What do you need to know about the Ember Tetra?
The Ember tetra or Amanda tetra even red dwarf tetra and red tetra oh and of course the fire red tetra (these are some of the names given) These tropical freshwater fish are found in Brazil, within the Araguaia river basin!
This orangy-red super friendly but tiny fish with a big personality was discovered by Heiko Bleher in 1986 making the ember tetra one of the newest additions to the modern aquarium. He named the fish in 1987 and named it”Amanda” after his mother.
SO WHAT’S THE EMBER TETRA LIKE:
The Ember tetra is small in stature roughly three-quarters of an inch long around two centimetres They have a lifespan of between only two and four years the fish’s bodies are slightly elongated. Males’ bodies are torpedo, especially when looking at them from above Females are however more rounded and plump mainly as they will be carrying eggs most of the time. Females also have a much bigger air bladder! Both male and female fish have one merged anal fin a small dorsal fin and a slightly bigger caudal fin. Ember or fire red tetras bodies are compressed towards the back of the fish allowing greater movement and a smoother swim, scales on them are compact laying close together making them appear transparent!
They are firey red (hence the name) with some orange and orange around the eyes the dorsal and caudal fins are grey/black on the tips of the fin and they have a hint of red around the mouth. males tend to be more colourful.
NOW WE KNOW WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE & HOW TO SEX THEM – BUT WHAT TYPE OF TANK DO THEY NEED?
Let’s start by looking at this beautiful little fish and its natural habitat they come from the Araguaia river basin as mentioned above which as we know is in brazil they typically inhabit slow-moving waters of forest streams and tributaries (smaller rivers or streams that lead to bigger rivers or lakes) these rivers and streams are thick with greenery from water plants leave branches etc, The water can apparently be a light yellowish-brown due from the chemicals produced by organic decay from all the plants leaves driftwood etc.
The bottom of the water is covered with leaves tree branches all this makes for very low ph levels and slightly acidic water with poor lighting due to the forest overgrowth. The ember tetra is a shoaling fish so needs to be kept in groups of at least six fish the more the merrier as more fish means more confidence and in turn makes for happier healthier fish!
So all that to say they need a room you will need a big enough tank 100 litres or around 20 gallons the tank itself should have a dark substrate maybe with a little java soil a well-planted area with some leaves a few floating plants and some driftwood, Good airlifting filtration and low lighting with temperatures of 73-84f around 23-29c and a ph level of between 6.5-7.5 with a water hardness of between 5-17 dgh.
TANKMATES:
There is no shortage of choice as there are some 15000 different species of freshwater fish but who makes a good tank mate for our ember tetra?
Keeping in mind tank conditions and water conditions as well as behaviour shoaling and of course, schooling in general and temperament we have narrowed it down to cardinal tetra, neon tetra, kribensis, dwarf cichlids, rasbora, barbs, and discus fish these fish require similar temp ph levels and water conditions as well as being of good temperament as our lovely ember tetras.
FUN FACT:
The males like a BOOGIE when courting they dance around the female in a full circle flicking their head one way while flicking they’re tail the other than visa Versa all the time displaying his extra colours. Females, as we know, can be quite difficult and pretend to ignore him at first so he will swim off and come back each time dancing around her until she finally succumbs and follows him.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
He takes her on date night over by the lovely plant life then they face each other flickering he swims around her back until facing the same way as her side by side then the two of them press their sides onto each other (that’s when the magic happens) you should see them quiver the eggs will be scattered all over plants and other flora etc, And that is that Ember doesn’t exhibit any parental responsibility the eggs will have to fend for themselves.
FUN FACT TWO:
In fact not only do they show no responsibility for their young you will have to remove them from the tank as they will eat the eggs well some of them anyway some say this is because there so knackered from mating and they need the extra nutrients the eggs will provide blimey.
EGGS AND FRY:
This could be why Ember tetra lay more eggs than other fish its believed they can lay up to 1000 eggs these eggs take around 24-36 hours to hatch and then the fry take a further three to four days to eat their way out and become free-swimming. Ember tetra fry are very slow growers and will take three months to mature and even then they will not yet be fully grown at only around a quarter to a half-inch long.
If attempting to breed it’s, of course, best to do this within their own tank then remove the parents so it’s just the fry! Not just because of the threat of being eaten although that’s a good enough reason also they need slightly warmer water lower ph levels and slightly softer water all these and the possibility of being eaten and we can see why they are difficult to breed!
EMBER TETRA BASICS:
SCIENTIFIC NAME: HYPHESSOBRYCON AMANDAE
FAMILY NAME: CHARACIDAE
LIFESPAN: Ember tetra has a lifespan of between 2 and 4 years with a good tank life of 3 years
SIZE: Ember tetra are considered on the small side reaching no more than 0.75 of an inch around 2cm
WATER TEMP: Water temp for this fish should be between 70-84f 21-29c
WATER OH LEVEL: With ph levels of between 5.0-7.0
WATER HARDNESS: Water hardness should be between 5-17 DGH
SEXING: Males will be more torpedo-shaped while females are more rounded across the middle and have a much larger air bladder, Males tend to be more colourful.
BREEDING: The Ember tetra is indeed an egg layer/scatterer and shows no parental care they will, in fact, eat the eggs given a chance.
LOOKS: Both males and females have one merged anal fin a small dorsal fin and a slightly bigger caudal fin Ember tetra bodies are compressed towards the back of the fish allowing greater movement. They are a fire red colour with some orange fins are grey/black around the edges.
CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, This amazing little fish has an awesome personality with a great temperament and will do well with most community fish needs to be kept in groups of at least six to be seen at their best. The Ember spend most of their time in the middle level of the tank and normally feed from there too! As stated above best to have a good few plants and flora some leaves and a piece of driftwood they like to chase each over around especially while courting maybe have some hiding places too.
Hope you now have a little bit of knowledge to help and we really hope you get some Ember tetra in your tanks maybe you can leave us your Ember experiences and or some pictures in the comments thanks for reading and remember to keep tetraing – the Tank0fish team.