Blue Emperor Tetra

[R3GG]

Hi im new to the forums and have just started setting up my first tropical tank. I dont have any fish or plants yet but i have been researching some of the more unusual fish that arent so hard to keep. I have taken a liking to the Blue Emperor Tetra (Inpaichthys kerri) but cant find anywhere that sells them! Does anybody have these fish in their tank or have any knowledge of problems i may encounter with them?

Thanks for any info!

 

[tstenback]

I have 6 of these guys in a ten gallon with a bunch of neons and i found little difference between them and good quality neons. They hang with the neons and dont appear to be tight schoolers but do they ever look good with the lights on. I couldn't get them here either so i asked the guy at the LFS if he could bring some in and i would buy 6 for sure and he did. So maybe if you ask they will bring some in with their next order of fish. Good Luck

 

[G_Sharky]

Check out fishprofiles.com, they have all the info and pics on pretty much all FW species...it includes ph, temp, diet...etc....

 

[R3GG]

Thanks tstenback, its good to know someone else has them, were they expensive?
G_Sharky, i did look on fishprofiles.com but couldnt find them on there There dont seem to be any decent pics on the net.
Thanks!

 

[Supersalmon]

I have 6 of these guys, which I got from my lfs and I couldn't find much info on them either at the time. I have had them for abour 3 months now and they look great, they are very active fish for tetras always swimming and chasing. However I have found them to be very nippy fish, they attacked new rummy nose tetras and cardinals that I put in the tank and managed to kill 2 of them, literally biting the tails of them. They also chase my other fish a lot and a lot of my fish have had their tails bitten which I think is down to the Kerri's. If I had the chance to buy these fish again would I do it? Sorry dont think so, too nippy.

 

[cometcattle]

I have 6 of these guys, which I got from my lfs and I couldn't find much info on them either at the time. I have had them for abour 3 months now and they look great, they are very active fish for tetras always swimming and chasing. However I have found them to be very nippy fish, they attacked new rummy nose tetras and cardinals that I put in the tank and managed to kill 2 of them, literally biting the tails of them. They also chase my other fish a lot and a lot of my fish have had their tails bitten which I think is down to the Kerri's. If I had the chance to buy these fish again would I do it? Sorry dont think so, too nippy.

I never new they were so nippy. They are pretty rare in these parts.

 

[tstenback]

they were about $3 a fish taxes in. I haven't had the nipping problem that Supersalmon has mentioned but they do chase anything that moves by them quickly.

 

[R3GG]

Thats interesting, all the info i can find on them says that they are very peaceful fish, i'll ask my LFS what i can keep them with before i get them to order some in. I was hoping to keep them with some glowlight tetras, pleco and a rainbow fish or two.

 

[R3GG]

$3 sounds like a good price to me, i thought they would be a lot more pricey. I spose it depends where you buy them. Does anybody have pics of theirs, would be much appreciated!
Cheers

 

[Fish Buddy]

Do you have an Aquarium Services Outlet near where you live? I know that they sell them around $3. Yes they are more agressive than other fish but they make up for their behaviour with their beautiful colour. Good luck with your tanks

 

[pendragon]

Emperors are nice-looking fish, but they do have a reputation for being very nippy and may bully smaller, timid tankmates. Based on what I've read and heard, I would guess they are probably the most problematic of of the tetra family in this regard. Serpaes take second place.

I've never seen the Blue Emperor you pictured, but it looks gorgeous. Neither have I ever seen the 'Black Emperor' I've seen pictured on the web. The only ones I've ever seen in any LFS are the garden variety purplish ones, which are quite nice-looking in their own right.

pendragon!

 

[R3GG]

I live near to a couple of very good LFS's but neither sell Blue emporer tetras - just Blue King tetras which look more of a grey blue colour:

Am i right in thinking there are also Blue Tetras that look similar to the Blue Emperor Tetras but without the black stripe down the side?
V.confusing!