Elmer's Aquarium- Tetras
Tetras are some of the best aquarium fish. Many are very hardy and good community fish. Many are great choices for beginners.What are Tetras? They are members of the Characinidae family of fish from South and Central America, and Africa. Tetras have an additional fin between the Dorsal and the Caudal fins, called the adipose fin.
How Many? Most Tetras are schooling fish and do best in groups. We recommend you purchase groups of 6 or more. You can have mix schools of different tetras in the same tank.
Housing: Provide bushy plants toward the rear with an open swimming room in the front. Driftwood and rocks provide nice decor. Tetras will show their best color if you provide a dark substrate and a dark background. Temperature should be 72-80. In their natural environment most tetras live in soft slightly acidic water. In the home aquarium you can maintain a pH of 6.5-7.2. Tetras do not require the addition of aquarium salt to the water.
Tankmates: Keep them with other peaceful fish of similar size. Most tetras are schooling fish and will not show their normal behavior patterns or colors unless they are kept in groups. Good tankmates include other tetras, harlequin rasboras, scissortail rasboras, dwarf cichlids, corydoras catfish, white clouds, hatchetfish, golden pencilfish.
The Serpae Tetra and Bloodfin Tetra can intimidate smaller fish. They are best with more active fish. The Buenos Aires Tetra and Blind Cave Tetra can be aggressive toward smaller fish.
Our Community Groups: We have listed some possible tank combinations for tetras in our community groups Community #1, Community #2, Community #3, Community #4
Feeding: Feed a variety of
foods a couple of times a day. They accept flake food,
freeze-dried and frozen foods. We use frozen bloodworms and mysid
shrimp other with TetraMin flakes. There are some good specialty
foods available for fish with small mouths like neons and glowlite
tetras. Hikari Micro Pellets, and Hikari Micro Wafers are good
choices. To bring out the red color in your fish feed some foods
with carotene in them. Tetra Color flakes and Tetra Color Granules
are good choices.
If you like Tetras we stock this book:
Tetras, by Spencer Glass
TFH Publications
#410368
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Here are some Tetras you may see at our store. Most of the pictures were taken here. |
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| Black Tetra | Black Phantom Tetra | |
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| Silvertip Tetra | Columbian Red Fin | |
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| Serpae Tetra | Lemon Tetra | Diamond Tetra |
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| Red Phantom Tetra | Gold Tetra | Head & Tail Lite Tetra |
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| Congo Tetra
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Pristella Tetra (Albino variety) |
Albino Glowlite Tetra |
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Tetras Not Shown |
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Buenos Aires Tetra |
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