Cyprinidae family
Cyprinids family is part of the Cyprinoidea class and it is well represented in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. First, in South America and Australia there weren`t any Cyprinidae species, but because of economical reasons they were introduced here too. Cyprinidae family has many species. These fish live in stagnant waters, with mild bottom, where they can find the food using their mustaches, but there are some species that prefer water with currents and bottom covered with sand.
The body shape is from prolonged to round or oval with oblate laterals. Generally, the fins are small; the rays are flat, except the first ray of the dorsal fin which can be firm. Cyprinidae fish have a small mouth with thick lips and mustaches used for feeling the ground. At some species, the mouth is prolonged with a trunk. They don`t have teeth as we know; their teeth are made from a material situated in the back of the mouth. These teeth are important, because the Cyprinidae species are classified depending on them. They are friendly fish and rarely become intolerant with other species; this fact makes them suitable for common aquariums. They are fast fish, very active ones, this fact can harm other species which are less active or are active during night. Because they search for food on the bottom of the aquarium, the ground has to be composed from clean sand (not to abash the water), and it shouldn`t contain too big particles in order not to harm the mustaches of the fish. The colors of the fish ooze out better if the ground is dark colored. In aquariums, you shouldn plant aquatic plants with delicate leaves like: Myriophyllum, Cabomba, Limnophyla. The needs for water chemistry and temperature differ from specie to specie. They eat almost anything; they are easy to breed fish.
Cyprinidae fish spawn in the aquarium water, near plants. They rarely take care of the egg, that`s why you have to take them out of the reproduction aquarium. Most of the times it`s better to place a protection nylon netting in order to save the spawn. The fry hatch after 24-28 hours, after that they stick on the rocks, plants and aquarium glass. First, the larva is transparent and only after 2-3 days it begins to swim free; that`s the moment when we start feeding them.