How Often to Feed Tetra Fish

If you've got a Tetra fish as a new pet at home or are planning to pet one, then how often do you need to feed it, is a very important thing to be-pet them. It is important also to know and understand their behavioral traits because they are high-maintenance fish, not in terms of cash but in kind.

Let me begin with giving you a brief intro on Tetra fish. These are freshwater fish and are native to Peru, Colombia, and Brazil. It has horizontal red or other colored stripes on it, with a light blue back and a silvery abdomen. It is transparent and during the night the red and the blue color also become silver, indicating they are resting. It can grow up to 5 centimeters or 2 inches. There are very minor differences between a male and a female Tetra fish. You can't keep these fish in isolation; You need to keep them with at least 7 more fish species to make the environment friendly for them. There are many species of Tetra species, I will list a few common one's down.

- Rummy-nose Tetra
- Cardinal Tetra
- Glowlight Tetra
- Neon Tetra
- Congo tetra
- Serpae Tetra

Out of the above listed fish species, Neon Tetra is the most commonly known and kept fish in the aquarium. It needs to be kept with at least 10 fish together, otherwise they tend to become depressive. They are beautiful but conservative, shy and vulnerable. These fish like to stay in a well planted aquarium with a lot of open space for them to move. The ideal water temperature needs to be between 22 to 25 degree Celsius, they do not like it warmer or even cooler.

Food and Nutrition

What to Feed
Tetra fish are mostly omnivores and a few like the 'Black Neon' are carnivores too. They are normally fed with flake food. Besides food flakes you can also feed them with brine shrimp, daphnia, freeze-dried bloodworms, tubifex, in the form of a mini pellet. It can be stuck to the sides of the aquarium. These foods are meant to supplement their diet and to provide them with sufficient nutrition.

How Much to Feed
You should feed your Tetra fish with a small quantity at first and see how much they consume in about 2 minutes. If they have finished the flakes you put in the aquarium then put a little more and see how much more can they eat. This also depends on the number of fish in your aquarium. As long as the fish are eating, it's no problem, but if they stop eating then the left over food can spoil the water making the habitat unclean and unhygienic for the fish. It can also cause spikes in ammonia. So, how much you feed your fish besides the prescription, is more of an analytical decision.

How Often to Feed
You need to feed them twice in day. You can choose the most convenient time for you to be able to feed them; day and evening, and afternoon and night. Which two times you choose is up to you, but you need to feed then in a fixed routine. It is alright if you couldn't feed your fish for a day but not more than that. This is because they are living in an aquarium in which the constituents of fresh water are not available, if you don't feed them regularly they can become malnourished, weak and prone to disease.

If you are new at keeping Tetra fish, then there a few essential things you need to keep in mind. Tetra fish are accustomed to living in acidic water, so maintain the pH level between 5.0 to 7.0 for them. Don't experiment a lot with the environment in the aquarium, as they are very vulnerable to the slightest change. These fish are also sensitive to bright light and loud noise; you'd need to keep them away from these disturbing external factors. Don't tap or knock on the aquarium glass because the magnitude of the sound it creates increases when it passes through water and can scare and distort the peace in their habitat.

They are beautiful and peaceful; however, maintaining them comes at a price. These fish are really delicate, sensitive and great care will be required to be-pet them.