Ember Tetra Care Guide

The ember tetra is a glowing orange nano fish — one of the smallest tetras in the hobby, barely two centimetres long, that lights up a planted tank like a drifting ember. It is a warm-water species, the mirror image of the cooler-preferring neon, and its tiny mouth makes it one of the few tetras genuinely safe to keep with dwarf shrimp.

Ember Tetra at a glance

The sourced figures the welfare engine uses to judge Ember Tetra — the parseable key facts.

Where it comes from

Embers come from the Araguaia drainage of central Brazil — minor tributaries, backwaters and oxbow lakes, slow or still and densely vegetated, over leaf litter and fallen branches in soft, weakly acidic, warm clearwater. That biotope drives the care. The soft, slightly acidic, warm water is the native default, so a planted tank with a touch of tannin suits them best; the slow, heavily-vegetated origin means they are not current fish and do best on gentle filtration; and the warm tropical clearwater is why this is a warm-water species that should not be run cold.

Did you know?

• It is one of the tiniest tetras in the hobby — a true nano fish at around one and a half to two centimetres, a "living ember" that glows brightest over dark substrate and among plants.
• It is a warm-water mirror of the neon: embers want the warm end of the tropical range while neons prefer it cooler, a neat contrast for a community plan.
• It is one of the few tetras genuinely recommended for a shrimp tank — too small-mouthed to harm adult dwarf shrimp, though it will pick off the occasional shrimplet, so a planted tank lets enough survive.
• It makes an ideal dither fish for shy dwarf cichlids such as Apistogramma, its calm shoaling coaxing nervous fish into the open.
• The name amandae honours Amanda Bleher, the plant-hunter and mother of the famed aquarist Heiko Bleher; the species was described by Géry and Uj in 1987.

Tank size — and why

A 10 US gallon, roughly 45 cm tank is the sensible recommended floor for a proper school, though experienced keepers do keep small groups in well-planted 5 gallon nanos, and larger schools want 20 gallons or more. The driver is not bio-load — embers are tiny and barely waste anything — but swimming room and group size for confident schooling. Think footprint and planting over height: this is a nano shoaler that wants an open mid-water lane through dense plants. A lid is sensible though jumping risk is low.

As a guide, a 20-gallon tank comfortably suits about 9–13 Ember Tetra as a single-species display, leaving room for tankmates.

Water parameters in practice

The load-bearing point is temperature: this is a warm-water fish. Although one tolerance band reaches down to about 20 °C, every recommended figure sits in the mid-20s Celsius, and the warm Mato Grosso origin confirms it — running a tank at 20 °C "because the chart allows it" leaves embers dull and stressed. Keep them warm, in the mid-to-high 70s Fahrenheit. Soft, slightly acidic water is ideal, though they tolerate up to neutral or a little harder once settled. Beyond that they are undemanding and adaptable, provided they go into a mature, cycled, stable tank rather than a fresh one.

Diet & feeding

Micro-predators and omnivores that in the wild take small invertebrates, zooplankton and plant and detrital matter. In the tank, a good-quality micro or nano flake and tiny pellets sized for their very small mouths make the staple, varied with small live or frozen foods such as baby brine shrimp, moina, daphnia and microworm to boost colour and breeding condition. The thing to get right is portion size: overfeeding is the number-one feeding error, because their tiny stomachs mean excess food simply fouls the water. Feed small amounts a couple of times a day, crushing or grinding standard flake fine enough for them.

Gear & setup

A heater to hold the warm setpoint, gentle filtration — a sponge filter and slow flow suit them — and a densely planted layout. Dark substrate dramatically intensifies the ember-orange and lowers stress, while plants, floating cover, driftwood and leaf litter mimic the shaded, leaf-littered biotope and bring out both colour and schooling. A bright, bare tank washes the colour out. Keep it covered, though embers are not strong jumpers.

Temperament & behaviour

A peaceful, non-territorial shoaling fish that asks nothing of its tankmates and spends the day in open mid-water. The behaviour and colour only come out in numbers and cover: more fish plus dense planting gives an active, confident, vividly-coloured school, while a few fish in a bare tank stay skittish and washed-out. It is not a fin-nipper; the rare reports of nipping are tied to stress or overcrowding, not a baseline trait. Its calm, constant shoaling also makes it a fine dither fish that coaxes shy dwarf cichlids into the open.

