Should I buy it?
Silver Tip Tetra
Hasemania nana
Also known as: silvertip tetra, copper tetra
An active copper-coloured schooler that nips long fins. Stock eight, skip the bettas and guppies, get a confident school in a planted 60L.
Silver Tip Tetra tank mates · 60L tank size hub
peaceful · beginner care
Sources & confidencemedium · partially verified · beginner: good
Typical care sources — real tanks still vary. Numbers here are a careful starting point. Your tap water, tank size, and habits decide the rest. How we evaluate.
Best for: Planted community tanks 60L or more where long-finned fish are absent and the active copper school is the focal point.
Avoid if: You keep bettas, guppies, or any long-finned fish. Silver tips nip fins regardless of school size.
Common mistakeAdding silver tips to a tank with a male betta or fancy long fins is the fortnight shred story. They are peaceful in a proper school and still nip trailing fins when bored or under-stocked. Keep them with short-finned neighbours, or skip the betta plan entirely.
Top things that go wrong
- Fin-nipping risk in typical community layouts. Will nip long fins or slow fish when the school is too small, bored, or kept in a short tank.
- Group welfare — not a solo display fish. Plan at least **8** together for normal behaviour; smaller groups often mean stress, colour loss, or nipping depending on species.
- Shrimp & snails. Cherry shrimp and other dwarfs can coexist with peaceful small fish; baby shrimp are food for almost anything that finds them.
What most shops don't tell you
- 1.Myth: silver tip tetras are slow peaceful dither fish for any community. Reality: they are active schooling characins that nip and crowd when understocked — keep a real school with room to swim, or fin-nipping and skittish tankmates become the weekly complaint.
- 2.Trio bought as a peaceful schooler. The trio fixates on the slowest tank mate and shreds its fins.
- 3.Mixed with betta or angelfish. The long fins draw constant pursuit even from a full shoal.
- 4.A group of eight or more keeps the nipping internal to the school. A group of three turns on the betta. Soft slightly acidic water and a community of similarly fast mid-water fish is the working setup.
About this species
Silver tip tetras are 4 cm copper-coloured shoalers from Brazil with white-tipped fins. Active, hungry, and habitually nippy when kept in groups below eight or alongside long-finned tank mates. The species is sold as a peaceful community fish; it is not.
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No reverse lookups listed yet.
Plan grid
Key limits are above. Here: pH band, swim level, bioload, and activity.
Swim zones
Care snapshot
Quick compare before you buy. Not a score of how “good” the fish is.
- Beginner ease78
- Peacefulness68
- Community fit46
- Small-tank fit100
- Hardiness76
- Energy86
Numbers are deterministic planning indices from Fishori fields — not a scientific score of your individual fish.
Example setups
Starting points only. Run the pair checker for every fish you add.
Rough 90L+ layout: one calm centrepiece, 8–12 small tetras/rasboras, 6–8 corydoras-type bottom fish — verify every name in the pair checker before buying.
Safer directions include: Corydoras Catfish, Harlequin Rasbora.
Prioritise 8+ of Silver Tip Tetra in 60L+ with filtration sized for messy feeding — add only mates that already pass pair checks with this species.
Compatibility
Tank mates for Silver Tip Tetra
Usually safer (engine GOOD): Corydoras Catfish, Harlequin Rasbora. Conditional (CAUTION — read the pair page before buying): Angelfish, Bristlenose Pleco, Dwarf Gourami, Guppy, Otocinclus. Avoid (RISKY): Betta. Every name links to a live pair check — the lists are a shortlist, not a stocking plan.
Usually safer
Open a pair page with this fish as the starting point.
Needs planning
Read the blocking rule on each pair page before experimenting.
Usually avoid
Do-not-stock combinations on conservative hobby rules.
Compare with
Run a real pair check: Silver Tip Tetra + Corydoras Catfish
Behaviour and temperament
Silver tip tetras are active midwater schoolers that stay kinder inside a proper group of eight or more and redirect energy at trailing fins when numbers drop. They are not tiger barbs, but they are a poor roommate for a male betta or fancy long fins in a short tank.
What sets them off
- long-finned tank mates
- small groups
Fin nipping: Will nip long fins or slow fish when the school is too small, bored, or kept in a short tank.
Predation: Not a predator toward similarly sized community fish; fry and dwarf shrimp are still fair game for most species.
Territory: Not strongly territorial, but still needs room so its working space does not overlap the next fish.
Planted tanks: excellent — easy plant ideas
In the glass: typical and warning signs
- Eight or more hold midwater with bright white tips flashing in the school.
