# Tetras



## safina (Jan 20, 2014)

The fish subcatagory is a little slow so I thought I would start a thread that may spark conversation in this section.

I have a passion for tetras and, since tetras are often the "go to" for a planted tank, I was hoping to see examples of what others keep.

In my 180 gallon I have strictly wild African tetras ( the top half of aquarium is central African and the lower half South American species) . But, they come from very similar conditions in temperature and TDS values, so it works. This tank contains:

_alestopetersius brichardii_
_alestopetersius nigroptersius_
_phenocogrammus aurentius_
_hemigrammoptersius pulcher_

They are very hard to take pictures of for me so Ill include a couple pictures and a video.


















African tetras:





Share yours!


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## safina (Jan 20, 2014)

Maybe I assumed that tetras were popular in a planted tank? ~ lol! 
Oh well, it was worth a try.


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## DutchMuch (Apr 12, 2017)

thats awesome stuff!

My fav tetra (and only one i use) are Ember tetras! one day when i get a dream tank i'd like to try congo tetra's though.


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## mbkemp (Jul 4, 2015)

They are beautiful!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Long ago I had a big school of silver tip tetras in a 40b. They were wonderful, and kept a pretty tight school.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Tetras have a big variation in how well they get along with other fish in the tank. Serpae Tetra, for example, will regularly kill off all of the other fish, and the weakest of their species, unless you have about 10 of them, so they can spend their energy socializing with their own kind. 

When I had silver tip tetra they were very aggressive towards the other fish, but that was with 6 of them as I recall. 

Other tetras can be plant eaters, so much so that some plants get completely removed from the tank. I research carefully now when I decide to try a new tetra.


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## safina (Jan 20, 2014)

hoppycalif said:


> Tetras have a big variation in how well they get along with other fish in the tank. Serpae Tetra, for example, will regularly kill off all of the other fish, and the weakest of their species, unless you have about 10 of them, so they can spend their energy socializing with their own kind.
> 
> When I had silver tip tetra they were very aggressive towards the other fish, but that was with 6 of them as I recall.
> 
> Other tetras can be plant eaters, so much so that some plants get completely removed from the tank. I research carefully now when I decide to try a new tetra.


Ive only had plants in my tanks for a very short time, about a year and 6 months or so. 
Ive heard that some tetras eat plants- but, none of my Africans do. 
The other varieties I have currently in other tanks that dont eat plants are Rummy-nose, Imperial tetras, Green-fire tetras, Lemon tetras and Tucanos. There are many tetras that dont eat plants.

None of the above are aggressive with con-specifics or other fish; but, I also dont keep any tetra below 8-12 in a group.

As far as the more aggressive tetras: Buenos Aires, Serpaes, White tips, Columbians-- yes, need to be in larger groups, larger tanks, with fish that match the same semi-aggressive nature. The mistake many people make is to put these semi-aggressive tetras in a too small of tank, in inadequate numbers, and with other fish that are incompatible. Sure-fire recipe for a bad experience.


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## safina (Jan 20, 2014)

mbkemp said:


> They are beautiful!
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Thanks


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

safina said:


> Ive only had plants in my tanks for a very short time, about a year and 6 months or so.
> Ive heard that some tetras eat plants- but, none of my Africans do.
> The other varieties I have currently in other tanks that dont eat plants are Rummy-nose, Imperial tetras, Green-fire tetras, Lemon tetras and Tucanos. There are many tetras that dont eat plants.
> 
> ...


I'm not educated about how species are defined, so, does anyone know why such a large group of widely varying fish are all considered to be "tetras"?


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

It comes from _Tetragonopterus_ which at one time was a catch all genus for many species in the family Characidae. Most of these have been reclassified into different genera.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Michael said:


> It comes from _Tetragonopterus_ which at one time was a catch all genus for many species in the family Characidae. Most of these have been reclassified into different genera.


Interesting! I wonder which ones will be in the tetra family when the reclassificators get through.


