Common Name(s): Bleeding Heart Tetra

Scientific Name: Hyphessobrycon erythrostigma

Family: Characidae

Origin: Peru (South America)

Maximum Size: Up to 7.5cm (3")

Minimum Tank Size: 15 gallons (recommended due to shoal numbers)

Life Span: Around 5 years

Care:
A lovely, peaceful mid-dwelling community fish. They prefer soft acidic water but can adapt to a range of conditions. I kept mine in a pH of 7.6 with a gH of 16.
They prefer groups of 6 or more and appreciate a tank with real plants.
Healthy adults display beautiful vibrant colour with a prominant "red heart".

Feeding:
Undemanding Omnivores. They will eat mostly anything presented in the form of flakes, crisps, granules, sinking tablets, frozen (thawed) and live foods.

Tank mates:
Due to their peaceful nature, they would do best in a tank with similar sized peaceful fish.

Breeding:
The are egg-layers, but do not breeding in captivity. Reported (successful) cases are very rare.

* Mod edit* These fish will breed in captivity. They are VERY fussy when it comes to water conditions. Water should be around pH 5.8 and almost zero hardness. Well conditioned fish scatter many very small eggs but otherwise in typical tetra fashion. It is vital to keep the water in absolute top condition, this may mean several water changes a week, and in the fry tank, one a day. The fry are very small and difficult to feed, bucket loads of infusoria. In a typical 24" fry tank, 3-4 sponge filters, one swapped out with another every 2 days until they are large enough to take real food.

I have two successful clutches to date, and the guy I got my breeders from has about 10. I have an idea that this "species" is more then meets the eye. The breeding pairs I have worked with resemble each other and do not have the marked sexual dimorphism typically claimed for the fish, the females looked like "fat" males - finnage was similar. There are possibly two close related species that are sexually incompatible, I wonder if people who are failing are trying to breed a male of one species with a female of another. I have nothing other then speculation as evidence however.

LL

Notes:
Several sub-species exist, including a long finned variety, as well as one that is gold tinted.

Thanks for that edit LL I did a number of searches, but couldn't find anything positive about captive breeding on the web.

here's a picture of one of my bleeding heart tetras