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Lemon tetra

AquaBarb

AquaBarb

Aqua}^>holic
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Hi saw some Lemon Tetra (Hyphessobrycon pulchripinnis) in my LFS yesterday.

20191110_203500.jpg

They were grey in body then had black tails with a yellow stripe.

Online ive seen them totally yellow in body colour. Do they turn yellow when mature or are there different colour varietys?
 
This species is one of those that rarely looks good in store tanks, but once settled in to a suitable aquarium can really shine. It needs a dark substrate, dim lighting overhead (floating plants work well for this) and there is no question that it is a brighter yellow in soft water. Store fish will almost always be commercially-raised fish and like so many of these tend to be somewhat less colourful to begin with. However, the group I acquired a few years ago really coloured up in my tank and spawned prolifically; I had more than 40 mature fish when I gave them to a local store before moving last May, and three or four fry appeared a few weeks after that as I had left the tank running.

Having said that, there are two colour forms identified. This citation from Seriously Fish explains things.

Wild specimens are rarely collected due to the low price of the farmed fish, but the origin of the commercial strain is questionable. The species was considered endemic to the rio Tapajós basin, but in the early 1990s fish appearing identical to the aquarium form were photographed in their natural habitat in the lower rio Xingu basin. In addition, a clearly related form has repeatedly been collected from the rio Tapajós basin since the 1970s and was identified as H. pulchripinnis by Géry (1980).

The latter fish is referred to as H. pulchripinnis ‘orange red’ or the rather misleading ‘orange Bolivia’ in the aquarium hobby, and its identification as H. pulchripinnis established the assumption that the species is native to the Tapajós. The two forms may not be conspecific, however, since they exhibit a number of differences in colour pattern and morphology.

Specifically, the aquarium ‘lemon’ form differs from the orange red’ form in the following characters: base body colour greenish-yellow (vs. orange-yellow); anterior dorsal-fin rays black with milky tips, anterior anal-fin rays mostly yellowish (vs. anterior dorsal and anal-fin rays orange-red, blackish distally); upper portion of eye orange-red (vs. eye almost entirely intense red); diffuse humeral spot rarely (vs. commonly) visible; males without (vs. with) extended dorsal-fin.

The two forms are very similar in terms of dentition and meristics (Zarske, 2008) therefore it is unclear whether they represent distinct species or not, while their natural distributions also remain in question. Some fish entering the aquarium trade also appear intermediate between the two colour forms (see images attached to this profile), therefore all are included together here on SF until the confusion is resolved.​
 
About 20 years ago I had a dozen of those in a twenty gallon high tank. I had them for three or four years. They were nice fish. I have water that isn't the best for tetras and they still thrived. They are pretty in their own subtle way too. If you like them get them. Get all of them the shop has.
 
Back in the fold said:
About 20 years ago I had a dozen of those in a twenty gallon high tank. I had them for three or four years. They were nice fish. I have water that isn't the best for tetras and they still thrived. They are pretty in their own subtle way too. If you like them get them. Get all of them the shop has.
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Thats good to know thank you :) I like the lemon tetra and im thinking of pairing them up with some flame tetra (if i can find any). I think the yellow and red will give me some nice colour in the tank. Can you remember what tank mates you had with yours? Sounds like youve been in the hobby a good while
 
Yes I do remember their tankmates. It was just them. When I saw them I thought about getting most of them but then I didn't want to leave their friends so I got them all. That limited me out so I left it at that. I have been keeping fish off and on since 1965. There have been three periods of hiatus in there but now I'm back for good. I'm retired now and have the time to really enjoy the fish and I'm too tired to do anything else. I like Flame Tetras. Maybe @Byron could advise you on compatibility.
 
Back in the fold said:
Yes I do remember their tankmates. It was just them. When I saw them I thought about getting most of them but then I didn't want to leave their friends so I got them all. That limited me out so I left it at that. I have been keeping fish off and on since 1965. There have been three periods of hiatus in there but now I'm back for good. I'm retired now and have the time to really enjoy the fish and I'm too tired to do anything else. I like Flame Tetras. Maybe @Byron could advise you on compatibility.
Click to expand...
1965. I bet it was alot harder to keep fish back then.Thats nice that you are back in the hobby and having time to really enjoy it. Ive wanted fish for years but only got into the hobby earlier this year. Find it very rewarding and enjoyable :)
 
That was very informative @Byron. Lemon tetras are super neat. I had a buddy who had about 20 of those little guys. They where really cool. :)
 
Of all the fish I've had over the years I don't know why I remember those Lemon Tetras so well. The way they swam together and were so peaceful maybe and that I had them for such a long time. Maybe they were like that because it was just them. That may have been the point where I started liking species only tanks.
It was no harder to keep fish way back then as it is now. The things that every aquarist should know well are feeding, water quality and water chemistry, filtration and proper stocking. You should know everything about those things so well that they are as familiar to you as tying your shoes. Then problems won't crop up and if they do you will know how to fix it right away.
This is a very rewarding hobby. There is so much that you can learn that you will never get tired of it.
 
I wanted to get some a while ago but sadly don't have the space. I'd suggest what @Byron says about colour and water hardness is correct. My cardinals were fairly wishy washy when I had them in hard water (16 dGH - I only started softening around 2 years ago). Today I can't tell the difference between my original group and those that I have added subsequently, and their colours really pop.
 
I think they will be fine in my water (13dgh) just got to see if i can dim the tank some what. My new dark back ground as helped a little tbf but i now have light coloured play sand and my lights are quite bright. Ive ordered some floating plants but these havent lasted too long so far.

is there anything else you can do to dim light? would tanning the water with almond leaves work do you think?
 
Russjw said:
I think they will be fine in my water (13dgh) just got to see if i can dim the tank some what. My new dark back ground as helped a little tbf but i now have light coloured play sand and my lights are quite bright. Ive ordered some floating plants but these havent lasted too long so far.

is there anything else you can do to dim light? would tanning the water with almond leaves work do you think?
Click to expand...
I was goin to say get some floating plants, but I see yours didn't fair well. Have you tried Salvinia? They grow very well in my 10g betta tank. :)

You could also try putting a dull piece of plastic under your light. Now you could tan the water, but if you want to see those bright colors I suggest not doing so. :)
 
Rooibos tea is brilliant. Its not tea at all just a very delicate leaf that contains nothing but tannin. Teabags available in every supermarket near you. Don't bother with the expensive organic stuff, it dies if it not grown organically. Used it before I switched to black substrate. Boil a couple of bags in water, let it cool and put the water in with your water change. Experiment to find out how many teabags give you the right effect. I used to use 3-4 bags per week in the 180l tank.
 
PheonixKingZ said:
I was goin to say get some floating plants, but I see yours didn't fair well. Have you tried Salvinia? They grow very well in my 10g betta tank. :)

You could also try putting a dull piece of plastic under your light. Now you could tan the water, but if you want to see those bright colors I suggest not doing so. :)
Click to expand...
I have tried salvini but it just wilted away. Water lettuce as done the best for me so far (thinking back it might of been some meds i used what killed them off) and frogbit was doing well before i moved it to a smaller tank. Ive ordered some more water lettuce to try with some new liquid fert i got not long back. If that doesnt work ill try to dim lights someway.

seangee said:
New Rooibos tea is brilliant.
Click to expand...

What did you use it for Sean? Was it solely to darken the water or does it have other benefits
 
Last edited:
Russjw said:
What did you use it for Sean? Was it solely to darken the water or does it have other benefits
Click to expand...
Just colour and light filtration. Its supposedly got anti oxidant properties but I can't comment on that.
 
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