Colored glass perch. glass perch fish

Those who have been engaged in aquarism for a long time are well aware of the beautiful transparent fish, which is called the glass perch. But beginners know practically nothing about it and do not seek to acquire this miracle of nature for their aquarium. All because of rumors that this perch lives only in water containing a small amount of salt. In fact, this is not at all the case.

Some general information

This special transparent fish has several names: glass perch (Parambassis ranga), changa-ranga, mirror perch, and Indian glass perch. In nature, it can be found in fresh water lakes in Pakistan, India, Southeast Asia and Malaysia. In addition, in brackish waters this amazing fish can live without any problems.

Unfortunately, sellers in pet stores only remember that the mirror bass lives in salt water and convey this information to buyers. Rarely anyone can afford a marine aquarium, so this wonderful fish is not kept.

In terms of size, the Changa-Ranga belongs to medium-sized fish, its maximum length is 8 cm. The body is laterally compressed and absolutely transparent. Without any effort, you can see all the bones and the air bubble of the fish. But her head and abdomen are silvery. The back of the fish is decorated with a rather large double fin. Yes, and anal fins with caudal fins are no less.

lives given fish in a flock

This fish prefers to live in flocks of 10-12 individuals. It is desirable that at the bottom of the reservoir there are enough shelters in which you can hide from danger. Driftwood and large stones are perfect for this.

Buying a pet

When purchasing this fish, it is important to remember that its body is completely transparent. The fact is that on sale you can often find glass colored perch, but this color is not from nature. In Southeast Asia, there are entire farms where fish are dyed by injecting luminescent dyes into their muscles with a large needle. After this painful procedure, perches do not live more than two months, unlike their unpainted counterparts, which feel great for three to four years.

Of course, painted perch attracts more attention, it is brighter and looks much more spectacular, but the price of all this is too high. Moreover, the luminescent paint quickly becomes pale and inexpressive, losing its attractiveness.

And if in Russia they still sell bright changa-ranks with might and main, then in Europe they have already banned the sale of colored fish.

When buying an Indian perch, you should pay attention to the mobility of the fish, the integrity of its fins, the absence of extraneous growths and damage on the skin. This is the only way to get a pet that will delight its owner with a healthy look for more than one year.

Creating ideal conditions

Because aquarium perch feels better in the company of his fellows, then it is advisable to purchase them in an amount of six to twelve pieces. Being in a flock, the fish are much more active and not so shy.

When buying fish, you must definitely ask the seller in which water the pets were kept - fresh or salted. Further adaptation of the changa-rank will depend on this. There are two options fish acclimatization:

• transplantation from salt water to fresh water;
• moving from fresh water to salt water.

In the first case, after the purchase, the fish is quarantined in an aquarium with salted water. For 1-2 weeks, 10-15% of the brackish liquid is replaced daily with fresh water. Thus, the fish gradually gets used to living in new conditions.

If the pet store kept the fish in fresh water, and the new owner in the aquarium has a marine one, do not despair. Newcomers are placed in quarantine, in conditions close to store ones. To adapt to new conditions, 1-2 teaspoons of sea salt are dissolved in one liter of water. Then the resulting solution is added to the aquarium daily, at the rate of 10 tablespoons per 100 liters. It will take about three weeks to create optimal conditions. To measure the specific gravity of a liquid, it is imperative to use a hydrometer.

In order for the Indian perch to feel comfortable in the aquarium, you need to create for him optimal conditions:

1. Water should be neutral and soft (ph 7-8.5, gh 8-20).
2. The optimum water temperature is 25-27 degrees.
3. Ammonia and nitrite should not be in the aquarium.
4. Once a week, you need to replace about 25% of the water with clean and settled water.
5. At the bottom of the aquarium, it is advisable to pour fine and smooth soil, put various snags and other items that will serve as shelter for the fish. For landscaping, you need to use both tall and low plants.
6. The best option for changa-rang is a soft, diffused light.

If you adhere to these points, then the fish in the aquarium will be quite comfortable. They will not constantly look for shelter and worry, they will begin to swim more, allowing you to observe their life.

