🐡 FOTM ENTER NOW - October 2024 Fish of the Month Contest(Tetras)

[connorlindeman]

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Enter Now

It's time for Fishforums bimonthly Fish of the Month Contest. This month we are featuring TETRAS. If you have that species in your household, we hope will enter one of them into the contest.
Please note that if you won a previous FOTM contest, you must skip one FOTM contest before you can enter a different fish in another FOTM contest.

RULES:
A picture (no videos) uploaded via our "attach files" tool with a handwritten note held in front of the fish stating "October 2024 TFF FOTM" is required to validate your entry. If you wish, you may also post a second recent picture without the note attached. If you do post a 2nd pic, that will be the pic that will be used for the poll. The picture(s) should focus on one fish.
Upload the picture(s) in FULL SIZE using upload controls in "reply" area.

• UNDER the picture(s), post any information about the fish such as species, age, tank mates, tank size, name you gave it , unique traits, feedings, etc.
• Submit the entry
• Latest date for you to enter the contest is October 17th at 4 PM ET or once we have 12 entries--whichever comes first. Any entry posted after we have 12 entries will be deleted and they will be asked to enter the next FOTM contest.
• Winner will be decided by fellow members via a poll which starts after the entry period has ended.
• Please note: you are not allowed to have friends or family join TFF for the main purpose of voting for your entry

What do I win?

• You will get a cool banner in your profile area noting that you are a winner of Fish of the Month.
• Your winning entry will be showcased in a "FOTM Winner" thread where members can congratulate you.
• Your winning entry will be added to our Wall of Fame .

Comments about any specific entry are not allowed and will promptly be deleted. This thread will be cleaned up frequently for readability.

 

[Magnum Man]

Alestopetersius brichardi​

an African river tetra... I have some that are supposed to be "red" and some that are supposed to be blue, this one is blue, but probably not fully colored up, as this one is young yet... but is between 3 and 4 inches long, starting to get filaments on his dorsal, and a black trident in his tail... my most mature male also has a black filament on it's anal fin… they are in a dark water river tank, a 45 gallon tall… which is a “Noah’s ark” tank, and basically has between 2 and 4 of just about every African tetra , that I could find in it, surprisingly they all school together, and get along great…

 

[Seisage]

This is Jelly the neon tetra, the very first of my current group and the fish that got me back into fishkeeping. I adopted her last December (wow, almost a year now!) from an undergraduate student in our lab who was moving away and couldn't take her fish with her. She actually had a few neons in a little 6gal tank, but the rest died before it was time for me to take the tank. There was only the one neon left, and because she was solo, I named her — Jelly(fish!)

I initially didn't know that the tank would be so small, so I immediately set out to put together a 20gal and get more fish. Jelly lived alone in that little tank for a couple months while I put everything together. She would often hide during the day, and didn't have much of an appetite. All of that changed when I introduced her to the rest of the group in the larger tank. It was like night and day. Immediately she was more active and bold, and to this day, she's the most assertive of the group and is very diligent about checking for food in the salvinia roots.

She is far from the perfect neon tetra specimen, admittedly. She has a kink in her spine and a cyst in her adipose fin from some old, unknown injury. But she's big, healthy, swims well, and is about as friendly as a neon can get. I call her my "matriarch" because she's the oldest of the group and also because she looked absolutely massive compared to the rest of the neons for a while until everyone grew up lol.

So no, Jelly isn't a particularly exciting fish to a stranger. A bread and butter species that is oversaturated and overbred, but she is special to me. I hope to have many more years with her.

---
Some additional details for those interested:
-This is a group of 5 neons, with 5 more still in quarantine
-Tank is a 20gal long, set up to emulate an Amazonian river with submerged branches, white sand substrate, and floating salvinia plants
-Water is very soft from the tap, and the tank usually ends up moderately acidic. Temp kept at ~74F
-They're fed mostly dry foods, rotating between a few formulas, with frozen foods once or twice a week

 

[CassCats]

Relatively new additions for me, but they're also my most cooperative of tetras for photos, my glowlight tetras. I currently have 8, but am working on setting them up to spawn for a larger group because these are just really outgoing great tetras. Most my others aren't going to want to be cooperative for a nice photo for the contest lol

Some scientific details for these guys:

Name: Hemigrammus erythrozonus
Native to: Guyana
Habitat: Acidic, tannin-stained tributaries among flooded forest of Rio Essequibo
Parameters:
Temperature: 75-82°F (24-28°C)
pH: 5.5-7.5.
Hardness: 2-15°H

Size: 1.6"/4cm

Tank Minimum: 30" x 12"/76cmx30cm footprint, approx a 20 gallon long model aquarium.

