Collett's tetra

Hemigrammus collettii

Also known as Moenkhausia collettii, Collettii tetra

FreshwaterFish

Care at a glance

Temperature: 73–82°F (23–28°C)
pH: 5.5–7.0
Adult size: 2 in (5 cm)
Minimum tank: 20 gal (75 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Schooling
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Upper Amazon and Orinoco margins
Family: Characidae

Overview

Collett's tetra is a peaceful, understated schooling fish whose thin copper line and dark tail spot come alive in a group of ten or more over a dark setup. It swims in the middle of the tank and mixes well with other calm, soft-water community fish such as small tetras, pencilfish, hatchetfish, and corydoras. Keep it away from large or boisterous tankmates that would outcompete it at feeding time. Offer small foods: quality flake, micro pellets, and regular frozen or live daphnia, cyclops, and bloodworm. A group is comfortable in around 75 liters or more with planting and open lanes.

In the wild

In the wild this tetra ranges widely across the Amazon basin from Peru to the Guianas and into Orinoco margins, living in slow, soft, tannin-tinted water over muddy and leaf-strewn bottoms. Recreate that with warm water from 23 to 28 degrees Celsius and pH 5.5 to 7.0, a dark substrate, leaf litter and driftwood for a blackwater feel, and gentle flow. Dim light and shade from plants keep it settled and colored up.

Good to know

Long known as Moenkhausia collettii, this species is now placed in Hemigrammus, family Characidae, after study showed it belongs with the type species of that genus. It reaches about 5 centimeters and carries a copper stripe along the flank ending in a dark, white-edged tail spot. It is an egg-scattering characin with no parental care, and settled home breeding is not well documented.

Did you know

For over a century it was filed under Moenkhausia; genetic and anatomical study finally moved it into Hemigrammus, though the fish itself never changed, only the label on the jar.