Add a touch of dramatic elegance to your aquascape with the captivating Black Phantom Tetra. Known for its striking charcoal-grey to translucent silver body and bold, signature black patch right behind the gills, this peaceful schooling fish is a must-have for both beginner and experienced hobbyists alike.

When mature, males develop stunning, elongated charcoal dorsal and anal fins that they proudly display during harmless "mock fights" with one another, while females offer a beautiful contrast with their warm, reddish pelvic and adipose fins.

Quick Care & Breeding Specifications

Comprehensive Care Guide

Place of Origin & Natural Habitat

The Black Phantom Tetra hails from the slow-moving, heavily vegetated river basins of South America, specifically the Guaporé and Paraguay rivers spanning Brazil and Bolivia. In the wild, they thrive in clear to slightly tannin-stained waters surrounded by overhanging forest canopies, which shade them from intense light.

Tank Size & Ideal Environment

To keep your Black Phantom Tetras happy and stress-free, a minimum tank size of 20 gallons is highly recommended. Because they are strict schooling fish, they must be kept in groups of 6 or more—larger groups drastically increase their confidence and bring out their natural, vivid coloration.

Their aquarium setup should feature a dark substrate to mimic the riverbeds of South America and make their smoky coloration pop. Provide a heavily planted environment using live aquatic plants like Java Fern, Anubias, and Amazon Swords, leaving plenty of open swimming space in the center. Adding floating plants and driftwood will provide the dappled lighting and shelter they crave.

Diet & Feeding

Black Phantom Tetras are undemanding omnivores with great appetites. For optimal health and maximum color vibrancy, feed them a varied diet consisting of high-quality tropical flake foods and micro pellets as their daily staple. Supplement their meals 2 to 3 times a week with frozen or live foods, such as bloodworms, brine shrimp, and daphnia.

Compatible Tank Mates

As an exceptionally peaceful community fish, the Black Phantom Tetra gets along wonderfully with a wide variety of aquarium inhabitants. Avoid housing them with large, aggressive, or predatory species that might view them as a snack.

• Great Tank Mates Include: Other peaceful tetras (like Neon or Cardinal Tetras), Rasboras, Corydoras Catfish, Khuli Loaches, Dwarf Gouramis, and peaceful dwarf cichlids like Ram Cichlids. They are also perfectly safe to keep with larger freshwater shrimp and snails.

Breeding Black Phantom Tetras

Breeding Black Phantom Tetras is moderately easy in a dedicated breeding tank. Set up a separate, dimly lit 10-gallon tank with very soft, slightly acidic water (pH 6.0–6.5) and plenty of fine-leaved plants like Java Moss or a spawning grid to catch the eggs.

Condition a select pair with premium live foods before moving them to the breeding tank. As egg-scatterers, females will release up to 300 eggs among the moss or substrate. Crucial Step: Parents offer no parental care and will eat their own eggs; you must remove the adults immediately after spawning occurs. Eggs hatch in about 24 to 36 hours, and the fry can be fed infusoria or freshly hatched brine shrimp once they are free-swimming.

PLEASE READ BEFORE ORDERING

• The photos shown on fish product pages are representations of adult fish and are NOT the actual fish that you will be receiving. 
• Please visit our “Ordering/Shipping fish” page prior to checking out to familiarize yourself with our process.
• We ship fish exclusively using overnight shipping with either FedEx or UPS. We will not ship fish with lesser expensive shipping services like “Ground” or “Priority Mail”. This is to ensure the safety of the fish.
• Unless specified, all fish are sold as unsexed.