The Serpae Tetra: Everything You Need to Know
The serpae tetra is a fresh water from South America. It belongs to the family of the real characins. Because of its attractive appearance and rather low standards regarding its keeping, the blood tetra has become a popular ornamental fish in the aquarium industry.
Characteristics
The serpae tetra reaches a maximum length of about four centimetres. They have a moderately high-backed, elongated body, which is clearly flattened at the sides.
The basic colour of the blood tetra is usually red, which has also earned it its name. There is a large black spot on the shoulder of the fish, which is in the shape of a drop and often fades with age.
The dorsal fin of the blood tetra is mostly black. However, its base is also red. It also has a white edge. The anal fin has a broad black edge, while the other fins of the blood tetra have a red base colour.
Female blood tetras are slightly more backward than their male counterparts. Their body is also fuller and their colours are paler.
The serpae tetra life expectancy
Provided that species-appropriate keeping is ensured and the necessary attention is paid to the care of the fish, blood tetras kept in the aquarium can reach an age of four to five years. In case of diseases or insufficient keeping conditions, the life expectancy of the small ornamental fish is correspondingly lower.
Origin of the serpae tetra
The serpae tetra (Hyphessobrycon eques) originally comes from South America. Its natural habitat extends over parts of the Amazon basin. There it occurs in the upper Paraná River, the Rio Guaporé, the lower Paraguay River and some tributaries of the Uruguay River.
It prefers areas close to the banks with a dense plant population, which serves as protection against possible predators in case of danger.
The serpae tetra and groups
Characins can be kept in the fish tank in groups without any problems. However, when they are alone, they become very shy. It is therefore recommended to keep a group size of at least five fish.
The suitable aquarium
The fish tank should have a length of at least 80 to 100 cm. Fish tanks that are too small quickly lead to aggressive behaviour towards conspecifics and other inhabitants of the aquarium.
The water temperature should be between 23 and 28 degrees and the water should be soft and slightly acidic. A high water quality helps to prevent diseases and supports the well-being of the fish. A weekly partial change of water and regular water tests are therefore recommended.
Water plants and equipment for the serpae tetra
In order to come as close as possible to the natural habitat of the blood characin, it is advisable to equip the aquarium with a dark substrate. However, bright lighting should be avoided.
A dense planting of the edges as well as some floating plants provide shade and at the same time offer the characins the opportunity to hide.
The blood characin together with other ornamental fish
Provided that there is enough space and species-appropriate food available, a socialization with other ornamental fish is usually possible without problems. Possible examples are dwarf cichlids, armoured catfish and hatchet-bellied tetra.
Nevertheless, blood tetras sometimes tend to aggression and nibble the fins of conspecifics as well as other aquarium inhabitants. Older males also tend to form territories.
Culture blood tetra
Anyone who wants to breed blood tetras needs a separate breeding tank for this purpose, which is about 30 centimetres high and has a volume of about 80 litres. The water should be slightly alkaline and soft. In addition, dense planting with fine-grained aquatic plants, such as java moss, is recommended.
Ideally, the breeding tank should be occupied by a single pair, which should be fed sufficiently and removed promptly after spawning. Alternatively, a spawning rust can be used to prevent the parent animals from eating the spawn.
If the water has a temperature of about 24 degrees, one or two days pass until the larvae of the blood tetra hatch. After another five days, the small fish can swim freely.
A low nitrate content is essential for successful reproduction. In general, the breeding of the blood tetra proves to be quite laborious and is not always crowned with success.
Diseases
Blood tetras can be infected with various diseases in the aquarium. To reduce the risk of disease, it is important to ensure high quality water and good keeping conditions.
Among the diseases that can affect blood tetras are
- Velvet Disease
- foot-and-mouth disease
- Fish tuberculosis
- Real and fake neon disease
- Fungal infections
Whether a successful treatment is possible and what measures need to be taken to achieve this depends primarily on the particular disease and the time of its diagnosis.
For example, if a tetra suffers from mouth and fin rot, rescue is quite possible with timely treatment. In addition, the transfer to a quarantine tank can prevent other fish in the aquarium from also becoming infected.
The prognosis for acute fish tuberculosis, however, is much worse. Normally, killing the entire fish population and thoroughly disinfecting the aquaruim is the only solution in this case.
Nutrition
In the wild, blood characins probably feed mainly on insects such as mosquito larvae and worms. Overall, however, they are not particularly fussy.
When keeping them in an aquarium, it is therefore advisable to vary the diet of the fish. In addition to frozen and live food, high-quality flake food is also suitable to supply blood tetras with important nutrients.
High-quality fish food for the serpae tetras
A species-appropriate feeding in sufficient quantity and high quality helps to support the health and well-being of the blood tetra and to prevent aggression towards other fish.
With high-quality ornamental fish food from Aquaris you will always make a good choice for this purpose. The food contains all the necessary nutrients and is also very easily digestible, so that the water in the aquarium of your blood tetra is not unnecessarily polluted.
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