Care
A shoal of subtly beautiful Splash Tetras makes for a great addition to peaceful, planted softwater aquariums and paludariums. Whilst they may not be as flamboyantly coloured as some species, they more than make up for this with their absolutely fascinating breeding behaviour. In the wild, Splash Tetras are found in small sluggish blackwater tributaries and quiet river channels off of the main waterways, typically with an abundance of overhanging vegetation. They have also been known to move into flooded forests during the rainy season. The aquarium should be mature, water movement gentle, and the tank furnished with driftwood and plenty of plant life. Peat filtration would be very beneficial. Ideally they should be kept in a tank with a significantly lowered water level or a paludarium type set up (see notes on breeding below) with plants that grow out of the water with leaves draping above the water"™s surface. This will enable them to behave in a natural manner when ready to spawn. As these fish are accomplished jumpers, the aquarium must have tight fitting coverslides with no escape holes where equipment might feed in to the tank (holes can be blocked with bits of coarse filter sponge). As a shoaling species, Splash Tetras are best maintained in good sized groups; six specimens at the minimum and 10+ being much better. Due to their relatively small adult size, care must be taken when considering tankmates. They are easily intimidated by boisterous fish and should not be housed with anything that would consider them a snack. Good companions would include smaller species of Corydoras catfish, dwarf cichlids, pencilfish, and other small blackwater tetras.
Feeding
In the wild, these fish have been observed feeding on small worms, insects, and crustaceans. In the aquarium, they are not fussy feeders and should be offered a good mixture of foodstuffs including small meaty frozen fare e.g. mini-bloodworm, white mosquito larvae, daphnia, and cyclops, plus flake and micro granules.
Breeding
The intriguing way in which these fish breed is what appeals to many fishkeepers. As mentioned above, the breeding tank must have a reduced water level with plenty of overhanging plant growth above the water's surface, as it is on these emergent growths that the Splash Tetra will lay its eggs. The water should be very soft (< 8 dH) and slightly acidic. When ready to breed, the male will search for a suitable spawning site by repeatedly jumping out of the water until he finds an appropriate area. He will then display to a ripe female, chasing her towards the chosen spawning location/s. The pair will leap from the water together, held together by their ventral fins, and will land against the spawning site/s (usually the underside of leaves but occasionally on the coverslides if suitable vegetation cannot be found) where 5-10 eggs are laid by the female and are immediately fertilised by the male. This procedure is repeated several times until between 150 and 200 eggs have been deposited. The female then takes no further part in caring for the brood. However, the male fish attentively and intermittently tends to the clutch of eggs by flicking his tail and splashing water up onto them to keep them moist. If the eggs have been deposited in more than one location, quite amazingly, he will splash at them in sequence. In between his visits to moisten the eggs, he will hide amongst nearby vegetation. After 36 hours or so, the eggs will hatch and the fry will fall down into the water, and at this point parental care ceases. The adults do not actively prey on the young, but some aquarists like to move the adults to a separate tank to ensure a higher number of fry survive. The fry will begin feeding after 2 days, once their yolk sacs have been absorbed. Offer them infusoria, brineshrimp nauplii, and microworms. In heavily planted aquaria, a good number of the fry should survive to adulthood.