The best neighbors for a "glass" fish

Having created Better conditions for life, you need to take care of the neighbors of peaceful fish. Since Indian perches are very shy, it is necessary to carefully consider which other inhabitants of the aquarium can be hooked to them. The main thing is to exclude aggressive, as well as predatory fish. as the best neighbors fit:

• tetras;
• gobies-bees;

They have excellent compatibility with glass perch. All these fish occupy their specific place in the aquarium, being distributed throughout the water column. In addition, they will not offend the glass perch, forcing the latter to hide all the time. And in the matter of nutrition, they will not have disputes.

Proper pet feeding

Changa-ranga is very unpretentious both in maintenance and nutrition. AT wild nature He only eats live food. In an aquarium, it can also be accustomed to artificial. It is important at the time of purchase to clarify what the fish were fed with, and during the acclimatization period it is advisable not to change the pet's diet. This will allow the fish to adapt faster. to new conditions.

All the neighbors of the perch eat artificial food perfectly, but in him this diet can provoke the occurrence of infertility. Therefore, it is better to use live or frozen food for feeding transparent fish. Perches are very fond of bloodworms, tubifex, carriage, daphnia, cyclops.

It is important to properly organize the nutrition of fish. In no case should you overfeed your pets. It is necessary to give food several times a day and in small portions. Don't starve your pets either. You can feed the fish at least three times a week.

Reproduction of glass perch

At the age of six months, the glass perch is ready to breed. At this time, it is quite easy to determine the sexual fish ownership:

1. The air bladder in males is slightly pointed, while in females it is more rounded.
2. In males, the edges of the anal and dorsal fin are bluish or gray, while in females they are colorless.
3. The scales of boys are yellowish, and those of girls are silvery.
4. On the sides of the males, five vertical stripes are formed from black speckles. In females, they are absent.

Sexual characteristics are quite pronounced, so it will not be difficult to distinguish a male from a female. This must be done prior to spawning.

For offspring, it is best to use a separate aquarium, since in general caviar can be eaten by neighbors. Soft water with a temperature of about thirty degrees is poured into the spawning ground, it is better to line its bottom with moss. First, females are launched into the aquarium, which are well fed with live or artificial food. Then males are launched to them. The mating season lasts about three to four days. At this time, the female spawns, and the male fertilizes it.

After spawning, according to some sources, the fish must be removed from the aquarium so that they do not eat the eggs. According to other sources, parents do not eat their offspring, so they can be left in the spawning area.

After two or three days, the fry hatch from the eggs and need to be fed. They begin to give rotifers or diaptomus nauplii. At the age of two weeks, the young are fed with cyclops nauplii and small diaptomus. The main thing is that the food moves, the current can contribute to this. It is important that the food is always in the water, so it is given several times a day.

The fry grow quite quickly, already at the age of three months they have the first sexual characteristics.

In general, aquarium fish glass perch is very unpretentious and easy to care for and maintain. She is loved for her unique appearance and mild disposition. If these fish are given a little time and attention, they will please their owner with excellent health. In addition, the mirror perch, like its neighbors in the aquarium, perfectly recognizes the owner and always meets him from work, giving this person a lot of pleasure.

In this video you will learn more about this fish:

Love anatomy? Do you want to see the structure of the body right through it? Or have you always dreamed of seeing through objects? If yes, then there is a fish that will simultaneously satisfy all these needs and desires. Small, exotic and… absolutely transparent glass perch. Further, we will talk about him.

This type of fish is well known to lovers of aquarium art, but beginners will like it for its unusualness and exclusivity, because it stands out among all the other inhabitants of the aquarium.

Perhaps at first the perch will be lost against the background of brighter and more colorful neighbors, but only before the first detection. Then it is already difficult to lose sight of it again.

It stands out for its inconspicuousness. Contradictory, right? But this is its main advantage.

This small exotic fish was brought to Europe at the beginning of the 20th century from Asian countries such as India, Pakistan, Thailand and Bangladesh.

In Russia, it appeared a little later, and until 1941 it was bred in special fish-breeding shops of zoocombines.

The fish owes its fame and popularity among aquarists all over the world to its absolutely transparent body, through which all the insides and bones are visible.

The body is flat, high and has an unusual diamond shape, the forehead is slightly concave, the teeth are small, the bite is wrong, that is, the lower jaw is pushed forward.

