The Yellow Tail Tetra, Alestopetersius caudalis, is also called The Yellow Tail Congo
Tetra and several variations of this.This beautiful fish will live up to 10 years.In appearance it is quite similar to the Congo tetra, but
it is from a different genus and there are differences between them.
Size
The Yellow Tail Tetra grows to about 7 cm in
aquariums.It is probably of similar
size in the wild.
Origin
The Yellow Tail Tetra comes from the Congo (Zaire)
River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
and possibly also the Republic of the Congo.
Food
The Yellow Tail Tetra is an omnivore in the wild and
seems to have little difficulty in adjusting to normal fish foods.In addition to dried flake and pellet foods I
give my fish frozen bloodworms once a week and frozen brine shrimp once a
week.They get live Daphnia and mosquito
larvae when they are available.
Water
Conditions
The Yellow Tail Tetra will tolerate water up to 20
degrees DH although softer water would be preferred.22-26 degrees C (72-79 degrees F) is a
suitable temperature although the fish will survive a little above this range.A pH of between 6.5 and 7.5 is suggested.
Companions
The Yellow Tail Tetra is a schooling fish so at least
5 should be kept together.It is too big
for the smallest types of tetras, but it a good companion for most tetras.Avoid large or aggressive tank mates.The Yellow Tail Tetra is better kept in quiet
company.
Sexing
The Males are more colourful that the females, and have
longer dorsal, tail and anal fins.
Breeding
The Yellow Tail Tetra is an egg scattering
species.It is most probable that in the
wild they are school spawners, but it is more usual in an aquarium to spawn
them as a pair.They are somewhat
similar to the Congo
tetra, but do not spawn as readily; they are much more difficult to breed.It seems particularly important to condition
the parents very well in separate aquariums before attempting to get them to
spawn.
The spawning tank should not be too small.A minimum of 60 cm (2 feet) long is
suggested, but a larger tank is probably preferable.The water should be soft and acid.A pH of 6.5 is suitable.The water should not be too deep.Fine leaved plants, a spawning mop or a grid
on the bottom of the tank is a good idea.
The water temperature should be around 24 – 26 degrees
C (75-79 degrees F).
The fish may spawn over several days, producing
between 50 and 300 eggs per female.
Raising the
Fry
The eggs take about 6 days to hatch.The babies should have absorbed the yolk sacs
a day later and will need infusoria (Protozoa) for a few days before they are
able to eat bigger live food like newly hatched Brine Shrimp, Microworms or
finely screened Daphnia.
Least
Concern
The IUCN Red List includes the Yellow Tail Tetra as a
species of least concern.Changes in its
wild population have not been identified.
Common names
Although I have referred to this fish as The Yellow
Tail Tetra, it is often called the Yellow Tail Congo Tetra.It looks like a Congo Tetra, but the name
Yellow Tail Congo Tetra could imply a much closer relationship than the
reality.
Other common names include The Yellow-tailed African
characin, Yellow-tailed African tetra and Yellowtail tetra in English.
It is called Tétra jaune du Congo in French, Gelber Kongosalmler in German, Gul congotetra in
Danish, Keltapyrstöalesti or Keltapyrstökongontetra in Finnish, Swiecik zolty
in Polish and 短尾非洲鮭鯉
or 短尾非洲鲑鲤 in
Mandarin Chinese.
Scientific
names
The accepted scientific name
of the fish is Alestopetersius caudalis
(Boulenger,
1899).Some other names it has been are Alestopetersius hilgendorfi grandi (Fowler, 1936), Alestopetersius leopoldianus
brumpti (Pellegrin, 1906), Alestopetersius
xenurus xenurus (Boulenger, 1920), Hemigrammopetersius caudalis (Boulenger,
1899) , Hemigrammopetersius xenurus (Boulenger, 1920),
Hemmigrammopetersius brumpti (Pellegrin, 1906), Micralestes grandi Fowler,
1936, Petersius brumpti Pellegrin, 1906, Petersius caudalis Boulenger,
1899, Petersius xenurus Boulenger, 1920, Phenacogrammus caudalis (Boulenger,
1899) Phenacogrammus leopoldianus brumpti (Pellegrin, 1906), and Phenacogrammus
xenurus (Boulenger, 1920).
Pest Fish
Please do not release any animal into an ecosystem
that it is not native to.
