Chocolate Neon Tetra
Hyphessobrycon vilmae
- Care level
- Beginner
- Adult size
- 3 cm
- Minimum tank
- 54 litres
- Temperature
- 20–26 °C
Species profile
Cardinal Tetra
Paracheirodon axelrodi
Common names: Cardinal Tetra, Red Neon Tetra
Recognized speciesTetras
Adult size
Up to 3.5 cm
Typical adult length 3–3.5 cm.
Up to 3.5 cm
Countries of origin
Good fit for your tank?
Good fit for
- A mature tank of 55 L or more with a group of 10, which makes them school tightly
- Warm, soft, slightly acidic water at 23 to 29 °C, ideally tannin-stained
- A dimly lit planted tank with floating plants, where the red stripe glows
Think carefully if
- Your tank is newly set up: cardinals are sensitive to young, unstable water
- You keep angelfish or large gouramis, which will pick them off
- Your water is hard and alkaline, or the tank swings in temperature
A small blackwater shoaling fish with a full-length red band below a blue line. It enjoys warmer water than the Neon Tetra and looks best in a large group.
Appearance and Identification
A slim fish with an electric blue line along the upper body and a deep red band along the whole lower flank from head to tail.
The full-length red band separates this fish from the Neon Tetra, whose red covers only the rear half of the body.
Mature females are rounder-bodied and slightly larger than males. The difference is easiest to see when fish are in breeding condition.
Tank Requirements
- Suggested filter
- About 220–280 litres an hour
- Suggested heater
- About 50–75 W for this tank
- Minimum tank volume
- 55 litres
- Minimum tank length
- 60 cm
- Minimum group size
- 8
- Recommended group size
- 10
- Activity level
- Active
- Flow preference
- Low to moderate
- Planting preference
- Heavily planted
- Hiding places
- Yes
- Lid recommended
- Yes
- Jumping risk
- Low
Provide a mature aquarium with dim light, floating plants, wood, or leaf litter, along with open space to swim as a group. A dark substrate helps bring out the colour.
Behaviour and Tankmates
A peaceful schooling fish that swims in a tight group when kept in good numbers and feels secure in shaded water.
Keep at least 8 to 10, and more if space allows. A large group looks better and behaves more naturally.
Not territorial.
Works well with corydoras, small rasboras, dwarf cichlids, and other peaceful soft-water fish. Avoid large gouramis, adult angelfish in smaller tanks, and active fish that outcompete them for food.
Water Parameters
Soft, acidic water is ideal, and wild-caught fish do best at the more acidic end. Avoid pushing the pH down quickly to reach a target.
Parameter caveat
Wild-caught and farm-bred fish are both sold, and wild fish are much less tolerant of hard water. Ask which you are buying and acclimate slowly.
Feeding
- Diet types
- Insectivore, Omnivore
- Feeding frequency
- Once or twice daily
- Preferred foods
- Fine micro granules or crushed flakeUse a particle size the fish can swallow whole, and feed only what is eaten within a couple of minutes.
- Frozen or live daphnia and cyclopsSmall crustaceans add variety and help bring adults into breeding condition.
- Frozen or newly hatched brine shrimpA good small meat food a few times a week rather than the only food.
An omnivore that eats small invertebrates in the wild and accepts small prepared foods in the aquarium.
Use very small food, and feed where the group gathers so shy fish get a share.
Breeding
- Breeding type
- Egg Scatterer
- Breeding difficulty
- Difficult
- Brood or egg count
- Typically dozens to over 100 small eggs
- Incubation
- 1 days
- Parental care
- None
- Baby foods
- Infusoria or parameciumNeeded for the first days after fry become free-swimming, because the fry are very small.
- Fine powdered fry foodUse sparingly as a supplement, and siphon out anything left uneaten.
- Newly hatched brine shrimpIntroduce once the fry are large enough to swallow it, usually after several days.
- MicrowormsA useful next step for fry that are still too small for brine shrimp.
An egg-layer best spawned as a pair in a dim, dedicated tank with very soft, acidic water. Eggs fall through mesh or onto fine plants, and adults should be removed once eggs appear. The eggs and fry are sensitive to bright light.
Habitat and Origin
- Geographic origin
- Amazon Basin, Brazil, Colombia, South America, Venezuela
- Natural habitat
- Blackwater, Freshwater Stream, Slow River
- Aquarium contexts
- Breeding Aquarium, Planted Aquarium
- Audience level
- Beginner
Classification
- Profile type
- Recognized species
- Genus
- Paracheirodon
- Family
- Characidae
- Species group
- Fish, Tetras
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Colombian Redfin Tetra
Hyphessobrycon columbianus
- Care level
- Beginner
- Adult size
- 6.5 cm
- Minimum tank
- 81 litres
- Temperature
- 20–28 °C
Congo Tetra
Phenacogrammus interruptus
- Care level
- Intermediate
- Adult size
- 7–8 cm
- Minimum tank
- 110 litres
- Temperature
- 23–28 °C
Costello Tetra
Hemigrammus hyanuary
- Care level
- Intermediate
- Adult size
- 4 cm
- Minimum tank
- 87 litres
- Temperature
- 23–27 °C