The aquarium of Mr. J. v.d. Woude at den Helder.
He was a competitor in the National aquariumcontest 1995. So already a considerable time ago so there are enough reasons to pay some attention to it; real highlights from former days are timeless beautiful and still of interest anyway .
It is a typical aquarium which is extraordinarily suitably for large school of the Emperor Tetra, Nematobrycon palmeri. For your information I quote what I wrote about it in het Aquarium 1993 page 185 et seq. "If you take care you've a well planted comunity-tank, with a lot of delicate leaves and roots so that there are many dark hiding-place, his majesty spontaneously swings into action. One of the most suitable plants to achieve this object is Java Moss; Vesucilaria dubyana (javamos), that in most tanks staked to the back wall of polystyrene foam forms splendid thick and dark bindles These are extremely suitable for breeding al kinds of fishes, while the spawn in it, is more or less invisible so that is prevented that it is eaten for the most part by egg robbers
Behalve javamos vormt ook Fontanilis antipyretica (bronmos) een uitemate geschikt afzetsubstraat voor een natuurlijke kweek
Also ,Fontinalis antipyretica (Willow Moss), is greatly usable for that target. When you feed well with al kinds of live forage out of ditch and pool a group of Emperor Tetra's, that have such a tank as quarters, after some time one may expect spawn in the tank. Composing such a group one must take care that the females have the better of the males. At a majority of the males the mating pairs are disturbed out of jealously quite often. When the Emperor Tetra's are ready to mate, the most beautiful ones ( read the dominant) males a dark corner as a territory and try to temp in there a female. The male swims in circle's around the female and at the end of a little dance like that she gives him a slap with the fin. The male mostly can not resist at this and he begins with the display himself, consisting of wild executed course curves, at which the fins are spread until tearing. When the female follows the male they disappear entirely in the moss and a number of eggs are laid, untraceable for the other occupants of the aquarium. When mating is finished, the young fishes break the cover of the egg after ca 36 hours they. Just after five days they go in search for food They become what they need temporarily with all kinds off nourishment consisting off utmost little animals, that live in sufficient degree in tanks in which the fishes are fed with living nourishment. When they grow hungry they leave the safe shelter in search for feed, and are eaten by the other fishes. In this way one is able to raise some dozens of Emperor Tetra's in his community tank, enough to fulfill one's own needs and perhaps also enough to please a beginner with a little school as well. And what is more pleasant than a school of Emperor Tetra's from his own breeding ?