Description
Freshwater
The Black Widow tetra (Gymnocorymbus Ternetzi) has a disc shaped silver body with two dark black vertical bars on the middle of their body, if the fish is frightened these black marks will disappear and only return to normal after a few hours when the fish settles down again.
They are native to Paraguay, Basins of Southern Brazil and Argentina. They are very easy to keep and make a lovely addition to the aquarium as they are very proud fish that like to show off swimming around the tank with their fins erect. They can grow to about 2.5 inch and live up to five years.
Housing
The ideal size of tank should be a minimum of 15 Gallons and the tank temperature should be kept at (7.2-7.9) with soft acid warm water ph (6.5-7.0)
The Black Widow tetra is a gentle fish with no aggression; they are community fish and will get along with most other aquarium fish although they have been known to nip the fins of slow moving fish with long flowing fins like the Angel fish or the Betta.
These fish are middle dwellers that prefer subdued lighting with a neutral gravel substrate and lots of large plants to make them feel at home, they are shoaling fish and should be purchased in groups of at least 3 or 4.
Feeding
Black Widow tetras are Omnivores therefore will eat anything that fits in their mouth, they need a varied diet with a wide variety of dried and frozen foods like Tubifex, Glassworm, Bloodworm and Brine shrimp. Daphnia and vegetable supplements like Spirolina should also be added to their diet once or twice per week.