Group & social needs

Keep a real group — eight to ten or more is the target, six the bare floor. Larger groups reduce timidity, school more tightly, colour up brighter and spread out any single fish being targeted, while under-stocked embers hide and fade. As with the neon, treat the recommended eight to ten as the goal rather than the minimum.

Compatible tank mates (preview)

A short, engine-cleared shortlist — the species TankStocking's welfare engine clears with Ember Tetra and that suit its size and temperament best. Tap any to load the pairing in the planner.

• Assassin Snail — Uses the bottom zone, peaceful temperament, similar adult size.
• Black Neon Tetra — Peaceful temperament, similar adult size.
• Black Phantom Tetra — Peaceful temperament, similar adult size.

A note on the shrimp and snails here: Ember Tetra is peaceful and generally invertebrate-safe — but almost any fish will take very small shrimplets given the chance, so give shrimp dense cover (moss, leaf litter) if you want a colony to grow, rather than expecting every baby to survive.

See the full Ember Tetra tank mates guide →

Breeding & sexing

Sexing is subtle but doable — males are more intensely coloured and slimmer, females noticeably rounder-bodied, especially viewed from above when full of eggs. Breeding is achievable, easier than the neon: embers are egg-scatterers that will spawn in a well-planted tank, though to raise fry you separate the eggs or parents. A separate soft, slightly-acidic spawning tank kept toward the warm end triggers spawning; condition the pair on live foods for a few weeks first and provide fine-leaved plants or a spawning mop. They show no parental care and will eat eggs and fry, so remove the adults; eggs hatch in about a day and the fry, started on infusoria then microworm and baby brine shrimp, need pristine, dim water.

Lifespan

Two to four years is typical, with up to about five on good care; claims of ten years are considered inaccurate, so treat four to five as a realistic well-kept ceiling. What shortens it is poor or unstable water quality, overfeeding (easy with such tiny stomachs, and a top beginner mistake), chronic stress from too-small a group or boisterous tankmates, and being kept too cold for a warm-water fish.

Common mistakes

• Keeping them too cold. Embers are a warm-water species that wants the mid-20s Celsius; running the tank cool leaves them dull and stressed even if a chart allows it.
• Overfeeding. Their tiny stomachs make excess food a top killer, fouling the water — feed small, ground or nano foods sparingly.
• Buying too few. A handful of embers hide and fade; keep eight to ten or more for real schooling.
• Bare, brightly-lit tanks. These wash out the colour and stress the fish; embers need dark substrate, plants and cover to look and behave their best.
• Predatory or boisterous tankmates. At around two centimetres they are bite-sized and easily out-competed — avoid larger or fast, aggressive fish.

Signs of trouble

• Faded, washed-out colour and a fish hanging apart from the school — usually stress, an immature tank, or being kept too cool.
• Clamped fins, hiding and loss of appetite — general stress or a water-quality problem, often from overfeeding.
• Erratic swimming or flicking against décor — early sign of ich or irritation, typically stress-driven.
• Listless fish sitting low in a sparse or bright tank — add cover and check temperature and water parameters.

Is this fish right for you?

Do not buy embers for an uncycled or unstable tank, or if you cannot keep it warm in the mid-20s Celsius. Skip them if you cannot house a group of eight to ten, or if your community contains anything big enough to eat a two-centimetre fish. If you are pairing them with a betta, use a ten-gallon or larger with a real group and heavy planting — a crammed five-gallon is too small for both done properly. Embers are widely captive-bred, so healthy tank-bred stock is the norm; just pick active, fully-coloured fish and avoid any tank with faded or listless individuals.

Bringing one home

As a soft-water nano fish, the ember dislikes rapid parameter swings, so acclimate it gently into a mature, stable tank — float to match temperature, then add tank water gradually over fifteen to twenty minutes before netting the fish across and leaving the shop water behind. Quarantine new stock, settle the group over dark substrate with plenty of planting so they start schooling quickly, and keep the tank warm from the start.

Common questions

What temperature do ember tetras need?

Keep them warm, around 24–27 °C (the mid-to-high 70s Fahrenheit). Embers are a warm-water species from central Brazil — the opposite of the cooler-preferring neon — so do not treat 20 °C as a comfortable setpoint, even where a chart allows it. Cold leaves them dull and stressed.

Can ember tetras live with shrimp?

