anybody heard of red/blue calombian tetras?

[allaboutfish]

so i picked up 5 of these today. it was originally 6 but one had swim bladder disease and my mom said take it back (i was gonna cure it poor thing went right back in the tank) anyway they were exactly what i was looking for. they stay around 2 inches and are red and blue. and they're entertaining already, but i dont know anything about them. it was a total impulse buy (everyone does it). so anybody owned these? how are they? they have some nipped fins from serpae tetras which was really dumb bc the label said they were shy fish and then were put with serpaes (dumb) and then there was one diamon head neon so will they heal on their own? also next weekend i think im gonna buy 5 more. will this be too much on my tank or will it be ok?

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Colombian tetras are not something I have kept, however I have heard about them. They are active but not real bad fin nipper like serpaes. Still watch out for your angels fins. They also school with similar shaped tetras like bloodfin and phantom tetras. I would like some for an Amazonian biotope I plan on doing this summer.

 

[allaboutfish]

oh i dont know if ill be able to start the 55 till around christmas theyre in my 29 with my apistos.

 

[allaboutfish]

here they are acclimating! they dont look very red or blue yet but will color up.

 

[Ickletas]

I have 4 of these in my tank, they are cool little fish. Mine are fully grown at 2.5" now and if you look at their mouths you can see their teeth . They can be a little nippy but to be fair in my tank with Tiger Barbs and Giant Danios they have to hold their own. They are pretty peacful though IME except for the odd scuffle although with those teeth I would be inclined to keep away if I was a fish lol

 

[allaboutfish]

they kind of look like pirahnas. are they aggressive or fin nippers?

 

[Ickletas]

They are related to pirahnas but I wouldn't say thet they were aggressive at all, they just seem to give as good as they get in my tank rather than start the fight

 

[Ickletas]

Although in saying that I don't keep any kind of trailing fin fish because of the barbs ( I have 10 but don't want to tempt provedence!) so I couldn't comment on how they would behave with anything slower moving and/or ornamental.

 

[allaboutfish]

i dont think cockatoo apistos are slow moving which is the only other thing i have in the tank

 

[jcolon]

here they are acclimating! they dont look very red or blue yet but will color up.

Nice looking fish ... good luck with them! Show us pics when their red and blue colors come in (if they haven't already). I just googled them and I like the colors!

Who knows ... I may be getting a 55 Gal from a next door neighbor that's moving this summer. If so, I am thinking, off the top of my head a school of zebra & or Leopard Danios, couple Dwarf Gourami, Cardinal and I was thinking Serpae tetras. However I like the colombian's color better than the Serpae.

 

[allaboutfish]

theyre more peaceful to IMO but they are shy so a heavily planted tank is a must for them to feel comfortable. some of my tetras have the blue/red coloration while others are plain white. the prettiest one that looked like those pics on website sadly had swim bladder disease and my mom made me return it. even though i couldve treated it. i will post a pic in a couple of hours of them in the tank.

 

[jetajockey]

They aren't shy, how long have you had them for again? I'd give them a little more time before you start determining how they are activity-wise.

I have a group of them that I got from petsmart for $1 each sometime last year, they make good dither fish and mind their own business from what I've seen. I kept them with angelfish. All of mine are blue with red fins, but have gone pale from time to time if they were stressed or sick. I didn't notice it until I put them together but they look a lot like black skirt tetras, especially when both are looking pale.

 

[allaboutfish]

oh only a day the tag said they were shy. and i thought that too. they look like white skirts with pirhanas mixed in.im wondering how you would tell if they had ich bc it'd be hard to see with the white? also do your sparkle (their scales?)

 

[jetajockey]

Mine had ich when I got them. It was interesting because they were sharing QT with some other fish that never showed signs at all.

One of them had a few sprinkles of salt on it one day, and the next day they were all covered in it, it's hard to miss. All of mine made a full recovery in 2 weeks using salt/heat except for one that got ripped up in the net when the girl was bagging them.

Yes they sparkle when the light hits them right.

 

[allaboutfish]

ok good. now i did have one that was swimming awkward when i put him in but i think that was him adjusting. bc he wasnt following the school and was just kind of shaking in one spot

 

[allaboutfish]

ok so no pics they dont stop moving. and they eat like piranhas. oh and im kind of scared i only got 2 columbians bc the others are white and have higher fins but are still sparkly.

 

[allaboutfish]

i have one that's still acting weird just sitting their doing a little shaking thing. is there something wrong with it?