Black Widow Tetra

Black Widow Tetra

Gymnocorymbus Ternetzi

The Black Widow Tetra is a deeper bodied Tetra, that can grow to have long flowing fins, that develop 2 bold black stripes down their flank, despite not growing to be that large of an aquarium fish, they fill out the midsection of an aquarium quite well due to their deeper bodies and schooling behaviour.

Locale: Occurs in Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina - found most commonly in small, slow moving streams that are well vegetated, creating good shade.

Fun fact: Other names for Black Widow Tetras are Butterfly Tetras, or Black Skirt Tetras, this name comes from their long flowing fins that resemble a black skirt or a butterfly’s wing. 

Care:

Care difficulty - Beginner, hardy schooling fish.

Temperament - Peaceful, schools ttight when in large group sizes (e.g. 20+), however 6+ is recommended as minimum school size.

Adult size - 5-7cm

Diet - Omnivorous; will eat both ends of the spectrum, from filament algae to small invertebrates and microcrustaceans, so in the Aquaria it is best to feed a staple diet of smaller pellets or flakes, and can have frozen or even live food dietary supplements, such as live or frozen brine shrimp, live black worms, frozen bloodworms, frozen mysis with spirulina, these should only be fed once or twice per fortnight.

Habitat - In the aquaria Tetras are very unfussy fish when it comes to environment, however recreating the natural environment of any fish is always beneficial, such an environment for the Black Widow Tetra would include a light soft sandy substrate, dark driftwood, with smooth rocks and medium coarse gravel for detail, floating plants and submerged vegetation are a great addition also.

Optimal Water Parameters:

Temperature: 18-26°c

pH: 6.0-7.0

GH: 4-10

KH: 2-5

Fish size, sex, exact colour and patterning may vary from photo.