SERPAE TETRA INTRODUCTION:
Today let’s look at a tetra that has some boisterous some say “fin nipping” problems yep the shall we say naughty tetra the Serpae tetra! This fish was discovered fighting its way out of the back swamps of the Amazon River drainage through Brazil, Peru, Paraguay and winning its way into Bolivia and becoming a world champion by the time the fish
reached northern Argentina (let’s just say this fish has a temper) All joking aside the Serpae tetra gets a bad rap it’s not that bad you do have to be mindful of a few things and keep with certain tank mates but overall this is a beautiful fish.
SERPAE TETRA HABITAT AND OTHER NAMES:
The Serpae is also known as the jewel tetra, Callistus tetra Red Minor Tetra, Jewel Tetra, Blood Characin, Blood Tetra, Red Serpa, Callistus, and sometimes Red Phantom Tetra. A long-finned Serpae Tetra variety.
Developed in captivity is also called Long Fin Red Minor Tetra! wow, plenty of names and a lot of hype around this relatively small fish.
The fish itself lives in its natural habitat in slow-moving waters mainly backwaters including ponds, lakes, and streams.
They live in the wild by forming what are known as “Aggregations” or (Clusters) of different vegetation such as plants and flora still with the roots attached to tree roots and leaves.
They find these areas and hang out They stay close to the surface among the plants and feed on worms, crustaceans, insects, and plant matter. They are a gregarious species and live in groups but frequently bite each other’s fins while feeding.
The Serpae Tetra Hyphessobrycon eques (previously Hyphessobrycon Callistus) was discovered by Steindachner in 1882. They are found in South America, particularly in the upper Paraguay and the Madeira and Guapore regions.
SCIENTIFIC NAME: HYPHESSOBRYCON
FAMILY NAME: CHARACIDAE
FUN FACT:
There are 1674 species of fish within the Characidae family including some 700 types of tetra!
WHAT DOES THE SERPAE LOOK LIKE?
This champion fighting little fish has a distinctive colouring The Serpae Tetra is a deep-bodied fish with the typical tetra shape. Its body is an elongated, laterally compressed oval when viewed from the side. This fish will generally reach about 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) in length and has a lifespan of about 3 to 7 years. The Serpae Tetra has a beautiful,
reddish body colour that picks up flashy, jewel-type highlights. It has a large, almost diamond-shaped, black spot behind the gills. Their fins are mostly black with white tips. A long-finned variety developed in captivity is usually referred to as Long Finned Serpae Tetra or Long Fin Red Minor Tetra.
FUN FACT TWO:
This particular tetra has Anal-fin with 23 to 26 branched fin rays has around 30 to 32 longitudinal scales and also believe it or not has up to 21 teeth and is considered as with all tetra to be related to piranhas! (maybe where the Serpae gets its bad behaviour from)
TANK CONDITIONS:
The minimum tank size considered is around 20 gallons or 100 litres as these fish are shoaling fish and do need some open water for swimming around in. They swim mainly top middle of the tank they will need to be kept in groups of at least six but would suggest upping this to a minimum of eight with an even split between male and female.
This will help the boisterous behaviour as discussed above. The bad rap these fish get is mainly because of people placing them into a tank that’s not best suited to them.
By only placing three four or five fish together that doesn’t help them I am by no means an expert. Still, after some basic research, we find this fish needs a lot of room to move around.
They love hiding so lots of greenery plants flora with roots even some floating plants and vegetation including driftwood.
This all helps keep the ph levels right which, in turn, keeps the fish happy there may still be some “nipping” but this will be only amongst each other as part of establishing hierarchy once this is done you should be fine.
Remember to be careful around feeding time as they can be slightly aggressive over food (who isn’t lol) only feeding them what they can eat in around two minutes seems to help sort that problem.
Water temperature also needs addressing and needs to be between 72-82f or 22-27c with ph levels of between 5-7.8 and water hardness of between 5-25 dgh.
keeping water around 75f 24c ph of 6 and dgh of 10 seems to be the sweet spot but a little riggle room is fine as you will no doubt have other fish to consider also feeding them the occasional blood worm helps keep them happy healthy and brings out the colours on the fish too! (pro tip).
TANKMATES:
So now we know a bit about the Serpae tetra and its habitat and what type of tank the fish needs to thrive.
But what other fish can go in with this little champ the ideal tankmates would be other active fish like Barbs, Danios, and larger Tetras. Bottom-dwelling catfish and loaches are also suitable tankmates.
Avoid keeping this species with fish that have long-flowing fins or that are slow-moving, such as Angelfish or Bettas.
MATING/BREEDING:
The Serpae Tetra is an egg layer or more accurately described as an egg scatterer and they generally scatter their eggs over plants, flora and other greenery vegetation.
Females will typically lay between 200-300 eggs and they will usually spawn those eggs early in the morning.
