White Widow Tetra – Gymnocorymbus Ternetzi

Common name: White Widow Tetra, White Skirt Tetra

Scientific name: Gymnocorymbus Ternetzi

Average Adult Fish Size:  1.5 inches  /  3.8 cm

Place of Origin: Native to South American Blackwater Rivers, such as the Solimoes River in south-eastern Colombia, eastern Peru and western Brazil.

Typical Tank setup: Well planted with rocks and driftwood/bogwood. They love playing in a moderate to strong current.

Recommended Minimum Aquarium Capacity: 10 gallon / 40 litre

Compatibility: It is very common to find tetras with Corydoras as companions, as they are both quite peaceful and other tank mates like Guppies, other Tetras, Rasboras, Mollies & Platies

Temperature: 73 – 81 Deg F / 23 – 27 Deg C

Water chemistry: pH 5.0 – 7.8

Feeding: They are omnivorous and do very well on a varied diet of quality flake foods, micro pellets, daphnia, microworms, and brine shrimp.

Sexing:  It is difficult to sex young White Widow Tetra but the female should be rounder bellies to the males

Breeding: Males are slimmer and have a straighter blue line along the side. Water temperature of 25°c, very soft water of PH 5 or lower and subdued lighting. The eggs are laid over fine leaved plants and hatch in 24 hours. Feed the newly hatched fry on fine live food infusoria or liquid food for 10-12 days. They should then be able to feed on newly hatched brine shrimp.

Additional Information: These fish are generally sold as starter fish, however they are quite a delicate species and in general will not survive in a tank that has not been properly established, popular belief is that the water parameter acceptable range is rather narrow but these fish can survive.