From Aqua Guide, the free encyclopedia
Buenos Aires Tetra
Psalidodon anisitsi
- Temperature
- 16–28 °C
- pH
- 5.5 – 8.5
- Min. tank size
- 110 L
- Lifespan
- 4-5 years
- Diet
- omnivore
- Care level
- easy
| Scientific classification | |
|---|---|
| Scientific Name: | Psalidodon anisitsi |
| Family: | Acestrorhamphidae |
| Origin: | South America (Paraná basin: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay) |
| Care Characteristics | |
| Care Level: | easy |
| Diet: | omnivore |
| Max Size: | 6.00 cm |
| Water Type: | freshwater |
| Temp Group: | subtropical |
| Temperament: | semi aggressive |
| Min Group: | 8+ together |
| Varieties: | Few cultivated strains, and the taxonomy has moved. An albino Buenos Aires tetra is widely traded — a pale pink-white fish retaining the red fins — and is identical in care. Long-finned selections appear occasionally and are a poor idea in a species known for nipping trailing fins. The wild-type silver fish with red fins is the standard and the hardiest. On names: the species was long placed in Hemigrammus and then Hyphessobrycon, and is now generally treated as Psalidodon anisitsi. Older books and shop labels use all three, and Hyphessobrycon anisitsi remains the most commonly seen. Several other robust silvery characins are sold alongside it and share the same reputation, including the redeye tetra and various Astyanax species — most of which are similarly boisterous and similarly cool-tolerant. If you want a peaceful silver shoaler for a warm community tank, this is not the fish; a diamond or lemon tetra is closer to what most people are actually after. |
| Lifespan: | 4-5 years |
Quick Tips
- Bioload:Medium
- Min Tank:110 L
- Substrate:Gravel or sand; open swimming space; tough or plastic plants only
- Plant Safe:Not plant-safe (eats soft plants readily)
- Filtration:Moderate to high
Buenos Aires Tetra (Psalidodon anisitsi) is a species of fish in the family Acestrorhamphidae. It is native to South America (Paraná basin: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay). The Buenos Aires tetra is a hardy, fast, silvery characin with red fins that has been in the hobby for a century, and it has two properties people underestimate. It tolerates cold. The range runs 16 to 28 °C (61–82 °F), and specialists add that it should not be maintained toward the upper end of that range for extended periods — so it belongs in a cool or unheated tank rather than a warm tropical one. And it nips. It has a reputation for nipping the fins of tank mates, though the behaviour only tends to be pronounced when insufficient numbers are purchased or space is limited — the same pattern as the tiger barb and the serpae. It reaches 60 mm standard length, and it is relatively boisterous, making a poor companion for very shy, slow-moving or long-finned fish. A group of at least eight to ten is the stated minimum.
Compatibility
- Temperament
- semi aggressive
- Keep in
- Groups of 8+
- Swims
- middle
- Fin nipper
- Yes
- Delicate fins
- No
Species similar to Buenos Aires Tetra
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