Star-spotted tetra - Pristella maxillaris

The pretty star-spotted tetra Pristella maxillaris comes from the north of South America, where it is very widespread. In the biotopes lives the very peaceful schooling fish in smaller, rather slow flowing or even stagnant waters. The star-spotted tetra grows up to 4.5 cm long. It is sometimes even found in brackish water, which is very unusual for a tetra.

The body of the Star-spotted Tetra is more or less transparent, which is why you can even see the bones and the spine - but the contrasting, very pretty fin markings make up for the rather boring body non-coloration. The caudal fin and the small adipose fin typical of tetras are bright red, the dorsal fin, the pelvic fin and the anal fin are adorned with three spots - a bright yellow one at the base of the fin, above it a black one, and above this a white one. These colors have also earned it the name water goldfinch. The females are a little rounder than the males. Through the transparent body you can see the swim bladder. In females it is roundish, in males it ends in a point.

Pristella maxillaris is an exceptionally peaceful group fish and seeks the safety of the school when stressed. However, the fish often stand individually among the plants or swim around in small groups. A group size of 10 should not be undercut with the star-spotted tetra in the aquarium.

The  already very long in the aquaristics popular star-spotted tetra finds a dense edge planting in the aquarium quite well and likes some swimming space in the middle. Pristella maxillaris does well in soft to hard water. The water temperature should be slightly higher at 24-28 °C.

Pristella maxillaris is also quite interesting from the breeding point of view. Like all tetras, the star-spotted tetra is a free spawner and quite a spawn predator. Breeding works well in soft to medium hard water with a pH of about 7 to 7.5 and a temperature of about 26-28 °C. The breeding aquarium should be well planted and with Floating plants be darkened. During spawning the females lay 300-500 quite sticky eggs, which stick to the plants. After spawning, quickly return the breeding pair to their actual aquarium. The larvae of the Star-spotted Tetra are very small and need extremely fine food like slipperfish in the beginning. When they are a little bigger, rotifers are also good, and still a little later artemia euplii, microworms and cyclops.

As a true tetra, the Star-spotted Tetra is an omnivore, but it likes to eat rather animal food. Small insect larvae and tiny crustaceans are part of its diet, but even large water fleas are no longer manageable for it. This easy to keep small tetra also likes to eat fine live food and small frozen food in the aquarium, but also accepts flake food or granulated food very well.

The beautifully marked Star-spotted Tetras are perfect for socializing with other small peaceful fish, and they will not eat adult dwarf shrimp. They may chase very newly hatched baby shrimp. Keeping them together with a group of a robust and well reproducing shrimp like Red Fire or another Neocaridina or withSulawesi inland shrimp or with larger shrimp like Amano shrimp works well. The more surface-oriented Star-spotted Tetra can also be socialized well with peaceful dwarf shrimp in the aquarium.

Our recommendation: The NatureHolic Main Feed is a professional staple feed for all aquarium fish. We supply Hauptfeed 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: For planting, use NatureHolic InVitros. These are free of snails, planarians and other unwanted co-inhabitants. Also free of 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.