canvey island got them (dazdaraz on this forum works there). i pm'd him to ask what unusual stuff he could get, & m. batesii (wrongly listed as m. polli, as it often is) was one of them! so i rushed down there & grabbed a couple. they look like SE asian bumblebee cats (leiocassis siamensis) but only grow to 2", & unlike L.siamensis, aren't predatory, but have a synodontis type diet, & are more diurnal- they dash out to feed during the day.


----------



## dbrack (Aug 9, 2013)

wilkinss77 said:


> i managed to get 2 microsynodontis batesii cats- never seen them before! a shop on canvey island got them (dazdaraz on this forum works there). i pm'd him to ask what unusual stuff he could get, & m. batesii (wrongly listed as m. polli, as it often is) was one of them! so i rushed down there & grabbed a couple. they look like SE asian bumblebee cats (leiocassis siamensis) but only grow to 2", & unlike L.siamensis, aren't predatory, but have a synodontis type diet, & are more diurnal- they dash out to feed during the day.


Nice, I vaguely remember your post about the batesii I beleive. Its always nice to have something uncommon, however saying that, I still love my neons and you dont get much more common than a neon :lol2:


----------



## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

dbrack said:


> Nice, I vaguely remember your post about the batesii I beleive. Its always nice to have something uncommon, however saying that, I still love my neons and you dont get much more common than a neon :lol2:


i've also seen yesterday in swallow aquatics:
synodontis alberti (albert's syno)
s. flavitaeniatus (pyjama syno)
s. schoutedeni. (marbled syno)

all were a good size, 3-4''. all were also several of each. might get 2 of the flavi's for my 20 gal tank.


----------



## dbrack (Aug 9, 2013)

wilkinss77 said:


> i've also seen yesterday in swallow aquatics:
> synodontis alberti (albert's syno)
> s. flavitaeniatus (pyjama syno)
> s. schoutedeni. (marbled syno)
> ...


Never seen any of them in a shop before. Didnt know you had a 20gal? Thought you just had the Rekord 60. How many have you got?


----------



## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

dbrack said:


> Never seen any of them in a shop before. Didnt know you had a 20gal? Thought you just had the Rekord 60. How many have you got?


total of 3 tanks- the 20 gal is 2'x18''x18''. i also have a 9 gal marine nano cube tank, but that's just ticking over at the mo, as it's overrun with hair algae.


----------



## dbrack (Aug 9, 2013)

wilkinss77 said:


> total of 3 tanks- the 20 gal is 2'x18''x18''. i also have a 9 gal marine nano cube tank, but that's just ticking over at the mo, as it's overrun with hair algae.


hair algae, the bane of my fish keeping experience. just cant shed the stuff. :lol2:


----------



## LawrenceJMitchell (Feb 8, 2013)

Hi 
I have kept Red Embers before.........I kept them with Cardinal Tetras, Pencil Fish, Siamese Fighters and ****** Loaches. I think they are great and you have done the right thing by having a shoal. I fed mine three times a day very lightly...as they are so small they benefit from this regime as they have no real body fat and would feed gently and constantly in the wild.

Try adding some dead Beech and Oak leaves......beneficial to South Americans
All the best!
Lawrence


----------



## dbrack (Aug 9, 2013)

LawrenceJMitchell said:


> Hi
> I have kept Red Embers before.........I kept them with Cardinal Tetras, Pencil Fish, Siamese Fighters and ****** Loaches. I think they are great and you have done the right thing by having a shoal. I fed mine three times a day very lightly...as they are so small they benefit from this regime as they have no real body fat and would feed gently and constantly in the wild.
> 
> Try adding some dead Beech and Oak leaves......beneficial to South Americans
> ...


Three times a day? Only ever really fed with flake once a day.? Mine are currently with neons, a bristlenose, a couple of ******* and 1 peppered corydora (will shortly be adding more corys). What are the benefits of adding beech or oak leaves? never heard of anyone doing that before


----------



## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

dbrack said:


> Three times a day? Only ever really fed with flake once a day.? Mine are currently with neons, a bristlenose, a couple of ******* and 1 peppered corydora (will shortly be adding more corys). What are the benefits of adding beech or oak leaves? never heard of anyone doing that before


PFK magazine often recommends them- i think they provide blackwater conditions as they rot. try feeding hikari micro pellets if you can get them- they're tiny, pinhead-sized multicoloured pellets that float at first for surface feeders, then sink for middle & bottom feeders. i've found tetras go mad for them as they sink!


----------



## LawrenceJMitchell (Feb 8, 2013)

Hi again!
As above as the leaves breakdown they release tannins and other compounds that seem to complement the type of tropical fish we are keeping.
In their natural environments leaf litter is often in abundance and beneficial if you add it to the tank......especially if your tap water is hard as it will be in most places in the UK.
The micro pellets are an excellent alternative to flake and as they sink a good way to get food down to your loaches and catfish. The ******* would benefit from more.....minimum of four.....and same for your Corydorus....again three minimum. Also try sinking tablet foods....they do not cloud water and are a great way of seeing everything feeding, especially after lights out.

I always feed twice or three times a day but very small feeds....just a couple of flakes powdered in your fingers....better for the fish and water quality.

I also do a weekly part water change....20%…and clean the filter media (in tank water and never under the tap) once a month.......

Not saying you should do the same necessarily but it works for me and I have not lost any fish for ages.....
Also have a few killifish now and they are doing well. Some keepers add loads of leaves to benefit the water.......I just add six at a time and let them slowly breakdown.....they will of course grow microfauna that will be enjoyed by the cats.
All the best
Lawrence


----------



## dbrack (Aug 9, 2013)

LawrenceJMitchell said:


> Hi again!
> As above as the leaves breakdown they release tannins and other compounds that seem to complement the type of tropical fish we are keeping.
> In their natural environments leaf litter is often in abundance and beneficial if you add it to the tank......especially if your tap water is hard as it will be in most places in the UK.
> The micro pellets are an excellent alternative to flake and as they sink a good way to get food down to your loaches and catfish. The ******* would benefit from more.....minimum of four.....and same for your Corydorus....again three minimum. Also try sinking tablet foods....they do not cloud water and are a great way of seeing everything feeding, especially after lights out.
> ...


For the cory, bristlenose and ******* (although since I had whitespot a few weeks back their numbers are down so are more secretive) they seem to take tablets. I don't really keep track of how many i put it, I just put one in every now and again but never more than about 3 in a day haha. The tetra seem to eat from these as well, as the cory or BN break it down they eat the small pieces floating up. I'll pop a couple of oak leaves in later, need to do a bit of a vacuum first though as I have a bit of decomposing plant matter building up from where I cut back my Elodea and some died off. 

And I'll look out for them tablets next time I'm in my LFS Wilkinss77. 

Btw how long do you guys recommend to leave the tank to settle between adding new fish?


----------



## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

dbrack said:


> hair algae, the bane of my fish keeping experience. just cant shed the stuff. :lol2:


interpet do an anti-hair algae treatment. & it works- i used it in my rekord 60 when it got plagued with the stuff last year- it cleared up in a fortnight. can't use it marine tanks though, or i would!


----------



## dbrack (Aug 9, 2013)

wilkinss77 said:


> interpet do an anti-hair algae treatment. & it works- i used it in my rekord 60 when it got plagued with the stuff last year- it cleared up in a fortnight. can't use it marine tanks though, or i would!


You may have just revolutionised my fish tank, never seen a treatment for hair algae before I will have to look out for it next time im in the shop!!!! :2thumb:


----------