The dorsal fin consists of two parts: the first is triangular and pointed, the second is long and rounded. The anal fin is symmetrical in shape to the second part of the dorsal. The notch on the tail is quite deep.

How to distinguish male and female

The gender of an individual can be determined by the shape of the air bubble visible through the transparent skin of the fish:

• in males, it is slightly pointed,
• females are more rounded.

In addition, boys are as brightly colored as possible for a transparent pet. The shade of the scales ranges from yellow-green to yellow-orange.

On the side there are 5 transverse stripes, which are formed by black spots.

The girls are painted more modestly and mostly have a silver-steel shade of scales.

In nature, fish grow up to 8 cm in length, but in the aquarium they reach only 5 cm.

Marketing move. Carefully

Many sellers are capable of anything to sell an inconspicuous product. For the sake of profit, they are ready to go to great lengths, caring little about the health and longevity of the aquarium fish. So, some traders dye animals to give them an even more unusual look.

In the Bird Market, you can often find perch with a multi-colored bright stripe on the back and other parts of the body. Moreover, the colors are chosen with an unnatural intensity for nature: bright green, purple, vigorous red or orange from the eye-patch series. The brighter the better! Seasoned aquarists don't fall for this marketing ploy, but beginners can easily get caught.

It is worth remembering that any coloring of live fish is a chemical and artificial process associated with piercing a thin skin with a needle, and any violation of the integrity of the integument adversely affects the well-being and health of the pet, not to mention the introduction of multi-colored chemicals into the body.

Over time, the paint will still fade and be excreted by the immune system. For a long time, such a decorated fish does not live, and instead of 2-3 years (normal life expectancy in aquarium conditions), it will last 2 months. If you don't want a disappointing purchase, don't buy a fuchsia glass perch. And remember that any natural paint is better than bright artificial.

Conditions of detention

Another indisputable plus of the glass perch is its unpretentiousness and peacefulness. It tolerates fresh or slightly salted water equally well.

• aquarium with a volume of 50 liters,
• should be 22-26°C;
• hardness: 8-20ºN;
• acidity 6.5-8.0 pH.

Although the fish lives in salted water, there is no need to add salt to the aquarium, since glass perches have adapted to life in fresh water over many generations of life in captivity. Before adding salt to the water, you need to ask the seller what kind of water the fish lived in.

The only thing this type of fish is sensitive to is water changes. Its weekly replacement should be done in small portions of 10% of the volume.

Water should be old, that is, settled for a week. Therefore, you need to take care of the next portion at each replacement.

Filtration and aeration also important condition. In the wild, glass perches prefer the middle and upper layers of reservoirs; they will not like darkness and twilight in their new home. Therefore, additional lighting of the aquarium will not be superfluous.

Compatibility with other fish

Perch by nature is a schooling fish, so it is better to keep about 10 individuals at the same time. This makes them feel more confident and secure. Peace-loving nature allows the fish to get along with any inhabitants of the aquarium, except for aggressive and predatory representatives of the fauna.

Ideal freshwater neighbors would be

• tetras;
• gobies-bees;
• parsing;
• peaceful cichlids;
• guppies, mollies and swordtails.

Setting up a perch aquarium

As a primer, to emphasize the unusual natural beauty of the glass, dark river sand or fine polished gravel with snags, stones or artificial houses laid on it is optimal.

There should also be a lot of plants. The dense green plantings of the aquarium serve not only as a shelter for the fish, but also as a place for spawning.

And there should be many such secluded corners, since during the mating period, males, first of all, choose a place for future laying of eggs (most often it is a bush of some overgrown small-leaved plant) and zealously protect it from the invasion of other males.

If a female falls into his field of vision, then the perch begins its mating dances, inviting her to the bush for spawning. The ratio of females and males in the flock should be 1:2.

Feeding

Feeding problems should not arise, as the perch is unpretentious in food. In nature, he eats live food, but in an aquarium he can also eat artificial food. However, be prepared that such a diet may lead to infertility of the fish.

