Congo tetra med - Phenacogrammus interruptus

The Blue Congo Tetra Phenacogrammus interruptus does not come from South America like most other tetras common in aquaristics, but from rainforest rivers in the Congo Basin in Africa. The beautifully blue and orange colored ornamental fish shimmers almost unreal. The back is blue, then follows an orange longitudinal band, below that a yellow-silvery longitudinal band, and the underside of the fish is blue again. The dorsal fin is transparent to pink-blue, all other fins are transparent to pink. Just as unusual as the colors is the shape of the caudal fin, which tapers off backward in the middle in a point. The dorsal fin is also unusually narrow and extended long to the rear. Males are more intensely colored than females, have much larger fins, and grow to 10-12 cm in size; females remain quite a bit smaller and are less intensely colored.

The peaceful Blue Congo Tetra Phaenacogrammus interruptus is a very social and sociable group fish that should not be kept below a group size of 6-10 conspecifics. In nature, these beautiful ornamental fish live in schools in shady rainforest rivers with soft water. In the aquarium they tolerate medium hard water and a pH of 6-7,5 as well as a slightly higher temperature of 25-27 °C. The size of the fish requires a larger tank from about 200 liters. Floating plants at the water surface, which partially shade the aquarium somewhat, increase the well-being of the Blue Congo Tetra as well as a certain amount of Humic substances in the aquarium water. The water should be organically as little polluted as possible, the Blue Congo Tetra reacts particularly sensitively to nitrite. Good planting also promotes the well-being of the fish, but they should also be given swimming space.

Phaenacogrammus interruptus can be easily bred in a breeding aquarium. To condition the fish, feed high quality live food such as black mosquito larvae for a week and increase the light level in the aquarium (or take out a few floating plants). The blue Congo tetra simply lays its eggs in the water as a free spawner. The large tetras are spawn predators and also go after fish fry, so they should be put back out of the rearing tank after spawning. The females of the Blue Congo Tetra lay up to 300 eggs. The water in the breeding aquarium should be soft to medium hard and have a pH around 6-7. The water temperature may be 26 °C. Planting is also possible. The larvae of the Blue Congo Tetra hatch after 6 days and are initially fed with artemia euplii. They grow quickly and then for example mosquito larvae are a good additional food.

With peaceful small to medium sized aquarium fish in the community aqu arium the Blue Congo Tetra gets along very well. Since the fish are active in all water layers, keeping them with dwarf shrimps is not necessarily recommended, they can pinch the fins of the Blue Congo Tetra sensitively. Small dwarf shrimp will be eaten, but keeping with larger shrimp such as Amano shr imp is possible.

The beautiful Blue Congo Tetra does not go to plants. As an omnivore, it accepts flake food or larger granular food well. In the wild it eats algae as well as insects and their larvae, worms and crustaceans. The Blue Congo Tetra can be fed with somewhat larger live food and frozen food and is very grateful for it.

Our food recommendation: The NatureHolic Main Feed is a professional staple feed for all aquarium fish. Main feed we supply in the form of soft granules, which thanks to its grain size of half a millimeter can be easily absorbed by small to medium-sized fish. The soft consistency resembles the texture of insect larvae in nature and protects the fish mouth from micro-injuries.

Our plant recommendation: Use for planting NatureHolic InVitros. These are free of snails, planarians and other unwanted co-inhabitants. Also free from algae spores, bacteria and fungi.

Expert Tip: We recommend for fish keeping the NatureHolic 3 Phase Liquid. The care set offers the best all-round protection for your animals. It ensures optimal conditions for successful breeding and keeping.