Common Name/s: Buenos Aires Tetra

Scientific Name: Hyphessobrycon anisitsi , previously Hemmigrammus caudovittatus

Family: Characidae

Origin: Argentina, Paraguay and Southeast Brazil

Maximum Size: 3" (7cm)

Care: Keep these fish in as larger group as possible, they are an active shoaling fish. They are an etremly hardy fish and can tolerate a large range of conditions

Feeding: They accept most commercial flake foods but relish live and frozen foods

Sexing and Breeding: Easy fish to breed. The Female has a rounder and fatter stomach whereas the males tend to have bright red fins and a slimer stomach. There fish breed readily in the aquarium. They scatter their eggs amoung plants or in the substrate where the eggs tend to be eaten before they can hatch. Young that survive grow at a steady rate and do best on a diet of small live foods.

Comments: An extremly hardy fish recomended for the beginner. These fish eat most plants found in an aquarium and for this reason they are not as popular today as they used to be many years ago. They have informally been called the "Lawnmowers of the Aquatic World" by many fishkeepers.

Additional comments by other contributors.

I just wanted to add something about these fish and their aggression. They are extremely hardy, and do okay if the water conditions vary a little. Any easy beginner fish, they happen to be quite aggressive and nippy. Very active and fun to watch, they do pick on eachother, and any other fish species in the tank. I reccommend a "species" tank - keeping these fish in a tank to themselves. Keeping them in groups of 6 - 8 seems to help reduce their aggression.

Another, perhaps surprising observation:

They can be a very shy fish if you have six or less. Whenever I approach the aquarium, my Buenos Aires tetras cowar behind the decor. I have to observe from a distance.

This post has been edited by Lateral Line: May 19 2006, 07:46 PM