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## EDLITE (Aug 3, 2016)

My passion is also Tetras. My largest tank is a 100 gal densely planted tank w/large boulders. I have the following: Serpae, Phantom, Rummynose, Redfin, Bleeding Heart, Glow light, Pristella, Black Neon, Gem and Neon Tetras as well as Pelmatochromis pulcher, German Blue Rams, Salt & Pepper Corydorus, Harloquin Rasbora and albino Pleco. Most of the fish spawn in the tank so I know they are happy. The only agression I see is the P pulcher which are either guarding eggs or fry but they do no damage. I did have some Tricolor Sharks but at 5", although they were not aggressive w/fish they did chase each other quite a bit and I had to move them. I disagree that Serpae Tetras are aggressive at least they are not in my tank but it may be because the tank has large boulders and is very densely planted w/Cryps, dwarf Sag and Java Fern; I use CO2 and Beamswork LED lights.


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## tiger15 (Apr 9, 2017)

Many people don’t realize that tetra or characin as a group is highly predatorial fish as it includes paranhna, wolf fish, tiger fish, vampire tetra etc. All tetra, including tiny neon terra, have sharp teeth on the lips. Most aquarium tetras are small fish that appear deceptively benigh due to their small size, but pound for pound, they can be more aggressive and preditorial than cichlid.


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## safina (Jan 20, 2014)

The most aggressive tetra I have is an African tetra: _hemigrammopetersius pulcher_ ( Copper tetra). Its aggression, fortunately, is contained between con-specifics-- the males will spar among themselves for the females in the group.

I had a group of 8, but the dominant male was killed- not from the fighting itself, but the scale damage from sparring with other males. The damage to scales from scrapes with other males resulted in a quick demise from bacterial infection.

Its interesting, this was the smallest of the males, but its colors were the brightest and the most spectacular. All the other males were copper in the tail as well, but the color in subordinate males was far more muted.

When this dominant male died, another dominant male took its place and took on the bright coloration. The females have a yellow tail and are deeper bodied, larger than males.

Here is a picture of dominant male that died:


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## tiger15 (Apr 9, 2017)

safina said:


> Ive only had plants in my tanks for a very short time, about a year and 6 months or so.
> Ive heard that some tetras eat plants- but, none of my Africans do.
> The other varieties I have currently in other tanks that dont eat plants are Rummy-nose, Imperial tetras, Green-fire tetras, Lemon tetras and Tucanos. There are many tetras that dont eat plants.
> 
> ...


Emperor tetra are quite aggressive too. I used to have a group in which males constantly battled one another and always had nipped fins. Serpaes tetra, bleeding heart tetra and many Serpaes look alike tetras are aggressive.

The only African tetra I ever had were Congo tetra. While males displayed to one another, they never did any damage. There are very few African tetras available to the hobby, and the op has most of them. Is it fair to say that African tetras are in general less aggressive than SA tetras, and they tend to swim in the upper water column.


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## safina (Jan 20, 2014)

The Africans varieties I have all swim at the 3/4 upper line of aquarium. But, these are all Congo riverine varieties. There are many other African tetras, those that come from the Malebo Pool area, that are more schoaling and disperse in a greater area of the aquarium.

The Lamp-eye tetras (_phenocogrammus aurantiacus_)are the most docile of the Africans that I have, they do not like bright light and will all group together in the plants that I have that reach to near the waterline. I have the plants quite thick here in a section of the aquarium and they hide between the leaves and you can see their eyes glowing in the shade. Beautiful fish. This is a bit about them.

https://www.reef2rainforest.com/2014/09/04/rarities-phenacogrammus-aurantiacus-lefini/


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## tiger15 (Apr 9, 2017)

Africa is very rich in characin species, but very few are introduced to the hobby, and the few available are limiting to close cousins of Phenacogrammus interruptus. In contrast, dozens of SA characin species are available in the hobby. Africa has never been big in supplying aquarium fish, except for East Africa rift lake cichlid, still a relatively new introduction.

I have not kept tetras for a long time since I kept mostly cichlid in adulthood. Now that I have started planted tanks 1.5 years ago, I have renewed interest in tetra and schooling fish. I only have a single tetra, a pink tail chalceus, in my 75 gal planted cichlid tank. Although closely resemble but technically not tetra, I also keep half a dozen roseline barb and Glofish tiger barb in my 75 gal. I am looking for more tetras for my 125 gal, also recently converted to a planted tank. The tetras I am looking for must be large and bold enough to withstand cichlid tankmates. Congo, bleeding heart, and diamond tetras are in my short list. Feel free to recommend other options.


