# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Characins >  Ember Tetra

## AquaObsession

How long does it take for the ember tetra to turn orange or red? please share the feeding diet, any special requirement?

----------


## valice

Live foods will always bring out the most spectacular colours in the fishes...

----------


## ranmasatome

how long??? err.. that depends.. on what you feed.. what you have in your tank.. and whether the fishes feel good in your tank..

----------


## benny

I had the impression that the pH of the water plays a part too. Something to consider.

Cheers,

----------


## Quixotic

Something else to consider as well. A larger school will make them feel a lot more comfortable, and bring out their colour better.

BTW, it's ember and not amber.

----------


## AquaObsession

I have 50-5 of them ( 5 died after being quarantined), together with my rasboras (espei, harlequin), boraras maculatus, otos and plenty of malayan.

I will try live bloodworms or live brine shrimps then. Will frozen bloodworm still be okay? because i do not want a contamination with live food going bad

----------


## Justikanz

They will, once they settled down.  :Smile:  Don't be unduly worried.  :Smile:

----------


## Hanako

It took me a couple of weeks before my ember tetras become very orange/reddish. some of the tetras will be redder than others. just be patient and let them settle down.

I didn't feed any special food. Just your typical dry fish food, and the occassional baby brine shrimp treats. They love the treats  :Smile: .

----------


## ronald_t80

Hi all, abit off topic....BUT anyone got a picture of ember tetra? and is it suitable for 1ft cube setup? Thanks!

----------


## wasabi8888

yes.. suitable for 1 ft cube tank, but no more than 6, in my opnion

----------


## valice

> Hi all, abit off topic....BUT anyone got a picture of ember tetra? and is it suitable for 1ft cube setup? Thanks!


This is how a Ember tetra looks like.



But you usually wouldn't see it so orange in a LFS. The deep orange colouration comes after the fish is stable in your tank.

----------


## Quixotic

Well, if heavily planted and very well filtered, you may get by with stocking more as they don't grow very big, about 2cm SL.

----------


## ronald_t80

> This is how a Ember tetra looks like.
> 
> But you usually wouldn't see it so orange in a LFS. The deep orange colouration comes after the fish is stable in your tank.


 

Thanks valice....thought i saw this fish somewhere after seeing the pictures. Will get about 9 for the 1ft cube....hope its enough.

----------


## andrewtyr

wow, that is really deep colouration. I thought it is quite a plain fish among the others in LFS

----------


## valice

These guys have been with me for nearly 2 years. So are very stable and all have this deep colouration.

----------


## lowell

what's the maximum size of ember tetra? thanks.

----------


## Quixotic

lowell, see post #12.

----------


## angelo

I got 8 of them last Sunday. Two of them in deep orange now. However, the rest are still very light. Is it those two in deep orange are male and the rest are female?

----------


## Quixotic

Considering it has only been a few days since they were in the tank, it may be still too early to tell. As mentioned, some will take weeks to settle down and show their colours.

However, it is said that males are more richer in colour than females. The other way to tell the sex of the adults is by the size, where females are generally larger and deeper bodied than males.

----------


## Shadow

I wonder if ember tetra still schoolling after long time in the tank.

----------


## angelo

Quixotic, Thanks for sharing.

Three of them are smaller in size but richer in colour, should be male. The rest should should be female because they are much lighter in colour and "fat".

Shadow, mine don't school that often. Not too sure why. May be not enough quantity.

----------


## Burnz

One question, how do i identify an ember tetra in the aquarium shop as they are usually not that rich in color initally?

----------


## Quixotic

Ask the LFS? Ember tetra is the trade name, so LFS will normally identify them with that name.

FYI, their scientific name is _Hypherssobrycon amandae_.

----------


## Burnz

opps, i meant apart from asking LFS, wonder if there is any traits to look out for in the uncolored ember, because sometimes cant really differentiate between different species of tetras. Thanks.

