Rummynose tetra

Care at a glance

Overview

Keep them in a tight school of 8 to 10 or more in a tank of 75 liters or up, since a small group gets nervous and loses color. They are peaceful and hold to the middle of the water column, swimming as one unit. Water should sit at 24 to 27 C, soft, with a pH of 6 to 7, and it needs to be stable in a tank that has been running a while. Feed small flakes, micro pellets, and frozen foods like daphnia or baby brine. Pair them with other calm, similarly sized fish that suit the same warm, soft, acidic water.

In the wild

Rummynose tetras come from the Rio Negro basin in Brazil, soft acidic blackwater stained dark with tannins from leaf litter and driftwood. To match that, give them a tank of 75 liters or more with driftwood, leaf litter, a dark substrate, and dim light, which brings out the red nose and keeps them settled. Keep the water warm at 24 to 27 C, soft, and acidic at a pH of 6 to 7. They need a mature, well cycled tank, since the nose fades the moment water quality drops.

Good to know

This is a characin in the family Characidae, reaching about 5 cm as an adult. It was formerly classified as Hemigrammus bleheri before being moved to Petitella. It is an egg scatterer with no parental care, and breeding is hard, needing very soft, acidic blackwater conditions to trigger spawning. Most fish in the trade are commercially bred.

Did you know

The red nose works as a built in water tester. When conditions are good the snout glows deep red, but it fades to pale pink or washes out when water quality slips or the fish is stressed. If the school's noses dim, check your parameters before anything else.

Related species

• 

  False rummynose tetra

  Petitella georgiae

  2 in (5 cm)29 gal (110 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Ceros Tetra

  Moenkhausia ceros

  2 in (5 cm)16 gal (60 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Lemon tetra

  Hyphessobrycon pulchripinnis

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

• 

  Rummy-nose tetra

  Hemigrammus rhodostomus

  2 in (5 cm)20 gal (75 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Cochu's blue tetra

  Boehlkea fredcochui

  2.2 in (5.5 cm)20 gal (75 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)

• 

  Golden Tetra

  Hemigrammus rodwayi

  2.2 in (5.5 cm)20 gal (75 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)