Animal-World > Freshwater Fish > Characins > Golden Tetra

Golden Tetra

Family: Charadidae - Sub-family: Tetragonopterinae
Hemigrammus rodwayi

   The Golden Tetra looks like it has been sprayed with gold paint all over it's body and it is real pretty!

   The Golden Tetra looks gold because of a specialized protection to its skin. This tetra is more prone to disease than many of the tetras, especially skin parasites. The gold color comes from 'guanin' which is secreted by the skin of this fish to protect it against these parasites. This makes it look like it has been covered with a gold dust, thus its name!

   The Golden Tetra are a peaceful schooling fish. They like a bright aquarium that is moderately planted. They are not as commonly available as the other more popular tetras, like Neon tetras, but make a nice addition to the community aquarium.

   Some authors feel the Golden Tetra is a more difficult fish to keep, but we have not had any unusual problems. They are considered a bit more difficult to breed than other characins and for some reason that is not known, the offspring tend to loose their gold coloring.

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

Distribution:
   The Golden Tetra was described by Durbin in 1909. They are found in South America in Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and the Amazon River basin. They inhabit flood plains as well as coastal creeks where there can be some salinity.

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

Description:
   The Golden Tetra is a full-bodied tetra species. True to its name is looks like it has gold dust sprinkled on its body. The color comes from 'guanin' which is secreted by the skin of this fish to protect it against skin parasites. The top and bottom of the tail fin is red with a black arrowhead shaped spot in the middle. The dorsal and anal fin are golden and are tipped with white, It has a very small soft ray dorsal fin that is also red.
   These fish have been successfully bred in captivity, but for some unknown reason the aquarium bred young tend to loose their gold coloring.

Size - Weight:
   These fish get up to 1.5 inches (4 cm).

Care and feeding:
   Since they are omnivorous the Golden 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: 2-15° dGH
   Ph: 6.0 to 7.5
   Temp: 75-82° F (24-28° C)

Social Behaviors:
   The Golden Tetra are ideal for a community aquarium with other peaceful fish.

Sexual Differences:
   The female has a fuller stomach area. The male's anal fin is white and he has more red than the female. The male is almost always more colorful.

Breeding/Reproduction:
   Suggested conditions: Soft water, pH 6.3, 12° dGH, 79° F.
   The Golden Tetra are egglayers. The female will lay eggs on plants or green floss. See the description of how Characins breed in Breeding Freshwater Fish.

Availability:
   The Golden Tetra is available from time to time.

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Latest Comments
I have three of these that I bought because they were labled as black neons in the store and I wanted to give my existing black neons some school mates. When I got them, I thought they just had awful colours because they were juveniles. Then they grew into these beautiful fish that I had real trouble identifying until I found this site. A beautiful, peaceful fish with a voracious appetite for frozen brine shrimp. I just wish I had one good school of one certain type of tetra, instead two groups of three lonely tetras. How incompetent to completely mislabel a fish in a shop! How incompetent of me to buy them! Alex C 2005-04-09

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Author: David Brough. CFS.