Yes — they are one of the best tetras for a shrimp tank. Their tiny mouths cannot harm adult dwarf shrimp such as cherries, so adults are completely safe. They will opportunistically pick off microscopic shrimplets, so keep the tank planted with moss and leaf litter to let enough fry survive to sustain the colony.

Can ember tetras live with a betta?

Often, done right. Embers are tiny, peaceful, fast enough to evade a betta, and their warm temperature preference overlaps the betta's. Use a ten-gallon or larger with a real group of at least six and heavy planting so the betta cannot fixate on one fish, and monitor — individual bettas vary.

How many ember tetras should I keep?

Eight to ten or more is the target, with six the bare minimum. Larger groups school more tightly, colour up brighter and stay far more confident; a few fish in a bare tank simply hide and fade.

Are ember tetras good for beginners?

Yes, once the tank is mature, warm and stable. They are hardy and adaptable once settled. The two things beginners get wrong are keeping them too cold and overfeeding their tiny stomachs — get the warmth and portion size right and they are an easy, rewarding nano fish.

Sources & confidence

Sources & confidence (9 species)

These back the Ember Tetra figures and the previewed tank mates above. Each figure is read from the TankStocking species database (v2026.06); below is the care reference behind it and how confident we are in that data. Confidence reflects the source quality, not whether any pairing is safe. Full source list and the welfare model are on the methodology page.

• Ember Tetra Hyphessobrycon amandae — Seriously Fish (seriouslyfish.com/species/hyphessobrycon-amandae) high confidence
• Assassin Snail Clea helena (Anentome helena) — The Shrimp Farm (theshrimpfarm.com/posts/assassin-snail-care) high confidence
• Black Neon Tetra Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi — Seriously Fish / Aqua-Fish (Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi) high confidence
• Black Phantom Tetra Hyphessobrycon megalopterus — Seriously Fish (Hyphessobrycon megalopterus) high confidence
• Cardinal Tetra Paracheirodon axelrodi — Seriously Fish (seriouslyfish.com/species/paracheirodon-axelrodi) high confidence
• Celestial Pearl Danio Celestichthys margaritatus — Seriously Fish (seriouslyfish.com/species/celestichthys-margaritatus) high confidence
• Cherry Shrimp Neocaridina davidi — Aquarium Co-Op cherry shrimp care; The Shrimp Farm high confidence
• Chili Rasbora Boraras brigittae — Seriously Fish (seriouslyfish.com/species/boraras-brigittae) high confidence
• Clown Killifish Epiplatys annulatus — Seriously Fish (Epiplatys annulatus); Aquarium Co-Op high confidence

Care-guide sources (6)

This guide synthesises the references below; where they disagree, the range and the disagreement are noted in the text above. The figures in the key-facts box are read from the TankStocking species database (v2026.06). Full welfare model on the methodology page.

• FishBase — Hyphessobrycon amandae — authority (Géry & Uj 1987), max 2.0 cm SL, temperature 24–28 °C, Araguaia basin range, trophic level, IUCN Least Concern, etymology (Amanda Bleher)
• Seriously Fish — Hyphessobrycon amandae — type locality and habitat (tributaries, backwaters, oxbows; soft weakly-acidic water), 15–20 mm SL, parameters, 45×30 cm tank, group of 8–10, very peaceful, dither role, egg-scattering breeding
• Aquarium Co-Op — Care Guide for Ember Tetras — 2 cm size, temperature 22–28 °C, pH and hardness, 5 gal small-group floor, sponge filter and gentle flow, group of 6–10, shrimp safety (adults safe, babies at risk), Apistogramma dither
• Aquarium Source — Ember Tetra 101 — 2–4 year lifespan (the 10-year claim called inaccurate), 10 gal minimum (20–25 for large schools), feeding frequency and the overfeeding warning, breeding, no species-specific disease
• Ember + shrimp compatibility hobby consensus — adult dwarf shrimp safe with embers, shrimplets at some risk, and the ember as a top shrimp-safe nano fish
• Ember + betta compatibility hobby consensus — 10 gal+ recommendation, keeping a group of at least six to spread a betta's attention, temperature overlap, and the individual-betta variation caveat

More on Ember Tetra

Related guides on TankStocking — each scored by the same welfare engine as the planner.

This care guide is a sourced planning reference, not veterinary advice — individual fish, filtration and maintenance all matter. Cycle the tank, test your water, and observe your fish. How TankStocking works →