Diamond Tetra

Author : Efrain Silva

Appearance

This fish appears to be small and brightly colored, resembling a light silver - transparent texture; these guys move quickly and smoothly under the water and tend to have purple dorsal / anal fins as well as bright red eyes with dark black pupils.

Dark lines run right across their midlines and are a sight for sore eyes, literally speaking. Along their flanks, you’ll notice some scales which are not the same as you might see in most other fish of their kind, but are rather iridescent and bright, as noted. These guys look glorious indeed!

Diet

Their diet they need to watch, which ought to ideally consist of things like omnivorous selections (since they are, as you might have already guessed, true omnivores by nature).

They have certain preferences or ‘favorite foods’, just like any creature, animal or human, tends to have — yet when they’re fending for themselves in the wild, they’ll settle for whatever they can get their teeth on.

Yet some of their favorite dishes include mosquito larvae, bloodworms, and even daphnia, among other great picks. Pellets and flakes, and even frozen selections of these, will do just fine. They’ll take it however they can!

Origins

The origins of these specimens are rather quite interesting and worth talking about, even if briefly. What’s perhaps the most interesting thing to note here about the Diamond Tetra is that, not like with several other marine creatures in the world, this particular fish mainly originates from one single place and had been found solely there.

It looks like it’s an exclusive native fish of Venezuela (Valencia, to be precise), a country in South America. It comes from Lake Valencia and has the technical name of Moenkhausia pittieri, a proud fish of the Animalia kingdom. It’s of the Characidae family as well.

Roommate Situation

Were you already envisioning putting this guy (or guys, if buying several at a time, as a group purchase) together with other great fish in your tank? Well, before you do so, allow me to point out a suggestion or two that might help ease the process, perhaps break the ice nicely for this transition.

You’ll want to keep this type of fish in groups, so as to better prevent nipping of fins (as we fish owners all know it tends to happen, and no tank is ever perfect). Larger fish can eat your Diamond Tetra, if hungry enough.

Other Facts to Note

What else have you always wanted to know about this fish (or perhaps already known and simply needed a brief refresher course on)? Well, how about the fact that these fish can spawn best when it’s bright and early (the early fish gets the worm and makes the most of the day, it seems)?

Their eggs can hatch within a period of 36 hours or less, in the ideal surroundings, and in 4 days or less, you’ll find those ‘fry’ out and about swimming freely. Life is truly a beautiful thing.