To avoid this, try to give live or frozen food. The pet will gladly eat a bloodworm, tubifex, carriage or daphnia, and will not refuse the cyclops either. Feed should be given in small portions throughout the day, but at least 3 times a week.

reproduction

Individuals reach sexual maturity by six months of age. Having chosen a secluded place for spawning and inviting the female there, the male proceeds to reproduction.

A group of fish is planted for spawning in the evening, and spawning itself begins the next morning. The soil at the base of the stem of small-leaved plants acts as a spawning substrate. Males fan small holes with their fins, thus expanding them a little, and then invite females to appreciate this creation. If it suits her, then the female proceeds to spawning.

The mating season lasts 3-4 days, during which the female lays eggs, which are quickly fertilized by the male. At one time, the female can lay up to 6 eggs, and in total up to 200 eggs.

After fertilization, parents can be removed from the aquarium or left, as they do not pose a danger to eggs and newborn fry.

To stimulate spawning, you need to increase the water temperature by 2-3 degrees and add ¼ of fresh settled water.

The incubation period lasts two or three days, after which the fry begin to swim. That is when they need to be given rotifers or diaptomus nauplii. At fourteen days of age, juveniles should be transferred to Cyclops nauplii and small diptomus.

The first 2 weeks of a fry's life are the most important. If during this period it is possible to feed them, then it will be easier later, and the issue of food will be resolved by itself.

During feeding, juveniles should move food with a stream of water. Food should always be in water, so it should be given in small portions throughout the day.

By the first three months of life, the first sexual characteristics appear in fry.

Glass perch is an unpretentious and calm pet. Among the inhabitants of the aquarium there will always be peace and quiet. An ideal start for the novice aquarist.

Almost colorless, but outwardly attractive aquarium fish called Glass perch (Changa ranga) has a dense body, flattened on the sides, the average size which is 3-5 cm. While the head and abdomen are silver, the rest of the body is transparent, so the large skeleton and other bones are visible.

The colored perch has a double dorsal fin, a long anal fin at the base, and a large bilobed caudal fin: all are transparent. The fish has a pale green iris, especially in the dorsal region, which makes it quite cute. Young males and females are very similar, but when they mature, males tend to be slightly larger. Their dorsal and anal fins are gray-edged.

The Indian painted perch has a fairly wide distribution, with a range extending from India to Pakistan and parts of Southeast Asia. Native to a freshwater habitat, although occasionally found in brackish water. Rivers and lakes in India tend to be mild and acidic (DH 2 to 8 and pH 5.5 to 7.0). The fish congregate in schools and prefer cozy habitats with vegetation that provides shelter.

They feed mainly on small living things such as crustaceans, insect larvae and worms. Glass perches tend to be found stranded in the wild. Keep small schools of six or more fish to give them a sense of security and well-being. One fish or a couple will get nervous and hide. This species of fish is better kept in an aquarium with an established ecosystem than in a recently launched one.

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Life in a freshwater aquarium

Indian glass perch can be stocked in a 100 liter aquarium, which is suitable for keeping a small shoal (flock). The water should be close to neutral or soft (pH 7.0 and hardness between 4 and 6). If the perch lived in salted water in the store, it is better to isolate it from all the fish at home, put it in a separate container, adapting it to a freshwater environment within 2 weeks.

See how unusual the Indian glass perch looks.

Use an external aquarium filter to ensure water flow and neutralize nitrogenous waste (such as ammonia and nitrate). Regular partial water updates will also help remove harmful impurities. You can put freshwater plants native to Southeast Asia, put a small smooth gravel on the bottom of the tank. tall plants can be planted in the back and side of the nursery, and short types in the foreground. Driftwood can provide good contact, create a shelter for bottom fish. It is recommended to create light for plants with fluorescent lamps For aquariums, you can also install a heater to keep the water temperature at 22-26 degrees Celsius.

Compatibility with other fish

The Indian glass perch is expected to get along well with small freshwater fish that are peaceful in nature. Compatibility tested with colorful zebrafish (Danio rerio) and harlequin rasboras (Trigonostigma heteromorpha). These fish can add a nice contrast to colorless perch as they have various forms and body colors, maneuvering swimming styles and habits. Four or more dwarf bots (Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki) or other small bots can fill the lower areas of a perch tank.

Look at the glass perch in the aquarium.

