DIYAQUAPROS website: http://www.diyaquapros.com
*FREE* downloadable content!
Join The DIY AQUAPRO Team !
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/DIYAQUAPROS
TWITTER: https://www.twitter.com/DIYAQUAPROS
For august 2014 the fish of the month is Hyphessobrycon anisitsi (Hyph-ess-o-bry-con / ani-sit-see) or more commonly known as the Buenos Aires Tetra. Originating from the inland soft water systems of South America, this tetra gets its name from the capital of Argentina where it’s found in high abundance. Due to its hardiness and easy of care, the Buenos Aires tetra makes for a great addition to almost any freshwater aquarium.
This tetra like most others will accept a wide range of water conditions but may prefer a slightly acidic environment. A temperature of 64 to 82 F a pH between 5.5 and 8 as well as a total water hardness in the ball park of 3 to 18 can be well tolerated by this fish.
A true omnivore, the Buenos Aires will accept a wide variety of foods ranging from your standard flake to blood worms and live cultured daphnia. As a natural shoaling fish, this tetra again like most all, will appreciate and behave best if part of a medium to large size school, any number above 5 or 6 of them.
One of the larger species of tetra, the Buenos Aires has a shiny metallic body with bright red fins, growing to a max size of about 2.5 to 3 inches in the home aquarium making a small school of them perfect for tanks 20 gallons and up. Males will generally be more colorful, while females are slightly larger with a fuller abdomen
These guys can be pretty fast swimmers, often darting around the aquarium in small groups. Despite they’re larger size, adults can be pretty hard to catch so make sure you have some time if you’re planning on moving them to a new tank.
Some claim this fish to be a plant eater, although I haven’t experienced this activity what so ever probably because I feed them daily. As this tetra matures, it can become a bit of a fin nipper, so best to keep them away from small and or long finned fish. Keeping them in a school of about 6 or more can help reduce this behavior, but again this aggression isn’t something I’ve observed despite keeping them with many different fish. Just be aware of it, and keep an eye on your tank for a few days after first adding them.
I want to know if you guys are a tetra fan like I am. Let me and other fish keepers know what your favorite variety is in the comments below.