Bloodfin Tetra (Aphyocharax Anisitsi)

Published by Tiffany on June 16, 2020June 16, 2020

The Blood Fin Tetra, or the Bloodfins as I’m going to call them, belong to the Aphyocharax Anisitsi genus and can be found mostly in Argentina (Rio Parana) in South America. The Bloodfins will grow to be up to 5.5 centimeters (2.2 inches) in length. Their diet consists mostly of dried food, small crustaceans, worms and plant matter. Their water temperature needs to be between 22 and 28 degrees Celsius (72 to 83F). They enjoy it most when their water is medium hard or soft. In your aquarium, you will usually see them in the middle or the upper part of the water.

Shoaling fish, the Bloodfins can be found in most cases either in the middle or the upper part of the aquarium. In an ideal situation, you should have 6 or more fish of this type kept together.

The Bloodfin has a body that is elongated and their color is between yellow and a grayish green, with their anal, dorsal and adipose fin being blood red, together with the tail. The color of the fin is the one that gives this fish the name Bloodfin.

If you’re a beginner, then this is the fish for you, as it’s quite hardy and easy to keep. However, make sure you don’t have Angelfish and Guppies in the same tank, as Bloodfins have a history of nipping of them.

The male Bloodfin has tiny hooklets on the anal fin, and these often become entangled with the mesh of the net when the fish is being caught. If this happens, the Bloodfin should not be pulled away from the net, because this can tear off the hooklets. Although this is not life threatening, the Bloodfin will not be able to breed as it uses these hooklets during mating.

You can find out which are the males by looking at their anal fin, which have some tiny hooklets on them. In a lot of cases, these anklets will become trapped in nets when they’re caught. In such cases, make sure you don’t pull them, as the hooklets can be torn off.

The mating time for Bloodfins is during the morning. The female lays around 7-800 eggs, which are clear as glass. It takes between 20 and 25 hours for the eggs to hatch. If you want the fish, you might want to consider removing the eggs, since the Bloodfins will often eat their young or the eggs.