Can Someone Tell Me About Blind Cave Tetras?

[onidrase]

They have a bunch of them at the LFS now, and they're just so bizarre, it kinda makes me wanna get some. But I wanna know more about them before I make any choices here.

anyone who has owned any of these before, can you tell a bit about their preferred water conditions, diet, and behavior? Thanks much

 

[fluttermoth]

They're unfussy as far as water conditions go. Normal food is fine; they're a pretty easy, hardy fish to keep. They can be a bit nippy (probably because they're searching for food, rather than being aggressive, although that doesn't make much difference to the nipped fish!), so you do want to keep them with other, semi aggressive fish (serpaes and silvertips, for example) and not with things like guppies.

They can get quite big; 3 or 4 inches isn't unknown, and while technically they're not a shoaling fish, they do like company of their own species.

They don't like bright lighting as they probably have some residual light sensitivity.

 

[creeker]

My experience with them agrees with fluttermoth. They get pretty big for a tetra type. Can be nippy, especially when big. Do like to be in groups, which can reduce nipping on other species. They are hardy and non-demanding. To me they are best in a species tank, but not exciting enough that I would set one up for them.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

One of the very few tetra species that do well in hard alkaline water, as they originate from limestone caves in Mexico. As they mature, they become pretty chunky ~10cm fish that have a bit of attitude, in that they explore their surroundings including tankmates by "feel" with their mouth in addition to their sonar pulse, so not a fish to add to a community containing small and fragile species. They love current and do well at definite sub-tropical temperatures around 20C, rather than at tropical 24+C.

 

[creeker]

OK. So here is what they look like in a cave replica species tank with subdued lighting.

 

[BigFairy]

nice setup... it looks intersting with the cave lay out etc..