Twenty millimeters, so the school is the fish
A full grown ember tetra is fifteen to twenty millimeters long. Every other decision on this page is a consequence of that one measurement.
Seriously Fish records a maximum standard length of 15 to 20 mm for Hyphessobrycon amandae. Aquarium Co-Op puts it at up to 0.8 inch, which is the same fish in different units. At that size a single specimen is not a stocking decision, it is a detail: it disappears against a rock, and it spends its time near cover rather than out in the tank.
Which is why both sources answer the question how many before they answer anything else. Aquarium Co-Op asks for at least 6 to 10 of them. Seriously Fish is firmer and calls a minimum of 8 to 10 specimens the recommended purchase. An ember tetra school is the unit you actually buy: the group, not the fish, is what the rest of this record is written for.
Worth saying plainly: neither source states what goes wrong below those numbers. They state the number to buy, not a failure threshold. So this record repeats the number and does not invent a consequence for ignoring it. We record eight to ten, because for a shoaling species the higher of two recommended minimums is the one that cannot be wrong.
Seriously Fish
A minimum of 8-10 specimens is the recommended purchase.
Aquarium Co-Op
Get at least 6–10 of them so they make more of an impact in the aquarium.
The color is a condition of the tank
Both sources describe the same setting for this species, and it is not a bare tank. Aquarium Co-Op asks for planted tanks with a dark substrate. Seriously Fish describes a peaceful fish that will not compete with boisterous or much larger tankmates, and recommends it as a dither fish for Apistogramma and other dwarf cichlids, which is a role only a fish that feels safe enough to stay in the open can fill.
What the recommendation buys
A dither fish earns its name by being visible. It moves in the open water and, by doing so, tells a nervous cichlid that nothing is hunting. That behavior is the product, and dense planting with a dark floor is the condition both sources attach to it.
This is also the honest limit of what we can tell you. Aquarium Co-Op states the dark substrate and the planted tank as recommendations; neither source states a mechanism, and neither publishes a before and after. So this page does not promise that a substrate change will turn a pale shop fish orange. It reports what two sources ask for, and why the role they describe needs it.
Slow water, on the record
Aquarium Co-Op is specific about flow: slow flow with gentle filtration, using a sponge filter or a pre-filter sponge, is preferred. For a twenty millimeter fish that is not a refinement, it is the difference between swimming and being swum.
It also decides equipment before you buy it. A hang on back filter sized for the tank will usually move more water than this species wants, and the fix is a sponge over the intake or a sponge filter instead. That is the whole of the requirement, and it is cheap.
One practical note that neither source spells out: a sponge filter is driven by an air pump rather than a motor, so the pump and the air line are part of the purchase and are the parts people forget. What the sources do not state at all is a water change schedule or any water quality target for this species, and this record will not publish figures it cannot attribute. The flow preference above is stated; a maintenance routine is not.
The numbers, as water
Two sources, two sets of figures, and the bright water below is the part they both support. Where they disagree the wider claim is printed in the note rather than quietly averaged away.
Both sources agree on this span. Seriously Fish goes lower, to 20 °C, which is 68 °F; we hold the range they share.
Seriously Fish records 5.0 to 7.0, Aquarium Co-Op 5.5 to 7.5. The overlap is what we record; a steady number inside it beats a chased decimal.
Seriously Fish states the figure. Aquarium Co-Op says very soft to moderately hard water and gives no number, so the number here is one source deep.
This is where the two sources part company, so the tanks are drawn against the one measurement Seriously Fish gives: a base of at least 45 by 30 cm. The fish is drawn to the same scale, which is the point of the section.
A 10 gallon clears 45 cm of length with room to spare and comes up about 5 cm short of the 30 cm depth. A 20 long meets the base outright. The 5 gallon nano that Aquarium Co-Op allows, and it allows it only with a smaller school, is under the base on both measurements, which is the whole of the disagreement in one drawing.
