New Fish Tank Tips: Get and use an aquarium water test kit to monitor the aquarium nitrogen cycle. The best way to monitor this cycle is to purchase a freshwater or saltwater test kit that will test for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and ph. Test the water coming out of your tap as well. This will arm you with more information when it comes time for those water changes.
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The freshwater butterflyfish or African butterflyfish, Pantodon buchholzi, is the only species in the family Pantodontidae within the Order Osteoglossiformes. It is not closely related to saltwater butterflyfishes.
Freshwater butterfly fish are small, no more than 13 centimetres (5.1 in) in length, with very large pectoral fins. It has a large and well-vascularized swim bladder, enabling it to breath air at the surface of the water. They are carnivorous, feeding primarily on aquatic insects and smaller fishes. [1]
The freshwater butterflyfish is a specialized surface hunter. Its eyes are constantly trained to the surface and its upturned mouth is specifically adapted to capture small prey along the water’s surface. If enough speed is built up in the water, a butterflyfish can jump and glide a small distance above the surface to avoid predation. It also wiggles its pectoral fins as it glides, with the help of specialized, enlarged pectoral muscles, the ability which earned the fish its common name. [2]
When freshwater butterflyfish spawn, they produce a mass of large floating eggs at the surface. Fertilisation is believed to be internal.[1] Eggs hatch in approximately seven days.
Freshwater butterflyfish are found in the slightly acidic standing bodies of water in West Africa. They require a year round temperature of 73-86°F. Butterflyfish are found in slow to no current areas with high amounts of surface foliage for cover. They are commonly seen in Lake Chad, the Congo Basin, throughout Lower Niger, Cameroon, Ogooue, and Upper Zambezi. They have also been seen in the Niger Delta, Lower Ogun, and in the Lower Cross River.
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