Flameback bleeding heart tetra

Care at a glance

Overview

The flameback bleeding heart tetra is a peaceful schooling tetra for a warm blackwater tank. It is a fish for a keeper who has some experience.

Caring for the flameback bleeding heart tetra

Keep six or more flameback bleeding heart tetras, in a tank of at least 20 gal (75 L). Give them stained water, leaf litter and shade.

They want warmth and acidity, at 75 to 82°F (24 to 28°C) and a pH of 5.0 to 6.8. The darker and softer the water, the better. Feed flake, granules and meaty frozen foods.

Like other bleeding hearts, this tetra is peaceful but substantial, so keep it with calm, midsized company. Breeding it is hard.

Good to know

Hyphessobrycon pyrrhonotus was described in 1993, and its name means flame-backed. It is one of three bleeding heart tetras in the hobby. It pairs the classic bleeding-heart shoulder spot with a band of glowing red along the upper body, which neither of the other two carries.

In the wild

The flameback bleeding heart tetra comes from the Rio Negro basin in Brazil, true blackwater country.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Lesser bleeding heart tetra

  Hyphessobrycon socolofi

  2.2 in (5.6 cm) · 24 gal (90 L)

  2.2 in (5.6 cm)24 gal (90 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)

• 

  Agulha tetra

  Hyphessobrycon agulha

  2 in (5.2 cm) · 17 gal (65 L)

  2 in (5.2 cm)17 gal (65 L)72–81°F (22–27°C)

• 

  Lemon tetra

  Hyphessobrycon pulchripinnis

  2 in (5 cm) · 17 gal (65 L)

  2 in (5 cm)17 gal (65 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)

• 

  Bleeding heart tetra

  Hyphessobrycon erythrostigma

  2.4 in (6 cm) · 20 gal (75 L)

  2.4 in (6 cm)20 gal (75 L)70–81°F (21–27°C)

• 

  Margitae tetra

  Hyphessobrycon margitae

  1.9 in (4.8 cm) · 16 gal (60 L)

  1.9 in (4.8 cm)16 gal (60 L)72–81°F (22–27°C)

• 

  Itaparica tetra

  Hyphessobrycon itaparicensis

  1.8 in (4.6 cm) · 16 gal (60 L)

  1.8 in (4.6 cm)16 gal (60 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)