The full record
| Field | Recorded | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum tank | 10 gal | Aquarium Source states 10 gallons at a minimum and Shrimpy Business recommends 10 or larger, so this figure is no longer ours. It began as ours, from a disagreement: Seriously Fish asks for a base of at least 45 by 30 cm and Aquarium Co-Op allows a 5 gallon nano. |
| Temperature | 72 to 82 °F | Aquarium Co-Op states 72 to 82 °F. Seriously Fish records 20 to 28 °C, which reaches lower; we hold the range they share. Aquarium Source gives 73 to 84 and Shrimpy Business 72 to 84, so two of the four reach two degrees higher than the recorded ceiling. |
| pH | 5.5 to 7.0 | The overlap. Seriously Fish records 5.0 to 7.0, Aquarium Co-Op 5.5 to 7.5. |
| Hardness | 18 to 179 ppm | Seriously Fish. Aquarium Co-Op says very soft to moderately hard and gives no figure, so this row is one source deep. Aquarium Source gives 5 to 17 dGH, about 90 to 304 ppm, which runs well past the top of the recorded range. |
| Adult size | 0.6 to 0.8 in (15 to 20 mm) | Seriously Fish, as standard length. Aquarium Co-Op agrees at up to 0.8 inch. |
| Diet | Omnivore, tiny foods | Aquarium Co-Op records omnivore, Seriously Fish records micropredator. Both prescribe the same small live and frozen foods. |
| Water column | Mid water | Ours, not a stated field: read off the dither fish role Seriously Fish describes and the tank mates Aquarium Co-Op puts above and below it. |
| Lifespan | 2 to 4 years | Aquarium Source gives between 2 and 4 years and Shrimpy Business gives 2 to 4, independently and in the same words. Neither Seriously Fish nor Aquarium Co-Op states a figure. This field was blank until those two were read, and the note on it said we would not repeat one from a forum; neither of these is a forum. |
| Growth rate | Not recorded yet | Not stated by any of the four. Aquarium Co-Op gives the adult size of up to 0.8 in, Aquarium Source writes about test kits and water changes instead, and neither Seriously Fish nor Shrimpy Business puts a figure on growth at all. On a fish that finishes at four fifths of an inch there may be very little to state, but that is a guess, and the row stays empty rather than carrying one. |
The same nine fields for every animal on this site are in the A to Z index.
Where our sources disagree
The two sources we hold disagree about how much water this fish needs, and they disagree for different reasons rather than by a margin. Both positions are printed.
Seriously Fish
Aquarium dimensions: at least 45 * 30 cm or equivalent. A minimum of 8-10 specimens is the recommended purchase.
Aquarium Co-Op
They can be kept in a 5-gallon nano tank with a smaller school. Get at least 6 to 10 of them.
What we record: the disagreement is real and it is about floor space, not gallons. We record ten gallons: it clears the stated 45 cm of length, falls about 5 cm short of the 30 cm depth, and holds the eight to ten school that the stricter of the two sources asks for.
The five gallon tank is not wrong so much as it is only possible by shrinking the school, which is the one figure both sources put first.
Where it lives in the column
Neither source publishes a water column field, so this one is ours, read off the behavior they both describe. It is labeled as ours on the record above too, because a classification is not a measurement.
The practical value of a mid water fish is that it does not argue with the two layers either side of it. A surface fish and a floor crew can both be added without competing for the same water, which is why the ember tetra keeps appearing in stocking plans as the middle of three.
| Field | Seriously Fish | Aquarium Co-Op | Aquarium Source | Shrimpy Business |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lifespan | not stated | not stated | 2 to 4 years | 2 to 4 years |
| School size | minimum 8 to 10 | at least 6 to 10 | at least 10 to 15 | at least 6 preferred |
| Minimum tank | 45 by 30 cm base | 5 gal nano | 10 gal | 5 gal small group, 10 advised |
| Temperature | 68 to 82 °F | 72 to 82 °F | 73 to 84 °F | 72 to 84 °F |
| pH | 5.0 to 7.0 | 5.5 to 7.5 | 5.0 to 7.0 | slightly acidic to neutral |
| Hardness | 18 to 179 ppm | very soft to moderately hard | 5 to 17 dGH | not stated |
| Adult size | 15 to 20 mm | up to 0.8 in | just under 1 in | about 0.8 in |
The lifespan, and why it stopped being blank
This field carried a note saying neither source stated a figure and that we would not repeat one from a forum. Two care guides now state it and neither is a forum: Aquarium Source gives between 2 and 4 years and Shrimpy Business gives 2 to 4. Independent agreement, in the same words, on a field that had been empty since the record was written.
Aquarium Source adds a claim we are going to carry with its name on it rather than as a fact, because it is causal and only one source makes it: ember tetras that live in heavily planted tanks tend to live much longer. Nothing else we hold tests that, and it is the kind of sentence that gets repeated until it becomes a number.
