Lemon Tetra

The lemon tetra (hyphessobrycon pulchripinnis) could appear to be a sunbeam flashing through your community tank if not for background elements like plants & driftwood. Another member of the huge characin clan, the lemon tetra has a elongated body like its smaller relative the neon tetra & like neons & other characins, the lemon tetra does best if kept in small schools of six to eight fish.

One of the most distinguishing features of the lemon tetra is their large eyes. The upper part of the lemon tetra's eye is amazing red, which is a sharp contrast to the yellow pastels it displays in its body colors. Actually, though, the lemon tetra is colorful on close inspection. Body coloring is a delicate pale yellow, flanks are silver, & the leading fringe of the anal fin is shiny-bright-yellow & sharply divided from the other rays, which are black. In the male, the remainder of the anal fin is broad & fringed in black, a characteristic that is missing in the plumper female. As lots of male characins do, the male lemon tetras also have small hooks on their anal fins. Both males & females have the tetras' characteristic adipose fin, which is also pale yellow in color.

Although omnivorous & able to exist on a diet of flaked food, the pale yellow color of the lemon tetra displays best if the fish's standard diet is well supplemented with live treats. The lemon tetra is an egg-scatterer. However, breeding can be tricky since females often have an issue expelling their eggs & after spawning, the lemon tetra like lots of others of its species, is fast to cannibalize its eggs if not removed from the breeding tank. However, eggs will hatch in about 24 hours after spawning.