Re: tetras as general dither fish

[Sarah LeGates <slegates@yahoo.com>]

Hello everyone,
After years of lurking out on usenet and a few months on the list,
it's time to throw my hat into the fray.  I have a single female M.
altispinosa in a 20 gallon regular tank.  She's been in there for
close to 2 years now (don't ask me why I didn't buy the whole group
from the dealer-they were likely wild-caught specimens!), and has as
company several corydoras and two tetras which I can only identify as
Hyphessobrycon sp.  They were sold to me as "Columbian Red and Blue
tetras" and have the same general body plan as Hyphessobrycon
erithrostigma.  The color in these fish is lovely: deep red fins and
a deep neon blue running the length of the body in the dorsal area. 
The tetras are about 5cm total length and are without a doubt the
most aggressive tetras I've ever kept--they can really give the
altispinosa a run for her money at feeding time.  My questions are as
follows --can anyone identify these tetras (I can't find them in
Baensch or Axelrod), and are they appropriate company for the
altispinosa?  They've been in the tank for about 2 months, and she's
been much more active in their company, so my instinct says they are
fine; I'm concerned about potential future negative aspects of this
grouping.  Tank parameters are as follows (and are mostly uniform
through all the tanks in my house, thanks to the wonderful buffering
capacity of Chicago's water supply-heh): pH approximately 7.6,
Hardness 170-180 ppm, ammonia and nitrates unreadable.  The
temperature has dropped to its "winter" setting of 77-79ºF.  [Are
these conditions appropriate for the altispinosa as well?  She's
never shown any visible signs of stress and has great color, so
again, my instinct says yes.]

Whew, that's enough of my long-windedness for now.  Thanks for any
input you can provide.

Sarah LeGates

--- alex pastor <alexp@idirect.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> >My question is a bit out of place- I am considering adding a 5-6
> "green
> fire
> >tetras" to my nijsenni tank as dithers. Has anyone heard of this
> tetra-
> i.e.
> >other common and scientific names. I am trying to establish how
> compatible
> >they are with the current setup for the nijsenni.
> >Cheers,
> >Cory Williamson
> 
> 

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