Pastel lily tetra

Psalidodon xavante

Also known as Astyanax xavante, Xavante tetra

FreshwaterFish

Care at a glance

Temperature: 72–81°F (22–27°C)
pH: 5.5–7.2
Adult size: 2.4 in (6 cm)
Minimum tank: 21 gal (80 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Schooling
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Rio das Mortes, Mato Grosso, Brazil
Family: Characidae

Overview

The pastel lily tetra is a peaceful schooling fish with soft rose and silver tones, still fairly new to the hobby and easy to keep. Hold it in a group of at least eight, where the fish stay confident and show color best. It favors the middle and upper water and mixes well with other calm, similar-sized community fish such as tetras, rasboras, and corydoras. Offer a varied diet of quality flake or micro pellets with frozen and live foods like daphnia, bloodworm, and brine shrimp. A group is comfortable in around 80 liters or more with open swimming space near the surface and some floating cover.

In the wild

Psalidodon xavante lives in clear, crystalline cerrado streams of the middle Rio Araguaia system, including the Rio das Mortes, in Mato Grosso, Brazil, where it favors the surface and the tangle of roots and branches at the margins. Keep it at 22 to 27 degrees Celsius with pH 5.5 to 7.2 and soft to moderate hardness. Use driftwood, marginal planting, and some floating plants over open water, with gentle flow and clean, well-oxygenated water.

Good to know

Described in 2009 as Astyanax xavante and now placed in the genus Psalidodon, this characin of the family Characidae reaches about 6 centimeters. Its name honors the Xavante people, who live in the region of central Brazil between the Rio das Mortes and Rio Culuene where the fish occurs. It is an opportunistic omnivore and an egg-scattering spawner, with no established aquarium breeding records.

Did you know

Its name carries the name of the Xavante, the Indigenous nation of the river country where it lives, tying the fish to the people who have long shared its water.