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## safina (Jan 20, 2014)

tiger15 said:


> Africa is very rich in characin species, but very few are introduced to the hobby, and the few available are limiting to close cousins of Phenacogrammus interruptus. In contrast, dozens of SA characin species are available in the hobby. Africa has never been big in supplying aquarium fish, except for East Africa rift lake cichlid, still a relatively new introduction.
> 
> I have not kept tetras for a long time since I kept mostly cichlid in adulthood. Now that I have started planted tanks 1.5 years ago, I have renewed interest in tetra and schooling fish. I only have a single tetra, a pink tail chalceus, in my 75 gal planted cichlid tank. Although closely resemble but technically not tetra, I also keep half a dozen roseline barb and Glofish tiger barb in my 75 gal. I am looking for more tetras for my 125 gal, also recently converted to a planted tank. The tetras I am looking for must be large and bold enough to withstand cichlid tankmates. Congo, bleeding heart, and diamond tetras are in my short list. Feel free to recommend other options.


For South American, Iguanodectes species are a good choice, larger and very unusual. Ive seen them periodically at Wetspot, Aquatic Clarity, and ned's Fish Factory.

https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs...sp+tetras&fr=yhs-iba-1&hspart=iba&hsimp=yhs-1


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## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

I used to keep Rummy nose tetra. They're my favorite so far.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

I enjoyed the rummy nose tetras too, but still my favorites are Serpae tetras, as long as they are in 10 fish schools. They don't swim in a school, but they are very beautiful fish.


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## tiger15 (Apr 9, 2017)

Iguanodectes and rummy nose won’t work for me as they are slender tetra that look too much like feeder fish for cichlid. Serpae tetra has deep body and less appetizing but there are larger Hyphessobrycon species out there.

I am leaning towards bleeding heart or diamond tetra as they are about the largest Hyphessobrycon. I don’t know which one is and prefer the larger of the two. Congo tetra, Phenacogrammus interruptus, is definitely in my list as they are large, magestic, and like to swim in the upper water column versus Hyphessobrycon that stay in the bottom. The only concern is my large cichlid tankmates. I have mostly 3 to 6 inch cichlid including a large 9” Frontosa. All my cichlids were tank raised from juvies with pellet food so they have never acquired the taste of live food. I have baby fish born and grow up in the same tank and hide among rock, and I have never seen the big guys actively hunt them. Tetra don’t hide and swim in open water, and if they are skittish, it may trigger their predatory instinct. So I have to get the largest size tetra available in group to stay calm. If they come in too small, I have to fatten them out in my grow out tanks. Hopefully, I can find full grown fish in lfs or auctions.


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## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

I think Congo Tetra will be my next addition.


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## Gerald (Mar 24, 2008)

Red phantom, black phantom, and von rio are nice less-nippy alternatives to serpae tetra. Emperor males are indeed nippy towrad each other, but they don't chase other fish. I think darter "tetras" (Characidium, Elachocharax, and others in the family Crenuchidae) are my favorites, along with pencilfish.


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## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

I finally found 4 healthy congo tetra locally. At one place, they wanted to charge $21 each adult. I found juvies for $8 each.


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## Rusty_Shackleford (Feb 11, 2019)

I love my Diamond Tetras. Though they can be a bit boisterous at feeding time often out competing smaller dwarf cichlids. I've never had any other issues as gar as aggression witj other tank mates.
















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## safina (Jan 20, 2014)

mistergreen said:


> I finally found 4 healthy congo tetra locally. At one place, they wanted to charge $21 each adult. I found juvies for $8 each.


Pictures, please.


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## safina (Jan 20, 2014)

Rusty_Shackleford said:


> I love my Diamond Tetras. Though they can be a bit boisterous at feeding time often out competing smaller dwarf cichlids. I've never had any other issues as gar as aggression witj other tank mates.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Very pretty diamond tetras. Certainly live up to their name.


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## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

safina said:


> Pictures, please.


I'll have to pull out the SLR camera. A camera phone won't do them justice.


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## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

Ok, my Congos


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## safina (Jan 20, 2014)

mistergreen said:


> Ok, my Congos


Nice congo's! Beautiful coloration.


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## safina (Jan 20, 2014)

Took a picture a couple days ago of my African Congo tetras and geophagus. They do really well together.


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## Uproar (Jan 25, 2019)

Very nice tank and fish!


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## barongan (Jul 31, 2018)

Like it, They are beautiful!


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