Diamond Tetras, Moenkhausia pittieri

[bgarthe28 46]

I went to the LfS to grab a few more peppered Corycats and came across a fish I rarely see….the Diamond Tetra. My 33g tank with the 9 Gold Blue Eyed Congos actually needs a dither fish to make the Gold Congos be less skittish. These Diamond Tets were just the ticket…. size wise, active wise, and temperament wise. I went ahead and bought all 7
They really are quite stunning even in my QT. And these are merely “teenagers”.

 

[Boundava5]

LOVE diamond tetras. So underrated but they have a great dynamic if you have room for a nice school. Males will show off and display beautifully to each other and females. They have a gorgeous sparkle. One tetra I would definitely get again, they are super hardy too!

 

[Uberhoust5]

I love these fish too, though I have never kept them. They remind me of the sparkles you get off some fish when you are snorkeling, but you don't have to get wet.

 

[Innesfan26 10]

I love these fish too, though I have never kept them. They remind me of the sparkles you get off some fish when you are snorkeling, but you don't have to get wet.

Another fan, here. I especially like the occasional flashes of blue and violet depending on how the light hits them. All set off by those red eyes and glorious fins. As Innes put it in '35: "Altogether we would say this is a fish of distinction."

BTW, this is another characin that got a new name in the fairly recent massive overhaul of the tetra genera. The new name is Makunaima pittieri. Three other former members of Moenkhausia and Astyanax have also been moved to Makunaima.

 

[bgarthe28 46]

Thanks Innesfan. I saw that Makunaima at another spot and I thought they errored bc so many listed it as Moenkhausia. I can’t correct the post title, but will surely use the correct genus from now on. I will say that watching these even in QT is awesome…..those crystal diamond like flashes catch my eye every time. When they join my Golden Blue Eyed Congo Tetras in the 33g long, it should be quite the scene.

 

[Innesfan26 10]

No worries. The name changes have been slow to catch on for most of the characins that have been reclassified. There have been so many. The equally massive revision in corydoras seems to have caught on more readily.

 

[GaryE27 142]

I have a friend who prioritizes this fish in his 6 foot plant tank. He finds a lot of young in the plants, so they are quite easily bred. They adapt well to moderately soft water tanks, and when the sun hits them, they are stunners. Because his love is of plants, he has heavy duty lighting so the reflections are great. The list of tetras I "need" to keep is always growing. I realize I've had a prejudice against high bodied species over the years.

Can you imagine how good their camouflage is when the sun is sparkling on a rippling surface, and they are glittering with it?

 

[Rusty_Shackleford27 142]

I'm a fan. The males get stunning blues, greens, and pink colorations.
I accidentally bred these in a community setting about 2018 or so. It was a heavily planted tank but I'm surprised I had fry survive as there were cichlids in the tank as well.
I don't know if diamond tetras are underrated, but they are a great fish to keep.

 

[Boundava5]

I will be building a large tank in the future and may throw in a huge school of them, but wonder if my a. crassipinnus or eels would eat them. Heck even the orange parrot cichlid may as he is a butt head, lol. The 125 will free up a little, so maybe I will have a school of 20-30 in there. They really are underrated beauties.

 

[anewbie]

Well i could consider putting a few in my 600 but alas between name changes and stock depletion i guess not.

 

[WhistlingBadger24 6]

Yep, gorgeous fish in a large school and a brightly lit tank. Good choice.

 

[bgarthe28 46]

Oh boy…….now I’ve got more arriving today. I really like these guys and am going to do up a 20g long species only along with the others I already have in the 33g and the Lampeye Congo Tetras.