The mating/courting process is similar to other tetras in that there’s some dancing and chasing going on,
The male has a dance then shoots over to the planted area some nice flora plants etc (where if successful the spawning will happen) then comes back to dance again he “shakes” in front of her showing all his colour once she’s ready.
She will follow him over and em (that’s where the magic happens) they will swim until side by side pressed against each other’s sides.
You should see them shudder and then scatter and the eggs will have been released and fall through the plant’s flora and other vegetation.
Falling where they will and that is that they don’t take any parental responsibility the eggs are left to fend for themselves.
In fact, the parents are more than likely to eat some of the eggs as it’s exhausting all that dancing and mating.
The fry themselves will take 24-48 hours to hatch and will take another few days to eat the yolk sac and finally be free and swim. Serpae tetra takes around eight months to be mature and ready for breeding.
BREEDING PROCESS:
The best practice for breeding serpae tetra is to put the two adults male and female (obviously) and breed in their own tank.
The tank should be around 75 litres or 15 gallons slightly smaller but there is only two fish in there keeping the tank dimly lit and full of floating plants flora bunches of fine-leafed plants and some good java moss.
Here comes the genius bit put some fake grass at the bottom under the moss and a few leafed plants then put a layer of mesh over it this will allow the eggs to fall through but stop the adult fish from being able to get at the eggs and munch them.
Water temperature of 80f 26c should be spot on with ph levels of 6.5 and water should be soft around 10 dgh.
After spawning remove the adults then after the eggs have hatched you can remove the mesh but leave the light off for four days.
As the eggs and fry are very sensitive to light also only use a small sponge filter for filtration (we don’t want to suck any fry or floating eggs into the filter).
After four days the fry once they have become free swimming can be fed on some infusoria foods for a further seven days.
Or so then given some micro worm and crushed up flakes after the initial first few weeks they can be kept on normal flake granules with the occasional treats same as normal and should be fully developed in around eight months congratulations you’ve bred some serpae tetra.
COMMON NAMES
Blood Characin, Callistus, Callistus Tetra, Jewel Tetra, Red Minor Tetra, Red Serpae, Serpa Tetra, Serpae Tetra
SCIENTIFIC NAME: HYPHESSOBRYCON EQUES
FAMILY NAME: CHARACIDAE
ADULT SIZE:1 3/4 inches (4 1/2 cm) with the average being 1.5 inches and 4cm in length.
LIFE EXPECTANCY: Between three and seven years with a good average being five years.
FEEDING: Omnivore like some live food but will eat flakes and granules.
SEXING: Females are more plump males have more colour on fins and are sleeker and more torpedo-shaped.
LOOKS: Firey red reddish body colour that picks up flashy, jewel-type highlights. It has a large, almost diamond-shaped, black spot behind the gills. Their fins are mostly black with white tips.
BREEDING: Egg layers/scatterers’ eggs take 24-48 hours to hatch fry and take a further 4 days to be swimming freely parents take no responsibility for the young.
WATER TEMPERATURE/PH LEVEL AND WATER HARDNESS: Water should be between 72–79 F (22–26 C) with ph levels of between 5.0–7.8 and water hardness of between 5–25 dGH.
TANK SIZE: Tank size no smaller than 100 litres or 20 gallons.
ORIGIN: Brazil Paruaguy Bolivia and Argentina.
SOCIAL: Very sociable but can be a little nippy, especially around feeding time.
TANK LEVEL: Top to the middle dwelling.
IN CONCLUSION: SERPAE TETRA ARE GOOD FOR ALL HOBBYISTS:
In closing, I would say YES this fish is indeed a good fish for all hobbyists from beginners and beyond.
Although it can be boisterous and a little bit “nippy” and generally naughty at times I hope to have shown within this post there are normally reasons behind this that can easily be avoided and that this awesomely amazing fish can integrate well into most tanks.
Firstly by making sure that the conditions of the tank meet the Serpae tetra’s needs in no particular order.
Let’s run through some of the main things we can do to better keep our Serpa. Hiding places this fish can be shy and nervous and needs good hiding places to feel confident.
Also, plants and flora both floating plants and planted plants will be needed. Some good driftwood helps with both feeding and water nutrients.
The tank mates need to be taken into consideration. Let’s be honest some fish just do better together than others and feeding times need to be observed.
Maybe feed in two separate places at the same time and only feed what the fish can eat within two minutes.
And last but not least these fish are of course shoaling fish and should be kept in groups of at least six fish.
But id highly recommend keeping eight. A minimum of twelve would be my sweet spot for healthy happy fish.
Also keeping a good mix between males and females I’m confident this amazing fish will do you proud.
Hope you enjoyed the read comment your suggestions and ideas id love to hear about your tetra-keeping and or other fish-keeping experiences and remember to keep Tetraing – the TANK0FISH TEAM.