Compatibility: Shoaling species, 6 minimum, ideally 10+. Can be kept in many community setups provided parameters are met and no fish among them will predate them. Can tolerate little to moderate flow rate. Dim setups bring out the best coloration in them. Great for blackwater or heavily planted setups.

Diet: typical tetra fare. Will overindulge on food if given the opportunity, be careful to not overfeed. Relishes frozen and live food.

 

[Essjay]

Here is my entry, one of my black neon tetras, Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi. It is one of a group purchased 5 months ago.
They share the tank with a shoal of cherry barbs, two elderly harlequins, a female pearl gourami and a lot of Neocaridina shrimps. The tank is a custom build 107 x 45 x 45 cm/42 x 18 x 18 inches.

 

[Fishmanic]

This is my sole surviving black skirt tetra. Five of the original group of 6 are no longer with us. Sorry for the couple of spots on the glass...my housekeeper is on strike.
The tetra above is all dressed up for Halloween---her costume is a witch on a broom.
I feed her Omega One flakes and occasionally frozen brine shrimp. She likes to hang out under the Malaysian driftwood archway. She live in a 29 gallon tank along with 11 juvenile Bushynose Plecos and one Peppered Cory.
Hope you like my entry.

 

[gwand]

Wild caught Alestopetersius caudalis (yellow tail Congo tetra). He is in a 60 gallon tank with five other yellow tail tetras, 6 Anomalochromis thomasi and a pair of p. pulcher (Ndonga). When viewed in person, he is a mercury silver color. The tail will turn yellow when he is an adult

 

[Tiara]

This is one of my Rummynose Tetras. Currently she/he is living in a 70 L (around 20 gal) tank, with 5 more Rummynose Tetras, 6 Pentazona Barbs, 2 Cherry barbs and 2 Panda Garras. Oh, there is also a snail, no idea which kind - it came with one of my plants back then.
Despite the smaller size of the tank, the parametars of the water are very stable - Softer water (GH around 6 and KH around 3-6 degrees) with pH around 6,5- 7 and temp range between 24-28 C. I'm trying to keep it clean, with Nitrates no more than 20 ppm.
All fish, except the Panda Garras are 2+ years old. They all live in harmony and are thriving! Just want to mention that Rummys are very outgoing, lively and AMAZINGLY hardy fish. For those 2 years I have lost only one Rummy, and this is my first aquarium.
The good news is that in few days they finally will be moved to a 115 L ( 29+ gal) tank and I can't wait for it

 

[anewbie]

blue keri tetra:

This is a blue keri somewhere between 4 and 6 years old. He inhabits a 29 with some ember tetra, eques cory and a very mean male hybrid a. cf ortegai. They are actually very nice looking fishes but sometimes they are a bit moody; like all of us.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

This is my red phantom tetra. He doesn't have a name, but I'm open to suggestions. I got him in July of 2021 as part of a big school, which was wiped out by a bad ich outbreak the following spring. This one was the sole survivor. For replacements, I decided to go with more outgoing rosy and lemon tetras. But I'm glad this guy made it, and I'm thinking about getting him some friends again. They are a very shy species, inclined to hang out in the undergrowth, even when there is a big group. But their colors are incomperable. If you want a fish that adds a little mystery and a lot of color, I highly recommend red phantoms. 100% peaceful, too.

Pardon the photobomb, by the way. My angelfish are always mugging for the camera.

 

[connorlindeman]

Thats 8 entries folks. Just 4 spots left. Voting begins in just days.

 

[GaryE]

This is an African Blood Moon Tetra, or Red Cap tetra, Bathyaethiops greeni.
It isn't common and the hobby hasn't settled on a trade name yet.
It's from the Congo River region, and is a shoaler, and by that I don't mean sometimes. These fish are always in their group, which I hope will be a larger group soon if I can get them to spawn. I'm 0 for 1 on that project, and hoping to make a second try this week.

Right now, the females are with some SA tetras being conditioned, but if I can get a larger group going, they'll be in an all African river fish tank.

 

[Fishmanic]

We're at 10 entries now. Just 2 spots are left. And entry period ends in just 2 days unless we don't get 12 total entries before then. Enter your Tetra soon.