# Orinoco river basin tetras



## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

hey guys, im looking for suggestions on a small tetra that comes from the Orinoco River Basin, so far *** found common rummynose (which are not all that common here...) and Red Phantoms, any other suggestions, i dont want a large tetra like black skirts or bleeding heart (neither of which come from Orinoco)

off to do more research

thanx
Gage


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## Dutch Dude (Sep 14, 2006)

Green neon (Paracheirodon simulans) and Hemigrammus erythrozonus and not a tetra but small and fun to watch are otocinclus.

Also,...check this,....http://fish.mongabay.com/biotope_countries.htm


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

thanx for the suggestions and link , i cant seem to find green neons, but ill check out the Hemigrammus sp.

*** been on this site before, this is where i found out exactly what to put in my biotope (driftwood, rocks, sand etc.)

already planning on oto's i love the little guys! LOL, they're so playful.

EDIT: OH, glowlight tetras, my only problem is i havent found any evidence of them being from Orinoco, glow lights are a favorite of mine (they are very under rated tetras) but i dont think they are from Orinoco


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

I believe glowlights are restricted to the other side of Guyana, ie the Essequibo River and west. Head and tail light tetras though are found in Guyana and even into Peru, and though I've yet to see anything listing them in the Orinico ... it's the only river system that would connect the two countries.


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

Hey gage,

Have you checked out FishBase?

Fish Species in Orinoco 
Axelrodia riesei, Ruby tetra 
Carnegiella marthae, Blackwing hatchetfish 
Hemigrammus unilineatus, Featherfin tetra
Nannostomus unifasciatus, Oneline pencilfish

Are you including any catfish?

A couple to check out
Panaque maccus
Hypancistrus sp. (L340)
Corydoras metae
Corydoras habrosus
Corydoras axelrodi


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

drrr ... that should read Essequibo River and *east* ... as the next major river system west of the Essequibo is, of course, the Orinoco ...


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## Dutch Dude (Sep 14, 2006)

maybe this helps. http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/p ... mapper.php

Not all the species are included but the once who are can be seen on the maps.

So H. ocillifer doesn't belong to that biotope but would be a very nice alternative. I keep them with my Guianacara and they are great little fish!


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

I want to say I read somewhere _H. ocillifer_ was found in the Rio Atapabo, which is a tributary of the Orinoco ... but since I can't find it again am not 100%. If it is found in the tributary, there is a good chance it's found in the main river as well. Will continue to dig.


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

*** looked at fishbase, but none of those tetras are available to me unfortunately, and as for catfish i am probably adding a clown pleco and a couple otos, the tank will be a bit stocked, possibly over stocked a bit, but im not concerned.

thanx for the help everyone, i appreciate it, im actually at the point where i may not even bother with tetras, just a pair of rams with 3 otos and a clown pleco LOL


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

LOL, never mind, one of my LFS has 2 Marthae hatchets, and has Rosy tetras available to them, and another has one lonely one-line pencilfish LOL, none of these were even available when i asked last.

the Marthae hatchets are supposed to be near impossible to keep alive though, this is what i keep hearing, the 2 LFS both had them, and one of them ended up with 2 out of about 15 (the most reputable fish store *** ever seen, the girl there, a friend of mine, actually bred mudskippers, she has tiny babies right now, first person on record to ever do this), and the other store ended up with one out of about 30 lol.


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