Sometimes people come into the shop and are looking for
a fish that stands out a little more than others. Not the usuall bread and butter fish, something with a bit more pizazz.
Here is a tetra that will catch anyone's attention and will show you
are a connesoire of fish. A true trophy of a tetra.
Black phantom tetras are found in river sytems in Brazil in the wild.
The fish you see in your pet stores are bred and produced on Florida fish farms and increasingly more in the far east. They
are genrally hardy but the ones shipped from the far east can be touchy after the rigors of shipping. One more reason why
aquarists should aspire to breed their own stock and supply local stores with locally bred fish.
These tetras bring a bit higher price than other tetras but T's Olde
Towne Pet Shop keeps the cost to a minimum and this helps when you consider that these tetras, like most, do better in groups,
especially groups of six or more.
This fish is what as known as "sexually dimorphic", that is, the males
and females are colored distinctively different. The female, shown in the picture, has red fins and the fins are not as long
and showy as the male. The male lacks red fins and his fins are more smoky colored and become large and fan out from the body
in astounding size as he matures. When two males spar for territorial dominance the fins are spread out and will take your
breath away.
Taking care of these fish presents no problems as far as water goes.
Tap water is fine as long as the water quality remains excellent as it should with the recommended weekly 10-15% water changes
that T's Olde Towne Pet Shop advocates. Breeding these fish requires a softer water but for keeping and enjoying the fish
no special requirements exist. As with most fish, avoid extremes in temperature and pH and you will be fine.
Feeding these gems is easy, any quality flake food will suffice but
we always recommend adding some frozen or live food periodically to enhance the colors and health of your fish.
