Sky Blue Tetra(Boehlkea Fredcochui)

[Caprichoso]

Hi,

I purchased a school of Blue Tetras a couple of months ago and have them in my 30 gallon with Flame Tetras. I have one noticeably larger female of the group who seems to be much more "frantic" than the other ones. She constantly chases all the other fish away from her and has sort of staked out a territory that is all hers. I found this to be strange behaviour from a female tetra (yes she's def a female). In the last week or so I noticed that she is getting very rotund and seems to be full of eggs. Is this a normal behaviour of this type of tetra in spawn or is this just a very dominant, slightly aggressive fish? She's giving the Flame tetras a run for their money lol and to think I was worried about them being the nippy bullies!

Anyway, I really love these Blue Tetras, they are a stunning and natural blue(not dyed). Does anyone else have them? What has your experience been so far with them?

Thanks in advance

 

[Caprichoso]

Anyone with some experience with these?

Thanks

 

[minnnt]

I have seen these for sale at a lfs and was very intrigued by them as i had never heard of them before. Are they hardy?

 

[Caprichoso]

I have seen these for sale at a lfs and was very intrigued by them as i had never heard of them before. Are they hardy?

Oh yes, they are for me so far! But, they also looked in excellent condition when I got them so that was a definite advantage. The lfs still has some of them left and they are still healthy in the store tank so that's also a great sign. I was hoping someone else had them...the lfs said they are uncommon so I don't think a lot of people have them yet (I had never heard of them before).

 

[coldcazzie]

I'm hoping to get some of these Caprichoso, on the basis that they're quite active, so we'll see

 

[Caprichoso]

I'm hoping to get some of these Caprichoso, on the basis that they're quite active, so we'll see

Let me know how you do with them! My female definitely laid eggs as she was round the other day and now she's skinny again.

 

[Caprichoso]

I just wanted to give an update on my Blue Tetras.

2 weeks ago I transferred them from my 30 gallon to my 140g. All was going well until the last couple of days. The largest of the 5 which is a female has started getting very aggressive with some of my other tetras. She chases my cardinals, glowlights, green fire, and rummynose...actually she even chases my emperors out of her territory which totally shocks me! The other Blue tetras only show this behaviour minimally. I think I'm going to have to put them back in my 30g which is very disappointing. Oh well, I guess this is what happens when you try new fish without knowing more info about their interaction with other fish. I'm just glad I don't have to re-home them and that I have another tank to put them in.

I think if I can get more of them, I will keep them as a species tank only. Adding to their numbers may help the aggression but I don't want to experiment any more with them in my main tank so we'll see how it turns out. In any event, they are truly beautiful fish but they are definitely high strung and potentially aggressive.

Thanks for reading

 

[coldcazzie]

I bought 20 blues, I've had them nearly a week now. I have to say they are very well matched to the silvertips I'm keeping them with in the tank. Very active and always on the go, but mostly keep the chasing within the tetras (they don't chase the apistos, although do occasionally try it on with the shrimp). They're a bit washed out under bright lighting, the blue is very pale which is disappointing. They spend time at all levels of the tank.

So far I like them

 

[creeker]

These Blue Tetras used to be pretty common here in the U.S. back in the 1980's and early 90's. I worked for several retail fish stores and one hatchery/importer that usually had these in stock. Of course, the blue color is much more striking with front lighting. They did seem to like to chase and nip a little, but you know when fish are being kept to sell they are a little crowded, and that sometimes affects their temperment.

 

[Caprichoso]

I bought 20 blues, I've had them nearly a week now. I have to say they are very well matched to the silvertips I'm keeping them with in the tank. Very active and always on the go, but mostly keep the chasing within the tetras (they don't chase the apistos, although do occasionally try it on with the shrimp). They're a bit washed out under bright lighting, the blue is very pale which is disappointing. They spend time at all levels of the tank.

So far I like them

LOL, I was just thinking to myself that they remind me of Silver Tips, which then reminded me about the silver tip tetra rant on one of the threads on the forum! I haven't put them in the "evil" catagory...yet.

I have low tech tank so the colours are very blue for me. Also, have you noticed the pale red on the dorsal and anal fin? I've only just noticed it in the last week.

My aggressive female is spending the day in a breeding net...ahh, peace in the tank. I'm having a hard time catching the other ones though...I think they caught on to my plans for their relocation lol.

 

[coldcazzie]

Haha I did think at first that if you didn't like the silvertips then the blues were a silly choice really! they really are very well matched...!

Tis a shame about the lighting in my tank...they look lovely when the tank light is off and it's just natural daylight reaching them. Perhaps installation of some moonlights would help... I like the fact that they are almost irridescent - when viewed at certain angles they are lilac, at others they are pink, it's really quite beautiful!

 

[Wills]

I had a group of these a while ago but they got eaten by a Aequidens Diadema However what everyone here is right - as in they can be problematic when kept in low numbers, I have heard some people compare them to Tiger Barbs - so much as the bigger the school the better. Given their beauty I can totally see them being a candidate for a large school though. I think Cazzie has it right with about 20 - though at a personal guess I would think in the wild they will be in very very big schools where they have to be boistrus with each other 1. to make sure they get food and 2. to make sure they get noticed when breeding time comes

Wills