Purple Neon Tetra: Everything That You Need to Know

The purple neon tetra (Hyphessobrycon metae) is a native fish of the Orinoco River basin. They inhabit calm and blackwater streams, but also find their way into other bodies of water like ponds and lakes. The brightly colored fish can be found between 1-2 inches long and are omnivorous. If you are planning to get one as a pet fish in your aquarium, here are the things that you need to know before purchasing one.

What Are Purple Neon Tetras?

The purple tetra is a small, colorful fish that is known for its playful and entertaining behavior. These fish are easy to keep in a home aquarium and can be enjoyed by novice aquarists as well as more experienced enthusiasts. The purple tetra generally reaches 2 inches in length and is distinguished by the two small scales that sit on each side of its head, with a shorter dorsal fin located at the front of this fish’s body.

What Is the Origin and Size of Purple Neon Tetra?

The purple tetra is a species of fish in the family Characidae. It is found in tropical and subtropical freshwater habitats, mainly in swampy areas. It can tolerate moderate levels of turbidity. The maximum size of the Purple Tetra is up to 9.0 centimeters (3 in) in length with an 11.6-12.9mm (0.5– 0.7 inch) average body mass (~ 1 g). Females are longer than males when mature and have more pointed dorsal fins which cover about half their flanks – where it also has an even 100% coverage as the fins are about 1.5 cm and the anal fin is also almost half a centimeter away from the body on average, but more notably, often in length between 3–4 – so only 50% of the fins are covered.

What Is the Behavior of Purple Neon Tetra?

Purple neon tetra stays hidden more often than fish in other water types. There is a lot of microorganisms that can hide and swim underground through tunnels to avoid predators, but then these creatures will eventually die in boiling hot temperatures so should be treated with care towards the purple neon tetra tank. Regardless, this colorful species will remain healthy if it has access to oxygenated water due to which fishbowls are not an option for them at all!

What Do Purple Neon Tetras Eat?

The purple neon tetra is not picky when it comes to food; there are various live foods and dry treats that can be fed on a regular basis directly from the tank. They should be offered prepared saucy food at least once in three days but you can feed them at any time of day. The purple tetra is not a carnivore and it should be treated like any other freshwater fish. Feeding the purple neon tetra frozen foods or commercial flake food are both suitable, but home-prepared meals such as sprouted catfish pellets and some tender moss plants may provide an extra benefit since they all incorporate plenty of micronutrients from plant life with meat proteins in them that helps promote good health for your pet purple neon.

Some supplements could be fed, such as vitamin caps. Feeding the purple tetra prey items like blood worms, daphnia, mosquito larvae, and brine shrimp are good too; these can be bought from pharmacies or pet stores. For live foods other than fresh lettuce forage on bigger vegetarian, feeding products tend to do well but hard planktonic foods deteriorate over time in warmer regions because they quickly rot which will eventually reduce water quality.

What Is the Tank Size for Purple Neon Tetras?

The level best suited for a single individual is a 30-gallon long aquarium or larger, but most pet enthusiasts usually keep three or four individuals together – these are adequate to provide enough food for them. Purple tetra is very hardy and will survive in a wide variety of water conditions. However, it is still important to understand that this species need time to adjust after you place them in captivity.

What Are the Tank Mates for Purple Neon Tetras?

The purple neon tetra is an aggressive fish and should not be kept with other similar species, such as clown loaches, Bristlenose Plecos, Cory catfish, angelfish, or large-sized goldfish. However, they are suitable tank mates with other types of fish, such as other small tetras or sharp-tailed shrimp. If a damsel and clownfish are available for them, these two species will often become paired off.

Do Purple Neon Tetras Need Oxygen?

Yes, purple neon tetras need oxygen to survive longer. To boost oxygenation, at least one air pump is required in the aquarium and surface-type filtration should be used as this removes undissolved chemicals from water to increase clarity: This species can have a habit of hiding in mucus while they swim thus sometimes it might cloud up the background.

What Is the Best Temperature for Purple Neon Tetra?

For the fish tank, it can be a good idea to set your water temperature around 72-76 degrees Fahrenheit (22-24 degrees Celsius). You will find this higher or lower temperatures would certainly affect how fast and easy that neon tetra deal with food consumption too for their diet regimen will be satisfied if followed properly enough.

What Is the Best Aquarium Setup for Purple Neon Tetra?

Purple neon tetra needs to be kept in a well-sheltered substrate, which makes the fish rather challenging to provide. A piece of driftwood and rock decorations will suffice as this species can often become quite aggressive and territorial when it has too much space. The blue-green algae Algae Active is important in the overall health of this fish. Spirulina helps to boost the immune system and contains macro & micro minerals that are beneficial to both plant & animal life, while tetrazine helps increase water quality by breaking down bad compounds like ammonia.

In general, it prefers habitats with plenty of vegetation and hiding places, making it a good choice for aquariums. Its habitats can range from moderately acidic to heavily acidic.