All fish / Characidae

Buenos Aires tetra

Psalidodon anisitsi

Also known as buenos aires tetra, hemigrammus caudovittatus, hyphessobrycon anisitsi, astyanax anisitsi, albino buenos aires tetra, diamond buenos aires tetra, buenos aries tetra, ブエノスアイレステトラ, 布宜诺斯艾利斯灯, 红尾梦幻旗

A robust, silvery tetra with red fins and a black diamond-shaped mark at the base of the tail. It is popular because it is very hardy, active and copes with cooler, unheated tanks in a wide range of water conditions.

Care at a glance

Care level

Easy

Temperament

Semi

Adult size

6 cm

Temperature

18 to 26 °C

pH

6 to 8

Smallest tank

110 litres

Keep as

Shoal of 6 or more

Diet

Omnivore: flakes, pellets, frozen and live foods, plus plant matter such as blanched vegetables

Swims

Middle of the tank

Lifespan

5 to 6 years

Water

Freshwater

Wild range

Paraná and Uruguay river basins and La Plata region: Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, southern Brazil

Breeding

An egg scatterer that spawns readily among fine-leaved plants or spawning mops, with eggs hatching in about a day. Breeding is easy, but adults eat the eggs and should be removed after spawning.

Good to know

It eats soft aquarium plants and can nip the fins of slow, long-finned tankmates, so a large, active shoal and hardy or artificial plants work best. Now usually placed in Psalidodon; older names Hemigrammus caudovittatus and Hyphessobrycon anisitsi are still common in the trade.