White Skirt Tetra

The white skirt tetra is a pale line of Gymnocorymbus ternetzi, the same species as the black skirt tetra but bred to a translucent white-silver with no dark banding. The shape is what carries it: a deep, laterally flattened diamond of a body finished with a broad, trailing anal fin that gives the whole group its skirt name. It is a South American fish from the Paraguay and Guapore basins, and a long-standing community-tank staple.

Aquarium care

• Reaches roughly 5 to 6 cm.
• Hardy and undemanding about water chemistry.
• Keep six or more.
• Omnivorous: flake, pellets, frozen bloodworm and brine shrimp.
• Active mid-water swimmer that needs open space.

The one real caveat is fin nipping. Skirt tetras kept in small groups turn their attention outward, and long-finned fish suffer for it. Keep the group up around six or more and pair them with sturdy, short-finned company such as barbs, danios and corydoras. Bettas, angelfish and fancy guppies are the wrong tankmates.

Stock rotates with each shipment, and livestock is sold for local pickup at our Lethbridge store. See the current tetras.