While rasboras, zebrafish and bats will happily accept quality flake food, glassfish should have live food or frozen equivalents such as daphnia, mosquito larvae, brine shrimp and bloodworms. Also, an adult fish is able to get used to eating flake food.

Breeding

In the wild, this species spawns during the monsoon season when the water temperature is high and the onset of rain softens the water. Ponds, lakes, streams and rivers burst their banks, and there is a huge increase in natural living products. They eat their eggs.

To protect the fry, it is better to create a small separate container (50-80 liters) filled with soft water temperature around 25-28 degrees. A fern can be placed in the nursery because these fish spawn on broad-leaved plants. You can put a sponge filter on the bottom, which produces a small flow of water.

Females, which have less colorful fins than males, should be placed in a spawning ground and given plenty of live food for at least a week to fill with eggs. Then settle the males there for the night. Spawning takes place at dawn. During spawning, pairs scatter their eggs among plants, immediately after breeding, the producers should be removed from the spawning ground. It is recommended to add a few drops of methylene blue to protect the eggs from attack by the fungus.

The larvae will hatch within 24 hours, but the fry will be attached to the plants for another three to four days as they continue to develop. At this time, they feed on the yolk in their pouches. When free-swimming, they should feed on the large amount of microscopic ciliates found in the green water, and when they are large enough, they can add freshly hatched brine shrimp nauplii to their diet. They become sexually mature at 4-6 months.

Glass perch is a very unusual aquarium fish. It is unique in that it has a completely transparent body, through which all its internal organs and bones can be seen without much effort. I must say, the spectacle is quite curious, because of it lovers aquarium fish and stop on it their choice.

Description

Due to its uniqueness - transparency, the fish got its name "glass perch". His homeland is considered to be South Asia, where he lives in both fresh and salt water. Most of all he likes stagnant water. He has a peaceful character, he lives in flocks of 10-12 individuals, in which they feel safe. The fish has a diamond-shaped body, flattened laterally.

Distinguishing male glass perch from females is easy:

• Males and females differ in color: males, reaching adulthood, acquire an orange color with a golden tint, females become silver with a steel tint.
• The swim bladder of males is elongated, while that of females is round.
• During spawning, males are more transformed than females.

• In order to avoid health problems with glass perch, an aquarium with a volume of at least 50 liters is needed for its habitat.
• In an aquarium inhabited by glass perch, salting is not required, of course, if their neighbors do not need salt.
• The temperature should not exceed 26°C, it should be in the range of 22-26°C.
• Water gH 8-20, pH 7-8.5, you can add salt in the calculation of 3-4 tbsp. l. for 10 liters of liquid.
• Every week you need to replace at least 10% of all the water in the aquarium.
• You can not do without filtration, which will help to clean and disinfect the water.
• Need aeration, saturating the water in the aquarium with oxygen.

All these conditions contribute to the normal life of fish.

To create a familiar environment for fish, you should make a dark substrate of fine gravel or coarse river sand. Algae and floating greenery will also create a natural atmosphere. This is a great vacation spot. Stones and driftwood will help create comfort for the inhabitants of the aquarium. In such an environment, our miracle perches will feel comfortable, as in natural conditions.

Breeding this fish, you can add others to it, because it behaves calmly and peacefully, without showing aggression towards its neighbors. Gobies, bees, catfish, rasboras, eleotrises, tetras will get along with them in the same aquarium ... If the water in the aquarium is salty, you can settle mollies and guppies with them. The only thing to consider is that you cannot make them neighbors of overly aggressive, predatory fish.

Food

For normal and proper development perches should be provided with a certain diet. If in your natural environment habitat fish feeds on larvae, insects, various crustaceans, then in the aquarium its diet should include daphnia, small bloodworms, coretra and tubifex. Perches are not very happy with dry food and eat it without pleasure.

reproduction

While juveniles are actively swimming throughout the aquarium, adults are concerned about the problem of acquiring offspring. The first signal of the beginning of spawning in males is the appearance of a blue border along the edges of the anal and dorsal fins. Also, during this period, specks appear on the swim bladder.

