Norman's Lampeye Tetra and Yellow Fire Shrimp
Fish: Norman's Lampeye Tetra
Aplocheilichthys normani
These small, peaceful fish belong to the tetra families and are native to much of Northern Africa including Senegal, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia and all the way to the Central African Republic.
It is native mostly to small permanent water bodies such as streams, ponds and swamps. It does survive in areas where there can be drastic changes in the water characteristics on a seasonal basis.
These tetras are quite small, growing only to about 4 cm (1.6") and are quite peaceful. Their main feature is the bright reflecting areas around the eyes that are dazzling specs of light as they move through the tank.
They are quite peaceful in temperament and prefer to be kept in small, well planted aquariums. As the smaller desktop aquariums become more popular to house freshwater shrimp such as the neocaridina heteropoda shown in the above video, these fish will become more and more popular. They do not need a lot of water to house a school, even as little as 12 liters houses a proper school with no difficulty.
They do prefer well planted aquariums with some floating cover for protection. Gentle filtration is advisable since they are so small and are quite suited to the minimal currents commonly associated with well planted aquarium installations. In cases such as this, the dots of light reflecting show a school off well as it moves through the tank.
They prefer somewhat cooler aquariums than most other tropical fish, with the range between 21 - 24oC (70 - 75o being preferred. The water should be close to neutral, with a range between 6.6 - 7.2 being acceptable as long as it stays constant.
Hardness is not overly important as they will thrive between 5 - 15o without problem.
Norman's Lampeye Tetras are not particularly fussy eaters and will accept flake food in most cases. Some frozen food such as baby brine shrimp are enjoyed.
Although they are not as easy to distinguish, males have the more extended fins and may show some yellow in them. They are also known to display a bluish sheen to the flanks.
The females are often more drab, showing, for the main part, a uniform silver - grey colouration on the body. They can be bred, and prefer to do so in a bare tank with gentle filtration. Spawning grass and other vegetative protection, no special differences in the water conditions are required to trigger them.
They do best when plenty of tiny live invertebrate food is offered.
Freshwater Shrimp: Yellow Fire Shrimp
Neocaridina heteropoda var. yellow
Freshwater shrimp offer a way to reduce algae growths in peaceful community aquariums such as the one above. They will help reduce the growths of hair algae and will also work on algae covering delicate plant leaves.
They are wonderful for planted aquariums where you do not want to disturb the growths by want some useful reduction of the algae that always seems to gather on live plant leaves and stems.
They are becoming much more popular with the advent of new desktop aquarium systems such as the Fluval EBI Shrimp Habitat and Fluval Edge systems.
Only small, peaceful fish should be considered when keeping these freshwater shrimp, besides the Norman's Lampeye tetras, fish such as the neon or cardinal can also be considered.
