Blue King Tetra

Cochu's blue tetra (Boehlkea fredcochui), sold here as the blue king tetra, is one of very few freshwater fish that are genuinely blue rather than iridescent silver read as blue. The body is mostly clear, with the colour concentrated over the back half and a pink flush at the tail base. Males are the more strongly marked sex. It comes from the upper Amazon in Peru and Colombia and it is an unusually active fish, rarely still for long.

Aquarium care

• Reaches roughly 5 cm.
• Keep six or more; below that they turn their attention on each other.
• Prefers soft, acidic water, but tank-bred stock adapts readily.
• Dark substrate makes the blue considerably stronger.
• Omnivorous: quality flake, pellets, frozen bloodworm and tubifex.
• Swims in the middle and upper levels.

This is a fast, busy fish that can intimidate slow or long-finned tankmates, so give it a medium to large tank and pair it with fish that can keep up: other active tetras, rasboras, danios and corydoras. Dwarf shrimp are not a safe bet with a fish this energetic.

Stock rotates with each shipment, and livestock is sold for local pickup at our Lethbridge store. See what else is in on our tetras page.