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Rummy Nose Tetra is one of the most visually striking and active freshwater fish in the aquarium hobby. Known for their stunning appearances, these fish create an incredible display when swimming together in schools. While peaceful and community-friendly, they are more sensitive to water quality than many beginner fish, making proper tank setup and maintenance essential. In this guide, you’ll learn how to care for Rummy Nose Tetras, including ideal water parameters, tank size, diet, tank mates, and breeding tips to keep them healthy and vibrant.
Rummy Nose Tetras Overview
Popular among the fish keeper community, Rummy Nose Tetra (Hemigrammus Bleheri) are known for their unique appearance, strong swimming ability, outgoing personality, yet peaceful disposition. They are commonly known as Red Nose Tetra or Firehead Tetra due to their unique appearance. Three parts of their body reflect three different patterns: a bright red nose, a silver body, and a horizontally striped black-and-white tail. To those who love amazing displays inside their tank, Rummy Nose Tetras will be a great choice as their features really make them stand out in the aquarium tank, especially when they swim together.
Fact: Rummy Nose Tetra is gifted with a long (1 - 1.5 inches (2.5 - 3.8 cm)), torpedo-shaped body, which makes them a strong swimmer compared to other fish.
Native to South America, Rummy fish are normally found farther inland and have a narrow range along the Negro and Meta River basins in Brazil and Colombia. These places are known for their mineral deficiency and richness of materials and tannins. Hence, it is better for Rummy nose fish if you keep them in an aquarium sharing similar conditions, slightly acidic and soft water with low calcium level (they don’t tolerate hard, calcium-rich water at all). Putting some aquarium decor, such as soft, sandy substrates, rocks, and caves, is also recommended. Rummy Nose Tetra loves live plants, but it also loves having an open swimming space. You can consider placing live aquatic plants on the corners of your fish tank to let them have a large area in between to swim and socialize. Some aquatic plants that are suitable for them include Java Fern and Amazon Sword.
Create an Ideal Rummy Nose Tetras Tank
Though these freshwater fish are popular and recommended for beginners, they are not easy-to-care-for fish. However, a healthy Rummy Nose Tetra may live up to 6-8 years if they are well cared for. Rummy Nose Tetras are very sensitive to their water parameters and quality. As such, you should notice that:
- Your new tank must be well-cycled before introducing the fish. If you are not familiar with this process, you can read our article on How to Cycle a Fish Tank.
- Even if your aquarium is mature, it requires regular testing and maintenance to ensure toxins stay at undetectable levels.
- Do not let your water parameters fluctuate. Try to keep them balanced. You can refer to the following for setting up your tank.
Tank Size
As they are shoaling species, it is recommended to keep them in schools of no less than six. To allow them to splash around, you need to provide them with enough swimming area. A ratio of 1-gallon capacity per 2 fish is commonly introduced and applied by most professional fish keepers. Thus, if your target is keeping a group of 6 to 10 Rummy-nose Tetra, a 20-gallon aquarium will be a perfect choice.
Temperature
Tetra Fish prefers warm water. They will thrive in the temperature of 64° - 82°F (18° - 27.7°C). Tetras are outgoing species, but if you happen to find them hiding or staying near vegetation, it is because of the bright light. They do not enjoy bright light and even get stressed if they are regularly exposed to the bright light. If your tank is in this situation, try to adjust the aquarium light or shade their swimming space with tall floating plants instead.
Recommended Water Parameter
- Ammonia and Nitrite: 0 ppm
- Nitrate: less than 20 ppm
- KH: 4 - 8 dKH
- pH: 5.5 - 7.0 (more acidic water is preferable)
Filtration
An external filter is advisable since Rummy Nose Tetras can be sensitive to ammonia/nitrates in the water, and external filters tend to be more effective.
Water Change
Weekly water change is encouraged. It helps clean the water and prevent Rummy Nose Neon Tetra from getting any stress.
What Do Rummy Nose Tetras Eat?
As mentioned above, diet is important to keep your Rummy Nose Tetras healthy. Since they are omnivores, they can feed on both meaty fish food and bits of plant debris and larvae. High-quality flake food and pellets are highly recommended, as these are designed to contain all the necessary nutrients needed for your Rummys. You can sometimes give them frozen food and bloodworms as an alternative. Feed them twice a day and follow the old rule that gives them an appropriate amount that they can finish in two minutes, or else, remove the leftovers after that, so this doesn’t decay in your tank.