Eight to ten, or six, or fifteen
The claim at the top of this record is that the school is the unit you buy rather than the fish. Four sources now, and the floor runs from six to fifteen. Seriously Fish calls a minimum of 8 to 10 specimens the recommended purchase and Aquarium Co-Op asks for at least 6 to 10, which is where this record's 8 to 10 came from. The two newer ones pull apart: Shrimpy Business says at least 6 is preferred, Aquarium Source says at least 10 to 15.
- The floor moved down and the ceiling moved up. Six to fifteen is not a range, it is four opinions, and the recorded 8 to 10 sits in the middle of them rather than being the settled figure it looked like when two sources landed on it.
- What every source agrees on is the direction: more is better for a fish this size, and the reason given is always the same, which is that the school is what makes it stop hiding.
- What it does to the tank figure. Aquarium Source's 10 to 15 in the 10 gallons it also recommends is the tightest reading anybody offers, and it is worth checking against the stocking calculator rather than taking on trust.
- Where the tank figure stands now. This record's 10 gallons used to be ours, derived from a base measurement against a 5 gallon nano. Two sources state 10 outright, so it is no longer ours.
Shrimp, and the part nobody puts on the label
Shrimpy Business states it plainly: ember tetras generally get along with adult dwarf shrimp but may feed on baby shrimp. That is the first source on this site to answer the shrimp question for this species in a sentence rather than by omission.
It matters because it is the same shape as the answer our cherry shrimp record gives about bettas: the adults are fine and the young are food, so a mixed tank works and a breeding colony does not. A twenty millimeter fish is not a threat to a twenty five millimeter shrimp. It is a threat to a one millimeter one, and the ones you never see are the answer.
Ember tetra food, and the mouth it has to fit
The two sources classify this fish differently and prescribe almost the same meals, which is a useful thing to know about classifications. Seriously Fish calls it a micropredator: it will accept dried foods of a suitable size, and should also be offered daily meals of small live and frozen fare such as Artemia nauplii, Moina and grindal worm. Aquarium Co-Op calls it an omnivore that enjoys zooplankton, small invertebrates and plant matter, and lists nano pellets, crushed flakes, baby brine shrimp, daphnia, cyclops and rotifers.
What to feed ember tetras, in one sentence
Small food, often, in a form a twenty millimeter mouth can take. Every item on both lists satisfies that; a standard community flake dropped in whole does not, which is why Aquarium Co-Op says crushed flakes rather than flakes.
The size rule beats the label
Whether you accept micropredator or omnivore changes nothing you buy. Both lists are dominated by the same small live and frozen foods, and both sources put dried food in the diet rather than at the center of it. If a food needs breaking up before it will fit, that is the record telling you the fish is smaller than the packet assumes.
This is the only tetra with a record here, and the group now has a guide. Our tetra fish guide collects what five sources say about tetras generally, and the reason this record exists is on it: the group pH those sources publish, 6.8 to 7.8, shares only two tenths of a point with the 5.5 to 7.0 on this page, and their group figure of five to six is below the 8 to 10 this record carries. A group figure is not a species figure.
The fish this one is compared with now has a record. Our chili rasbora record and our least killifish record tie this one for the smallest fish on the site, all three topping out at 20 mm, and Aquarium Co-Op names each of them on the other's tank mate list. The two overlap on pH 6.0 to 7.0 and share a temperature band of 72 to 82 °F exactly, so the choice between them is a choice of color rather than of care. Both records also carry a source saying the fish is easily out-competed at feeding time.
This is the one record here whose water sits where a dwarf cichlid is published for. Our apistogramma guide carries pH 5.0 to 6.0 for wild Apistogramma cacatuoides and 5.0 to 7.0 for Apistogramma agassizii, against pH 5.5 to 7.0 on this record, and hardness of 0 to 15, 1 to 15 and 1 to 10 dGH against 18 to 179 ppm here. Aquarium Co-Op names tetras first on its apistogramma tank mate list, and of the records this site holds this is the only one that would not need the water changed to join them. Read that against our platy record at pH 7.0 to 8.0 and 214 to 321 ppm and the two ends of the same hobby are visible: soft acid water on one shelf and hard alkaline water on the next.
What a nano kit leaves out
Three things this record asks for that a boxed nano tank does not include.
