# red phantom and black phanton. do they behave the same



## sam555 (Dec 22, 2010)

i found out that black phantom tetras will go well with guppies and i may get some red phantoms tetras but are black and red phantoms different in other ways apart form ther colour?


----------



## Chaos553 (Apr 2, 2007)

sam555 said:


> i found out that black phantom tetras will go well with guppies and i may get some red phantoms tetras but are black and red phantoms different in other ways apart form ther colour?


If my knowledge serves me right, Red Phantom Tetras are also considered Serpae Tetras, but don't hold me to that, can someone please correct me if I'm wrong?

Also, we're talking about Fancy Guppies correct?

In any case, they behave along the similar lines of the Black Phantom Tetra. I find Red Phantoms, or Serpaes, to be a little nippier amongst themselves, but not usually to other fish within the tank. I keep my Serpaes with fish that have long fins in my 38g and I have yet to see them chase after any other fish in that tank besides other Serpaes I keep. Most of the time it's just two males squaring off and nipping back and forth, most likely trying to catch the attention of the females I have.

If you do plan on buying a few and adding them in with guppies, just watch them closely the first few days for signs of nipping. They might go after the males (if they're Fancy Guppies) because of their flashy tails, so if that happens you might have to separate them or take them back. Otherwise, Serpaes look awesome when they get used to your tank and I'm pretty sure the red coloration gets deeper and more colorful when the water is a tad bit warmer .


----------



## sam555 (Dec 22, 2010)

cool thanks for that could i have 2 black phantom tetras and 2 red pantom tetras ( serpae tetra) or do you need bigger shoals


----------



## Chaos553 (Apr 2, 2007)

sam555 said:


> cool thanks for that could i have 2 black phantom tetras and 2 red pantom tetras ( serpae tetra) or do you need bigger shoals


I'm not too sure if they would school together, if I were you I would just have a school of Serpaes and a school of Black Phantoms separate (minimum of 6-7 per school). It would also depend on how large your tank is and what's already in your tank (if there is anything).

If it's less than 10g and there's nothing else your tank I'd only keep one school of your choice, otherwise if it's over about 20g you can mix the two schools together. Hope that helps.


----------



## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

red phantom tetra is not the serpae tetra..
red phantom tetra = hyphessobrycon (megalamphodus) sweglesi
black phantom tetra = hyphessobrycon megalopterus
serpae tetra = hyphessobrycon (serpae) eques

get a book and read it...or at least google it..


----------



## Chaos553 (Apr 2, 2007)

lohachata said:


> red phantom tetra is not the serpae tetra..
> red phantom tetra = hyphessobrycon (megalamphodus) sweglesi
> black phantom tetra = hyphessobrycon megalopterus
> serpae tetra = hyphessobrycon (serpae) eques
> ...


Sorry about that, I spoke too soon, thanks for the correction.


----------



## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

that's ok chaos..we are all learning as we go..


----------

