The Serpa Tetra, also called the Callistus Tetra (Hyphessobrycon eques, formerly known as H. callistus or H. serpae), is the little man’s piranha. Just like piranhas, serpa tetras have an irresistible urge to bite the fins of other fish. And they constantly want to test out who is the stronger. This makes many exciting observations in the aquarium, but one thing you hardly ever see is Serpa Tetras with their fins completely intact.
The magnificent coloration and interesting behavior make many aquarists overlook the naughtiness of fin biting since 1924. In the course of time even a veil-finned variety of these up to 4 cm long animals developed. It too always appears somewhat tattered, but this does not detract from their enjoying life and also recognizably causes the fish neither pain nor discomfort.
One must always maintain Serpa Tetras in as large a group as possible of 10, better 20 animals or more, and offer them a richly structured aquarium. Since they originate from southern South America, where it can get quite fresh at certain times of the year, they should not be kept at high temperatures above 24°C all year round. Every now and then a few weeks without heating at 18-20°C will do the animals a lot of good and improve the colors.
For our customers: Serpa Tetras „Longfin“ have code 261953 on our stock list. Please note that we supply only wholesale.