----------


## Quixotic

Burnz, the fish grows to around 2cm SL (standard length = from snout to base of caudal fin).

Here is a close-up image (courtesy of hwchoy) for your reference.


Go with the size, the patch on the dorsal fin, the shape of the snout and fins, this fish should be pretty recognisable.

In case you are not too familiar and may confuse tetras with boraras/rasboras, tetras generally have an adipose fin which is absent in boraras/rasboras.

----------


## Burnz

ah, that picture was great help Quixotic, thank you. now that i can be almost sure of Ember tetra when i see one, i can ponder over what other species of fish i can mix with it in my tank. Kind of hard to decide  :Opps:

----------


## NOVA

waking up an old post.. whoow, lot's of dust  :Razz: 

I bought 20 Ember and 20 Ruby. They are so tiney that Amano Shrimp are trying to hunt them down! Not even mentioning the huge Mollies! wouldn't be a smart idea keeping them (Mollies), i guess.
I think that the softer the water are, the better they feel thus showing their amazing color.
Sadly, I don't have a RO system. But they are in a heavily planted tank.

What do you think about my speculation regarding the RO system?

P.S. I'll update on their coloration if you wish.

Thanks.

----------


## apistomaster

I have bred Ember Tetras several times so I have had the opportunity to see them at every stage. They prefer soft, acid water but unless breeding them is important to you they will thrive in water with a pH of 7.4, KH 6 and GH 8.
TDS 350 ppm and 80*F +/- 2*F.
If you feed them newly hatched brine shrimp a few times a week it will bring out their colors. They eat frozen blood worms just fine.
I raise about 100 each time I spawn a trio and sometimes more.
They begin to color up when sstill quite small. Males are very much more slender than females, a deeper shade of red-orange and about 2/3 as long as adult females. 
They are a hardy Tetra and very easy to keep. A nice combination is Ember Tetras with Green Neon Tetras. They are close in size but school in different and segregated areas for the most part. They school best in large groups but actually few Tetras truly school except when frightened. most form loose groups with each fish going about it's business while watching it's mates for signals of danger. that is when they tighten up their group and resort to true schooling behavior.

----------


## NOVA

> I have bred Ember Tetras several times so I have had the opportunity to see them at every stage. They prefer soft, acid water but unless breeding them is important to you they will thrive in water with a pH of 7.4, KH 6 and GH 8.
> TDS 350 ppm and 80*F +/- 2*F.
> If you feed them newly hatched brine shrimp a few times a week it will bring out their colors. They eat frozen blood worms just fine.
> I raise about 100 each time I spawn a trio and sometimes more.
> They begin to color up when sstill quite small. Males are very much more slender than females, a deeper shade of red-orange and about 2/3 as long as adult females. 
> They are a hardy Tetra and very easy to keep. A nice combination is Ember Tetras with Green Neon Tetras. They are close in size but school in different and segregated areas for the most part. They school best in large groups but actually few Tetras truly school except when frightened. most form loose groups with each fish going about it's business while watching it's mates for signals of danger. that is when they tighten up their group and resort to true schooling behavior.


 That was a great knowledgeable post! A few questions: Presuming I have no intentions of breeding these guys (I have other fish such as cherry barbs that might be in the way. PS the Mollies are out the tank)  would they show their outstanding colors at KH 11-12?? That is my tank's KH rating, the same as my filtered tap water.. I'd like to mention that I have bought a RO system just 2 days ago and I am taking the time understanding the adjustments I'll have to make (as far as fertilizing, water changes, CO2, PH etc' goes). I've been feeding them shredded pieces of Tetra Pro Colour and NLS Small Fish Formula. Either taking the water KH in account or not, do you think that live food (such as 

Katrinex frozen fish food) will help the colors burst and that's what I've been missing? Another variable mght be their age. They are pretty small now, about 1cm at max.
Is that a factor to their colors appearance in the way that as they grow their colors come out? 
 Thank you!

----------