- In-school chasing is common sorting, not a reason to break the group up.
- A thin group that hangs at the glass usually needs more of its own kind.
- Torn betta fins after a calm week means the pairing failed — not a one-off accident.
- Fin interest rises when the school is small or the tank is short on space.
- They rarely wreck short-finned robust neighbours in an honest group.
- Remove the betta or the silver tips at the first tear — planting will not fix it.
- Increase school size before blaming “aggression” for dull, hiding fish.
Fish behaviour can vary between individuals and tank setups. Always observe new fish closely after introduction.
Water, food, and grouping
Hardness
soft
Diet
omnivore
Silver tip tetras take flake and micro-pellets in the midwater scramble and hold condition better with frozen foods a few times a week. Feed a pinch they can reach before surface specialists clear the film. Colour on the tips stays sharper on varied food than on a single dry staple.
Shrimp & snails
Cherry shrimp and other dwarfs can coexist with peaceful small fish; baby shrimp are food for almost anything that finds them.
Eight or more. Smaller groups redirect nipping at tank mates; full shoals keep it intra-species.
- Eight or more from the same source on the same day.
- Tank mates without trailing fins. Skip bettas, fancy guppies, angelfish.
- Soft to slightly acidic water (pH 6.0 to 7.5).
- 60L planted setup with swimming room down the middle.
- Tank volume meets or exceeds 60L published minimum for adults.
- You can stock at least 8 individuals (group welfare).
- Heater can hold 22–28°C without cooking cooler-water tank mates.
- No known fin-nippers paired with long-finned fish unless you accept documented risk.
Explore and stocking hubs
Tank-mates hub, matching guides, category peers, and litre stocking lists around this species’ minimum tank.
Plan with tools
Check mates as pairs first, then add this fish in the tank builder for the full stocking.
Filtration & heating
A 60L minimum tank needs a filter rated for at least 240L/hr turnover and a heater to hold 22–28°C reliably.
Plant suggestions
Silver Tip Tetra does well in planted tanks. Plants compatible with 22–28°C and pH 6–7.5:
Research: partially verified · Confidence: medium · 2 linked source(s). We do not invent citations.
How Fishori evaluates compatibility (same logic as pair and tank tools).
- Seriously Fish. Hasemania nana
Primary: species page on Brazilian range, shoal-size requirement, and the fin-nipping behaviour that the trade tends to understate.
- Practical Fishkeeping. Silver Tip Tetra Profile
Secondary: editor write-up on shoal dynamics and the long-fin tank-mate warning.
Evidence notes
- Silver tips are habitual nippers in under-stocked groups. Eight or more from one source on one day usually settles the nipping into intra-school harassment that the fish itself can absorb.
- Colour intensity comes with mature water. New tanks show pale fish; the same shoal in a six-month tank turns deep copper.
Featured compatibility checks
Curated pair pages for Silver Tip Tetra. Each opens a full verdict — not just a list label.
Common questions about Silver Tip Tetra
- How big do Silver Tip Tetra get?
- Silver Tip Tetra adults reach about 4 cm. Shop fish look smaller; stock for the adult length.
- What size tank does Silver Tip Tetra need?
- 60L is the planning floor for adult swimming space and bioload. A 80L+ tank is the more comfortable long-term footprint. Length and depth matter as much as raw litres for active or territorial fish.
- Are Silver Tip Tetra aggressive?
- Silver tip tetras are active midwater schoolers that stay kinder inside a proper group of eight or more and redirect energy at trailing fins when numbers drop. They are not tiger barbs, but they are a poor roommate for a male betta or fancy long fins in a short tank.
- Do Silver Tip Tetra need to be kept in a group?
- Eight or more. Smaller groups redirect nipping at tank mates; full shoals keep it intra-species.
- What is the most common mistake with Silver Tip Tetra?
- Adding silver tips to a tank with a male betta or fancy long fins is the fortnight shred story. They are peaceful in a proper school and still nip trailing fins when bored or under-stocked. Keep them with short-finned neighbours, or skip the betta plan entirely.
- What fish can live with Silver Tip Tetra?
- The Silver Tip Tetra profile lists Corydoras Catfish, Harlequin Rasbora among its safer pairings (engine-checked GOOD). Angelfish, Bristlenose Pleco, Dwarf Gourami, Guppy are conditional (CAUTION): workable only with the specific conditions on each pair page. Avoid Betta (RISKY). Run the pair checker for your exact water and tank size before stocking.