Family: Characidae
Distribution: The Flame Tetra comes from the Upper Amazon (Colombia and Peru) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), South America. They prefer slow moving waters with dense vegetation. The Hyphessobrycon lammeus that are sold in stores and at auctions are commercially-bred as it is illegal to export them from Brazil.
PH: 5.8 – 7.8 pH
Temperature: 22 – 28°C (72 – 82°F)
Hardness: 5 – 25 dH
Description: Keep this small fish in shoals of at least 6. Hitting just over 2cm in length, they are peaceful and active little fish.
Parading striking colours, they are half silver (front) and half red. The silver area also sports 2 black thick, vertical lines. Under light they have a gold sheen to the stomach of the silver area. The fins are transparent aside from long, thin lines that radiate from base to tip. The anal and pelvic fins also display a touch of red near the front of the base. The Flame Tetra also has a slightly-arched back.
The male Hyphessobrycon flammeus has more colourful anal fins, including a black tip. The females have concave anal fins and less red colouration, but also have dark-tipped pectoral fins.
Diet: The Red Tetra requires feeding once to twice a day. In the wild they enjoy a diet of plant matter, small crustaceans and insect larvae. In the tank they will continue to enjoy this omnivorous diet; but aquarists can use flake foods, Daphina, insect larvae and frozen meaty foods instead.
Breeding: The Flame Tetra is easy to breed and can lay up to 250 eggs each time. Use the typical Hyphessobrycon method of breeding.
Set up two conditioning tanks, one for a year old male and one for a year old female. The two Hyphessobrycon flammeus should be fed on a diet of Drosophila and insect larvae for two-to-three weeks, before moving them into a 38L breeding tank. The tank should have a temperature of 24 – 26°C (75 – 79°F), a pH of 6.5, and dH of 2 – 4; although they will spawn in hard or soft water. Partial weekly water changes are a must. Do not use any form of substrate, just fine-leaved plants and a soft filtration system (sponge or foam). The eggs are extremely sensitive to light and must be kept as dark as possible.
If eggs do not appear within three days of the introduction, repeat the process of conditioning. When spawning, eggs will appear in the plant leaves. Remove the parents from the breeding tank after spawning firstly so they do not eat the eggs, and secondly to give the fry room to swim. Two-to-three days later, the eggs will hatch, with the fry swimming free a few days later. The new fry can be fed on Artemia salina.
Comments: Use a typical Hyphessobrycon set up for your tank of Red Tetras: an open area for swimming in the middle with dense plantation on the sides and back. Use some floating plants for light diffusion (this species doesn’t like bright lighting), and include rocks and PVC pipes for hiding spaces. Using dark colours in your plants and substrate will ensure you see the very best colouration in your Bleeding Heart Tetras. They also require a larger tank than most of their relatives – at least 60L – as the males can become aggressive when there isn’t enough room. Use a peat-filtered system
Reports suggest Hyphessobrycon flammeus can be moderately difficult to keep.
Article/Books:
Recommended Compatible Species: They should live happily with other Tetra species (particularly the Neon Tetra and Black Tetra). They also should be good tank mates with Discus, Apistogramma‘s like Apistogramma Cacatouides and Apistogramma Borelli, Corydoras Catfish (particularly Corydoras Sterbai and Corydoras aeneus) Angelfish, Clown loach, the common Guppy and Platy and most Gourami (such as the Blue Gourami and Dwarf Gourami like the Honey Gourami) Also should live happily with most Danio (particularly the Zebra Danio and Pearl Danio) and also many Killifish could make great tank mates.
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