- Sponge filter, or a pre-filter spongeslow flow
- Food sized for nano fishor crush what you have
- Plants and a dark substratethe stated setting
Every item our records ask for is gathered on the tank setup topic.
Nothing here is a paid link. It is the shortfall between what this record asks for and what a boxed kit contains.
How this record was compiled
- By
- Verified
- Sources
Seriously Fish, Aquarium Co-Op, Aquarium Source and Shrimpy Business
- Conflicts
Printed above rather than resolved quietly
- Blanks
Growth rate stay empty until a source we trust states them
- Not recorded
Lifespan, growth rate, and whether this species can share a tank with neon tetras, because the neon tetra record does not exist yet
Two sources, one shopping list. The disagreement is about the word, not the food.
Company, and the one pairing we will not rule on
Aquarium Co-Op names rasboras, tetras, danios, corydoras catfish, hatchetfish, pencilfish, otocinclus catfish and dwarf shrimp. Seriously Fish adds the condition rather than a list: similarly sized peaceful species, and nothing boisterous or much larger, which for H. amandae is a low bar to clear in the wrong direction. Each verdict below carries which of those it rests on.
Neon and ember tetras
Neither source we hold names this combination.
What goes wrong, in order of frequency
Bought in threes
Three ember tetras is under both recommended minimums, and it is the most common way this species arrives in a tank. The fix is not a different fish, it is more of the same one.
A bare, bright tank
Both sources ask for plants, and Aquarium Co-Op asks for a dark substrate as well. A dither fish earns its keep by staying visible in open water, and it will only do that in a tank that gives it somewhere to retreat to. A bare bright box asks for the behavior and removes the condition it depends on.
Too much flow
Slow flow and gentle filtration is the stated preference. A sponge over the filter intake is the cheapest fix in this hobby and it is the one this record asks for.
Food too big to eat
Suitable size is doing real work in the phrase dried foods of a suitable size. Crush it, or buy food sized for nano fish.
Questions about ember tetra care
What is the ember tetra lifespan?
Two to four years, and it is one of the few fields on this site where two sources landed on the same figure independently. Aquarium Source gives between 2 and 4 years, Shrimpy Business gives 2 to 4. Neither Seriously Fish nor Aquarium Co-Op states one.
This field was blank until those two turned up, and the note on it said we would not repeat a number from a forum. Both of these are care guides. Aquarium Source adds, on its own, that ember tetras in heavily planted tanks tend to live much longer, which we carry with its name attached rather than as a fact.
How many ember tetras should you keep together?
Eight to ten on this record, and four sources give four different floors. Seriously Fish calls a minimum of 8 to 10 specimens the recommended purchase, Aquarium Co-Op asks for at least 6 to 10, Shrimpy Business says at least 6 is preferred, and Aquarium Source says at least 10 to 15.
What none of them disputes is the direction: for a twenty millimeter fish the school is what stops it hiding, so the risk of too few is a fish you paid for and never see.
Do ember tetras eat shrimp?
Adults, no. Babies, yes. Shrimpy Business states that ember tetras generally get along with adult dwarf shrimp but may feed on baby shrimp, and it is the only source we hold that addresses it directly.
Which makes it the same answer our cherry shrimp record gives about a betta, arrived at from the other side: a mixed tank works, and a breeding colony in the same tank does not.
Do ember tetras need a planted tank?
Three of our four sources recommend one and none states it as a requirement. Aquarium Source calls a heavily planted environment essential and names java moss, hornwort and anacharis. Shrimpy Business says planted setups are recommended, that live plants benefit water quality and provide cover that keeps stress low, and adds driftwood and leaf litter.
The aquarium plants silo holds what we have verified about those plants themselves. What the record will not do is convert a recommendation into a field, because none of our sources states planting as a number.
How many ember tetras should I keep together?
Eight to ten, which is what this record carries. Seriously Fish calls a minimum of 8 to 10 specimens the recommended purchase; Aquarium Co-Op asks for at least 6 to 10. Neither states what happens below those numbers, so we repeat the number rather than inventing a consequence.
What size tank do ember tetras need?
We record ten gallons. This is the one field where the two sources genuinely disagree: Seriously Fish asks for a base of at least 45 by 30 cm, while Aquarium Co-Op allows a 5 gallon nano tank with a smaller school. A 10 gallon clears the stated length and falls about 5 cm short on depth; a 20 long meets the base outright.
Do ember tetras need a heater?
