Animal-World > Freshwater Fish > Characins > Bloodfin Tetra

Bloodfin Tetra

Family: Characidae

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Aphyocharax anisitsi Photo © Animal-World: Courtesy David Brough

   The Bloodfin Tetra is one of the time tested favorites in the aquarium hobby. A school of these attractive fishes is a pretty sight!

   The Bloodfin Tetra is a good schooling fish and likes to be active. These fish appreciate plants like valisneria and sagittaria to be planted around the inside perimeter of the aquarium leaving lots of open room to swim. The Bloodfin Tetra makes a great addition to a community aquarium as it is peaceful with its tankmates. It is also very hardy and easy to breed.

   Because the Bloodfin Tetras are very active fish, they need lots of food. A rule of thumb here is to feed them 3 or 4 times a day as much as they will eat in about 3 minutes. When well tended, they have been known to live for 10 years or more. This hardy fish can even be kept in an unheated aquarium, though its' coloring will fade under these conditions.

For more Information on keeping this fish see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Freshwater Aquarium

Distribution:
   The Bloodfin Tetra was described by Eigenmann and Kennedy in 1903. They are found in South America in Argentina, Rio Parana where they inhabit the upper and middle layers of the water feeding on worms, small insects, and crustaceans.

Status:
   The species is not listed on the IUCN Red List.

Description:
   The Bloodfin Tetra is a more slim-bodied species of tetra. It has body colors ranging from a beige-orange  to a silver, picking up some flashy neon highlights. Their most distinguishing characteristic and their namesake is derived from the bright red color at the base of its anal fin and on the lower half of the tail fin.

Size - Weight:
   These fish get up to 2.0 inches (5 cm).

Care and feeding:
   Since they are omnivorous the Bloodfin Tetra will generally eat all kinds of live, fresh, and flake foods. To keep a good balance give them a high quality flake food everyday. Feed brine shrimp (either live or frozen) or blood worms as a treat.

Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom:
   These fish will swim in all areas of the aquarium.

Acceptable Water Conditions:
   Hardness: 2-30° dGH
   Ph: 6.0 to 8.0
   Temp: 64-82° F (18-28° C)

Social Behaviors:
   The Bloodfin Tetra are an excellent community fish and they will school.

Sexual Differences:
   The male is slightly more colorful than the female, has a small hook on the anal fin, and a more slender body. The female is more plump.

Breeding/Reproduction:
   The Bloodfin Tetras are egg layers.
   A quite interesting behavior of this fish is that at the moment of spawning, the fish will leap out of the tank and the eggs will fall back into the water. The eggs are not sticky so will fall to the bottom. The female will deposit 300-500 eggs in all. See the description of how to breed egg layers in Breeding Freshwater Fish.

Availability:
   The Bloodfin Tetra is readily available.

Author: David Brough. CFS.

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Latest Comments
I love these fish! I have noticed that some individuals get a peculiar "wasting" until several weeks later they die. Others puchased from the same source at the same time thrive. Beautiful when they school. They enjoy a well planted tank. carlosR 2006-05-20
These fish are very easy to take care of, and are not very needy at all. Great for beginners!! They have a nice see through texture. Truly a beautiful fish. Anonymous 2004-11-23
Some of the coolest comments:
A hardy, pretty, and underrated fish. Looks great against a blue background. Sometimes they school and sometimes they explore on their own, at all levels of the tank. Bloodfins are supposed to be about the easiest tetra to keep. Mine adapted to my aquarium in no time. Their fins are a quite nice red. Big Steve 2004-01-12

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