Congo Tetra

Congo tetra fish comes from the family of African tetra. The fish is native to Congo River especially the Central part in Africa and it is mostly kept in aquariums.

Just like any other tetras, Congo tetra has a full body and very large scales. It is recognizable due to the tail fin that develops to a feathery appendage which is grayish violet in color and beautiful.

When the fish matures, the changing colors run through the body from front to the back. The colors starts from blue on top which changes to red in the middle, then to yellow-gold and then get back to blue above the belly.

Females can grow up to 6cm long whereas the males can grow up to 8.5cm. You will discover that the males are larger, have more colors.

When in aquarium, it requires, peat filtered water with a dark substrate. The temperature should be around 24-27 degrees Celsius. The lights should be low in order to portray the colors which are so beautiful and looks like a rainbow. The aquarium should be big enough to allow the fish to develop well. In fact, an aquarium of 30 gallons is the suitable one.

Congo tetra does not like loud noises or aggressive mates. It is normally a peaceful fish which cannot eat at your presence. It waits until the place calms down before feeding. It lives well with other fish, as long as they are of the same size.

It is an omnivorous fish which requires high quality flake foods daily to ensure that it has a well balanced diet. Brine shrimp or blood worms are good too occasionally.

It lays eggs though not much is known about its wild breeding habits. 300 eggs are the number of eggs it can lay and mostly these eggs are found on the bottom of the aquarium.