Family: Characidae
Distribution: The Orinoco River basin in Colombia and Venezuela, South America, is where the Purple Tetra was discovered; specifically the Meta River that streams into the Orinoco. Thus, the species name was derived from its locality. Hyphessobrycon metae prefers very slow moving bodies of water that have a high acidity and are stained by dying organic material.
PH: 5.0 – 6.5 pH
Temperature: 22 – 28 °C (72 – 82 °F)
Hardness: 2 – 8 dH
Description: One might expect Hyphessobrycon metae to be a wild purple colour but in fact there isn’t a skerrick of purple on it. Instead it has the typically-transparent body of the Hyphessobrycon species with a thick white line stretching from the gills to the base of the caudal fins, and green-to-yellow sheen to the body. The anterior section of body is black with some yellow shading.
The females can be discerned (when mature) through their plumper and overall-larger body shape. Hyphessobrycon metae will grow to about 5cm, making it a tad above average for the family. They should be kept in shoals of at least 6 (and preferably ten or more) to keep them happy and thriving.
Diet: Although a carnivore in the wild, Hyphessobrycon metae will eat anything when in a tank. A diet consisting of flakes and granules mixed up with some small frozen and live foods (such as bloodworms and insect larvae) will be more than sufficient.
Breeding: Hemigrammus metae may be spawned in groups (half a dozen of each sex) or in pairs. Whichever method, separate the males and females into separate conditioning tanks and feed them live foods only for about three weeks. Then transfer them into a breeding tank that has dim lighting and dense plantation around the sides. As the parents will eat the eggs you will need to remove them immediately after spawning. Soft filtration is also required for the set up.
The eggs will hatch in just over 24 hours, and the fry will be swimming around 3-4 days later. Feed the fry on infusoria for the first few days and then move onto microworm or baby brine. Both eggs and fry are extremely sensitive to light, so keep the tank in as much darkness as possible.
Comments: A biotope tank will ensure this fish thrives to the best of its abilities. They do not like dense plantation, as this is not found in their natural environment; however they like murky water. The shoals also require plenty of room to swim about, so leave an open area.
The tank set up can be expensive and time consuming. It requires river sand as substrate and the addition of driftwood branches and roots. Dried leaves left for a few weeks each time will ‘stain’ the water and mimic the natural environment of Hyphessobrycon metae. They require dim lighting, so use top floating plants and keep the tank out of direct sunlight.
Those that are sold in retail outlets are often captivity-bred and will not suit a biotope set up. Having said that, they aren’t commonly up for sale.
The Purple Tetra isn’t recommended for beginners as it is very sensitive to water conditions.
Article/Books:
Recommended Compatible Species: House your Hyphessobrycon metae with species of a similar size and temperament. 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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