Congo Tetra

The Congo Tetra whose scientific name is Micralestes Interruptus is one of the more beautiful tetra available to fish keepers. In my option with its multi coloured body and long fins it could be mistaken for a rainbow fish. In the wild it originates from Central Africa. Fish available for sale are both wild caught and aquarium bred. The wild caught fish tend to be much more colourful.

Behaviour and Tank Mates

Like all shoaling fish they like to be kept in small groups. These are fish tend to me more expensive than other tetra so it may be tempting just getting one or two, but they really need to be kept in groups of six or more. They are peaceful and make good community fish. They should be kept with other peaceful fish, for example other tetra. Due to long fins they should be kept away from fin nippers such as Tiger Barbs.

Aquarium Requirements

These fish are fairly big considering they are tetra, males grow to maximum of 3.5 inches and females grow to a maximum of 2.5 inches. Due to their larger size they will need a tank of at least 100 litres. The aquarium should include both open spaces for swimming and plenty of hiding places for the fish.

When it comes to water quality they like slightly acidic soft water, so aim to keep the ph between 6 and 7.5 . Also try to keep the temperature between 23 and 26C.

These fish can be very sensitive to changes in water quality, so regular water changes are a must.

Food

These fish will accept flake food, but if only fed flake food they will start to lose their lovely colours. You can feed them mainly flake food and then supplement with live or frozen food such as brine shrimp.

Breeding

Like all tetra they are egg scattering fish. They females lay can lay up to 300 eggs. Once the spawning has finished you should remove all adult fish as they are likely to eat the eggs. The eggs will take around 6 days to hatch and once the eggs have hatched you should feed them brine shrimp.

If you like this site vote fot it @ AquaRank