Rummy Nose Tetra Tank Mates
Your Rummy Nose Tetras are best known for their peaceful disposition and tend to get on well with lots of other tropical fish species. However, except for boisterous and aggressive fishes (i.e., cichlids). You may often see Rummys hanging out around the middle to the top of the tank. As such, in addition to small and peaceful fish, they can also get along well with bottom dwellers. Some names are good options for your consideration.
- Danios, Rasboras, and other types of Tetras
- Hatchetfish and livebearers
- Peaceful Cherry and Gold Barbs
- Dwarf Gourami and Rainbowfish
- Non-aggressive freshwater sharks like the Torpedo Shark and Siamese Algae Eater
- Bottom feeders like Kuhli Loaches, Corydoras, and Upside-Down Catfish
Rummy Nose Tetra Breeding
In theory, egg-laying tetras would not be difficult to breed if you have a good mix of males and females and an appropriate environment. For Rummy Nose Tetra, to encourage breeding, your tank should:
- Have enough space (normally 40 gallons);
- Be well-covered with plants as they will lay eggs in folded leaf of the plants;
- Be filled with warm water having the average temperature of 84°F (~ 28.8°C); and
- Have strong filtration because Rummys will not spawn in contaminated water.
Once the season comes, you will notice the female Rummys lay eggs in a folded leaf, then let the males fertilize them. The fry will hatch after 24 hours, but won’t start swimming around for 6 days. During this time, carefully feed them specialized fry foods until they are large enough to accept the same diet as adults. Though the process is quite simple, it is incredibly hard for non-professionals to breed Rummys due to a few reasons:
Rummy Nose Tetras are difficult to sex, although during the breeding season, the females may be slightly rounder than the males. However, this difference is hard to distinguish by bare eyes. The best solution is to get confirmation from a specialist breeder if you really want to experience the breeding process yourself.
Even if you have a good, qualified group of males and females, mating may fail if your tank is not well-balanced. Rummys are very sensitive, even to a slight change in water conditions. If the adult Rummy will not tolerate any fluctuations in temperature, parameters, or water quality, neither will their fry. If you wish the young Rummys thrive, you must carefully maintain your tank to meet their living conditions.
Rummy Nose Tetras Common Diseases
It is unavoidable, especially when your fish live in poor water and feed on poor nutrition. For Rummy Nose Tetras, they are susceptible to Dropsy (a fluid build-up causing the body to swell) and Ich (white spots develop all over the body). You may catch their problems by looking at their red noses which are often paler in bad water conditions. To treat these diseases, you can try to clean your tank first to see if there is any improvement. If your aquarium fish are not showing any signs of recovery, you may consider buying treatments from fish stores. Remember to quarantine the fish before adding them in your fish tank.
Conclusion
Rummy Nose Neon Tetras are an interesting species in both appearance and caring aspects. They will challenge you at first; however, once you’ve learnt how to take care of them properly, you will find they are worth investing in your aquarium.
If you're looking for a Rummy Nose Tetra for sale for your aquarium, visit our tropical fish store. At Splashy Fish, we offer not only aquarium fish for sale, freshwater shrimp for sale, but also aquatic plants for sale and other aquarium supplies.
Rummy Nose Tetra Care Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Do Rummy Nose Tetra jump?
Yes, Rummy Nose Tetras can jump, especially when stressed or startled. Sudden light changes, poor water quality, aggressive tank mates, or chasing during feeding can cause them to leap from the tank. Because they are strong, fast swimmers, it’s highly recommended to use a tight-fitting aquarium lid or cover, especially in open-top tanks.
How often should I feed Rummy Nose Tetra?
Rummy Nose Tetras should be fed 1–2 times per day in small portions they can finish within 1–2 minutes. A balanced diet of high-quality flakes or micro pellets, supplemented with frozen foods like bloodworms or daphnia, keeps them healthy and maintains their bright red coloration. Overfeeding should be avoided, as they are sensitive to water quality, and excess food can quickly cause ammonia spikes.
Can Rummy Nose Tetra live without CO2?
Yes, Rummy Nose Tetras can live perfectly well without CO₂ injection. CO₂ is beneficial for plant growth, not for the fish themselves. As long as the tank has stable water parameters, good filtration, and adequate oxygenation, Rummy Nose Tetras will thrive in both low-tech and high-tech planted aquariums. If CO₂ is used, it must be carefully regulated to avoid stressing the fish.
