Red-base Tetra Care Guide - Aquarium Setup, Diet & Breeding

The Red-base Tetra is a small, elegant characin with a mostly translucent, silvery body and a distinctive warm red patch concentrated around the caudal peduncle and base of the tail. Subtle dark markings and reflective scales can become more noticeable when the fish is settled and displaying normally, while the fins remain largely clear.

Red-base Tetras are native to northern South America, occurring in parts of the Amazonian region including Brazil and the Guianas. They inhabit slow-moving forest streams, tributaries and flooded habitats with warm, generally soft water.

A group should be given an aquarium of at least 60 litres, with a footprint around 60 cm long by 30 cm wide to provide useful swimming space. Use gentle filtration, subdued lighting and plenty of plants, including some fine-leaved or floating cover, while leaving open areas for schooling. A dark, fine-grained substrate, driftwood and leaf litter can create the shaded, tannin-rich appearance associated with their natural habitat. Aim for warm, stable water around 22–28°C and a slightly acidic to neutral pH of approximately 5.5–7.5.

Up to about 4 cm (1.6 inches) in length. Females are usually a little deeper-bodied and may grow slightly larger than males.

In nature, Red-base Tetras feed on tiny aquatic invertebrates, insects and other small food items found among submerged vegetation. Offer a varied diet of quality small granules or flakes supplemented with suitably sized frozen or live foods such as baby brine shrimp, daphnia and mosquito larvae. Small portions fed regularly are preferable to food that is too large or left uneaten.

Red-base Tetras are peaceful community fish and make good companions for similarly sized, calm species such as other small tetras, rasboras, pencilfish, Corydoras and small, non-aggressive suckermouth catfish. They should not be housed with large predatory fish, fin-nippers or boisterous species that may intimidate them or view them as prey. Keeping them in a proper group helps them behave confidently and reduces skittishness.

Red-base Tetras are egg-scattering characins that can be bred in a separate, dimly lit aquarium with soft, slightly acidic water and fine-leaved plants or a spawning mop. Condition a group with plenty of live or frozen foods, then introduce the adults when females are full of eggs. The eggs are usually scattered among the vegetation, after which the adults should be removed because they may eat them. Hatching generally occurs within a day or two, and the tiny fry initially need infusoria-sized foods before progressing to newly hatched brine shrimp.

Females are generally fuller through the abdomen, particularly when carrying eggs, and may be marginally larger overall. Males are typically slimmer and can appear more intensely coloured when displaying, although the difference is subtle in this species.