At this time, males are actively engaged in the search for territory for spawning. Having decided on the place of spawning, the male declares to everyone his right to housing and begins to invite females. If another male invades an already occupied territory, then this will serve as a serious reason for a fight. Most of these duels end without casualties.

The breeding season begins in the glass perch at the age of six months. It lasts 4 days, during which the formed pair spawns several times. The female immediately sweeps 6 eggs, and the male is taken for their fertilization. For one spawning, the female can lay up to 300 eggs. Removal of young animals occurs after 25-30 hours.

After two days, the larvae swim on their own, during this period they need to be fed with rotifers and live dust. After two weeks, the fry grow up and already feed on cyclops nauplii. Very important proper care for small fish, this is a guarantee of their health and development.

The glass perch fish is known, unfortunately, to a small number of aquarists, since this species is rare and unusual. In the world, it is found under the names of changa-ranga, Indian perch, and glassfish. The peculiarity of the phenotype lies in its appearance: the skin of the perch is completely colorless, because of which you can see the internal organs and the skeleton.

In the wild, glass perch lives in the waters of India, Pakistan, and Malaysia. The body of the phenotype is diamond-shaped, slightly flattened on the sides. The forehead is concave, the lower jaw protrudes slightly forward, and the caudal fin is forked. At home, the fish grows up to 8 cm in length. The gender of Changi-Rangi is determined by appearance: males are brighter and have a pointed air bubble, while females look more modest and have a round bubble.

A distinctive feature of the fish is transparent skin - amazing phenomenon, which makes the change-rank unusual. In the phenotype, only the head, belly and fins are colored, the rest of the body is translucent so that the skeleton and internal organs are visible.

However, in the free market, glass perches painted in various luminescent colors are often found. Undoubtedly, Indian perch painted in bright pink or poisonous light green color looks elegant and attractive, but this color has nothing to do with the natural appearance of the fish. The secret of color phenotypes lies in the fact that fish, artificially grown on farms, are dyed with toxic substances using needles. The procedure is painful and hazardous to the health of pets, therefore, in European countries banned the sale of colored glass individuals, which is quite justified. The fact is that after the fish is dyed, its life span is reduced to 2-3 months due to the toxicity of the paint, while glass perches of natural color live for 3 years.

An interesting fact: changi-rangs get used to the owner, and recognize him, swimming closer to the walls of the tank.

Food

The glass perch is unpretentious, and eats with pleasure different types food. However, professionals say that sometimes dry food is the cause of changi-rangi infertility, so it is preferable to give pets live or frozen food, for example:

• tubifex;
• carriage;
• daphnia;
• cyclops;
• bloodworm.

Feed the fish a couple of times a day, giving small portions of food. Excess food will lead to obesity, and will also cause the development of microbes and harmful algae in the pond, so the remains of uneaten food are removed from the aquarium.

Compatibility

The Indian perch has a calm, reserved character, so it is often settled in tanks with peaceful and small fish. In fresh water, Changa-Ranga will get along well with such phenotypes as:

• battles;
• parsing;
• guppies;
• tetras;
• zebrafish.

In an aquarium with salted water, glassfish have good compatibility with etroplus cichlids, bee gobies and black mollies.

Indian perches reach sexual maturity after the first six months of life. The female is distinguished from the male by the following external features:

• boys have blue or gray fins, girls have transparent fins;
• the air bubble is pointed in males, in the female it is rounded;
• in boys, the scales give off yellowish highlights, and there are also dark stripes that are absent in girls.

Having determined the sex, aquarists deposit a pair of future parents in a soft water jig. The bottom of the spawning area is lined with moss, the temperature of the liquid in the tank should be 30C. The first to launch are females, which are fed with live food, and a little later they populate the males. Four days later, the perch lays eggs, after which its parents are removed so that they do not eat their own offspring. After three days, fry are born, which are fed with rotifers and diaptomus, and at the age of two weeks, babies are given nauplii. In the diet of small Indian chang-rangs, it is important that the food is alive and moves on its own. The fry are fed twice a day.

The glass Indian perch is an unpretentious aquarium fish, the appearance of which delights and fascinates the eye. Changi-rangs are famous for their calm nature and excellent health, so they can please the owner for a long time with their attractive appearance and graceful movements.

Video about fish glass Indian perch