Hummingbird Tetra Care Guide - Aquarium Setup, Diet & Breeding

The Hummingbird Tetra, Trochilocharax ornatus, is a remarkably small characin with a delicate, streamlined body and an unusually graceful, hovering swimming style. Its name reflects its habit of pausing and darting through the water like a tiny hummingbird. A translucent golden to amber body is accented by warm reddish markings, dark-edged fins and a subtle iridescent sheen that becomes more noticeable when the fish is settled and displaying.

Hummingbird Tetras originate in the upper Amazon region of Peru, particularly the blackwater tributaries and forest streams associated with the Loreto area. They inhabit slow-moving, shaded waters in the western Amazon Basin of South America.

A group of Hummingbird Tetras should have at least a 40-litre aquarium, ideally measuring around 60 cm long by 30 cm wide or more so they have useful horizontal swimming space. Use a dark, fine-grained substrate, gentle filtration and plenty of fine-leaved plants, floating cover, roots and small branches to create shaded retreats. Leaf litter and tannin-rich décor can help reproduce the subdued, blackwater character of their natural habitat, while open areas among the plants allow the fish to display and forage.

Around 2 cm (0.8 in) maximum adult length. Females are generally slightly deeper-bodied and may be marginally larger than males.

In nature, Hummingbird Tetras feed on minute aquatic invertebrates, small crustaceans and other tiny prey found among submerged vegetation. Offer a varied diet of finely crushed quality flakes or micro-pellets supplemented with baby brine shrimp, daphnia, cyclops and other appropriately sized frozen or live foods. Their mouths are very small, so every food should be easy to swallow and offered in modest portions.

Hummingbird Tetras are peaceful and best kept with other tiny, gentle species that will not outcompete or intimidate them. Suitable companions include pygmy Corydoras, small Otocinclus, celestial pearl danios, chili rasboras, other small rasboras and similarly sized, calm tetras. Avoid large or boisterous fish, fin-nippers, aggressive species and most cichlids, as their minute size makes them vulnerable to being eaten or excluded from food.

Hummingbird Tetras are egg-scattering fish and can be bred in a mature, softly filtered breeding aquarium containing fine-leaved plants or spawning mops. Condition a group with small live or frozen foods, then provide very soft, acidic water and subdued lighting. The adults may eat the eggs, so remove them after spawning or protect the eggs with a spawning mesh. The eggs usually hatch within a couple of days, and the tiny fry need infusoria or another suitably small first food before they can accept newly hatched brine shrimp.

Females are usually fuller through the abdomen, particularly when carrying eggs. Mature males tend to be slimmer and may show stronger colour and more pronounced fin development, although the differences are subtle in such a small species.