In most rooms, yes. The range both sources support is 72 to 82 °F, and Seriously Fish tolerates down to 68 °F. A room that sits inside that band without help does not need a heater; a room that swings through it does, because stability is easier to hold than a number is to hit.
What to feed ember tetras?
Small foods, often. Aquarium Co-Op lists nano pellets, crushed flakes, baby brine shrimp, daphnia, cyclops and rotifers. Seriously Fish asks for dried food of a suitable size plus daily small live or frozen fare such as Artemia nauplii, Moina and grindal worm. The binding constraint on ember tetra food is the size of the mouth, not the brand of the packet.
What pH do ember tetras need?
Anywhere from 5.5 to 7.0 is supported by both sources. Seriously Fish records 5.0 to 7.0 and Aquarium Co-Op 5.5 to 7.5, so the overlap is the range we hold. Hardness is recorded at 18 to 179 ppm, and that figure comes from one source only.
Are ember tetras good for beginners?
Aquarium Co-Op describes the peaceful nature and hardiness as attractive to beginners and veterans alike. The catch is not the fish, it is the shopping: a beginner buying three of them, in a bare tank, with a filter that moves too much water, has met none of the conditions on this page.
Can ember tetras live with a betta?
It is the one pairing we mark risky rather than clear. Aquarium Co-Op offers a betta as a possible centerpiece fish and attaches a caveat about potential aggression. Our betta record prints the same argument from the other side, including where its own two sources disagree, and it is worth reading before you commit a school to it.
Can I keep neon and ember tetras together?
We have not published a verdict. Neither source we hold names the combination: Aquarium Co-Op lists tetras generally, Seriously Fish gives a condition rather than names. The neon tetra record is not written, so there is nothing to compare field by field, and a guess dressed as an answer is what this site exists to avoid.
How long do ember tetras live?
Not recorded. Neither Seriously Fish nor Aquarium Co-Op states a lifespan for Hyphessobrycon amandae, so the field stays blank rather than carrying a number from a forum.
Do ember tetras eat plants?
Aquarium Co-Op includes plant matter in what they eat, alongside zooplankton and small invertebrates. That is a diet note, not a warning about your plants: neither source describes this species damaging aquarium planting, and at twenty millimeters it is not equipped to.
Will ember tetras eat shrimp?
Aquarium Co-Op lists dwarf shrimp as tank mates, so adult shrimp are company rather than food. Neither source states anything about shrimp fry in a tank with this fish, so neither do we.
Do ember tetras need a lid?
Neither source states a jumping risk for this species, which is a different answer from no. A lid holds heat and stops evaporation regardless, and other fish on the Aquarium Co-Op tank mate list, hatchetfish in particular, do jump.
Can ember tetras breed in a community tank?
Both sources describe egg scattering with no parental care, and Aquarium Co-Op adds that the adults will eat their own eggs and fry. Aquarium Co-Op says a colony can produce fry in a densely planted tank; anything more reliable than that is a breeding tank, and we have not written that page.
The name, and where it came from
Hyphessobrycon amandae was described by Géry and Uj in 1987. The specific name honours Amanda Bleher, mother of the fish explorer Heiko Bleher, which is why you will occasionally see the species written up with a family story attached to it. The genus is Hyphessobrycon, the family Acestrorhamphidae, and the fish comes from the Araguaia River basin in Brazil.
Seriously Fish adds the part a care page usually leaves out: little information appears to exist about the natural habitat, and the full range of H. amandae within the Araguaia system is unclear. A species can be in every shop in the country and still be thinly documented where it lives, and that is worth knowing when a page tells you exactly what its wild water is like.
Retailers sell the same fish as the fire tetra or the dwarf red tetra. Those are trade names rather than a second species: all of them are Hyphessobrycon amandae, and the record does not change with the label on the tank. an ember tetra, a fire tetra and a dwarf red tetra all want the numbers above.
Three sources, three lengths
- Seriously Fish
- 15 to 20 mm, stated as standard length
- Aquarium Co-Op
- up to 0.8 inch, which is 20 mm
- Wikipedia
- approximately 2 cm to 3 cm
- Why they differ
- Standard length stops at the base of the tail, total length does not. The record carries the standard length, because that is the figure the reference source states
It is a small discrepancy and it changes nothing about the tank. It is printed because a reader who checks two pages and finds two numbers deserves to know which one this record used and why.