Bonita tetra

Moenkhausia bonita

Also known as Pretty moenkhausia, Blackbird tetra

FreshwaterFish

Bonita tetra (Moenkhausia bonita) — Felipe Alonso, Liliana Ciotek, and Miguel Albarenga · CC BY 4.0

Care at a glance

Temperature: 72–81°F (22–27°C)
pH: 6.0–7.5
Adult size: 3.3 in (8.5 cm)
Minimum tank: 29 gal (110 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Schooling
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Easy
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Upper Paraguay and Paraná systems, Brazil
Family: Characidae

Overview

The bonita tetra is an easy, adaptable schooling fish and a good choice for a general community, best kept in a group of at least eight. It is a peaceful midwater swimmer that grows larger than many tetras, so it suits a roomy tank with active, similar-sized companions such as other medium tetras, rasboras, peaceful barbs, and corydoras. It is not fussy about food and takes quality flake, pellets, and frozen or live foods like daphnia, bloodworm, and brine shrimp. Because of its size and activity, give a group around 110 liters or more with open swimming room.

In the wild

Moenkhausia bonita is widespread in the clear waters of the upper Paraguay and Parana systems of central South America, including the streams that feed the Pantanal. It is not demanding: keep it at 22 to 27 degrees Celsius with pH from 6.0 to 7.5 and moderate hardness. A sand or fine gravel bottom, driftwood, and some hardy plants suit it, with open water to swim and steady, clean flow.

Good to know

Moenkhausia bonita belongs to the characin family Characidae and reaches about 8.5 centimeters, large for a Moenkhausia. Its name is simply the Portuguese and Spanish word for pretty, matched to a clean silver fish marked with a dark spot at the tail base. It ranges widely across the Paraguay, Parana, Uruguay, and Bermejo basins. It is an egg-scattering spawner, but aquarium breeding is not formally recorded.

Did you know

Its name is just the everyday Portuguese word for pretty, the kind of plain, direct name a local fisher might give a clean, good-looking little silver fish.