Tetra – Buenos Aires Tetra (Hyphessobrycon anisitsi) 4cm

The Buenos Aires Tetra derives its name from the capital city of Argentina. The city sits on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, located along the southeastern coastline of South America. Considered a river by some and a gulf by others, the Río de la Plata is formed by the joining of the Paraná and Uruguay Rivers, which are also home to the Buenos Aires tetra. In the wild, they are commonly found in rivers, ponds, lakes, and streams.

The Buenos Aires Tetra can grow to 7cm in size, and it is one of the larger tetras. Its body is silvery with a narrow blue line that starts behind the gill and ends at the caudal (tail) fin, where there is a black diamond-shaped spot. The fins are orange-red and a splash of red can be seen at the top of the eye.

Buenos Aires Tetras are social fish that swim in schools. Although tetras are generally peaceful, avoid keeping them with small fish such as the neon tetra as well as long-finned fish such as bettas and angelfish. If they get hungry, Buenos Aires tetras could nip at the fins of long-finned tankmates.

The Buenos Aires Tetra does well with larger sized tetras, such as the Black Widow or Serpae Tetra, as well as with barbs, danios, gouramis, and rainbows. Bottom-dwelling fish are also good companions. A school of Buenos Aires Tetras is good dither fish among non-aggressive cichlids.