# Pristella Tetra Questions, What is this fish i got with my Pristellas, ect...



## LyzzaRyzz (Dec 18, 2011)

Today i went out and got Pristella Tetras, seven of them. Or what i thought was seven!
I had to go to work, so my boyfriend acclimated them to the QT, and when i got home, i noticed one didnt liik like the others!
So, you guys want to help me identify him/her? I=m thinking it might be a bleeding heart tera?
Its schooling with my pristellas, and doesnt seem to know its different!























Also, is this normal Priscella behavior?
Normal Pristella Behavior? - YouTube
It seems like just chasing, but id liek to make sure. 

And one of my pristellas has a black spot on its head. It seems to be level with the scales, not a bulge, or bumpy, though very noticeable.






























Pristella with black on its head. - YouTube

Pristella with black on its head, and Not a pristella - YouTube

In the last vid, you can see Not A Pristella, as ive been calling him/her. =]. 

Oh, and i got myself a dwarf gourami. It was in the same tank as the pristellas! I couldent resist! Ill be making another thread about him/her.


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## nawilson89 (Apr 9, 2012)

That kinda looks like a Bleeding Heart Tetra...


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## LyzzaRyzz (Dec 18, 2011)

Thats what i thought!
Does anyone think i could keep him in the school? Or is it best to return him and get another pristella..


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## nawilson89 (Apr 9, 2012)

I would think to return it for another Pristella. He might realize he's not one of them and start to get depressed.


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## LyzzaRyzz (Dec 18, 2011)

Ugh, i think your right. 
My boyfriend just thought it was a female pristella, I told him good try, but nope!
Ill bring him back tomorrow and get a few more pristellas...


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

Your mystery fish is a Pristella Tetra. There are 2 varieties which are sold today, and this one is a "Gold Pristella". It is not uncommon to see them mixed and this accident occur. No reason at all to return him... he doesn't know he is an odd ball.


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

nawilson89 said:


> That kinda looks like a Bleeding Heart Tetra...


True, but Bleeding Hearts have a red heart-shaped spot on their body, which makes their identification unmistakable. Plus, they have a rosy red color body.


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## Jayy (Dec 23, 2009)

Pasfur said:


> True, but Bleeding Hearts have a red heart-shaped spot on their body, which makes their identification unmistakable. Plus, they have a rosy red color body.


The fish is a bleeding heart tetra, just a very small and washed out one. You can see its markings. Also your Dwarf Gourami, is a Blue Gourami. They're not always good community fish, so I would return both for the real thing. Make sure you pay attention next time so these mistakes won't happen. Not to be mean. I also like to look up things I don't know in the store on my phone or iPod. Pasfur, I think you may be thinking of the out lined one, not the first few pictures.


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## GwenInNM (Feb 2, 2011)

Jayy said:


> The fish is a bleeding heart tetra, just a very small and washed out one. You can see its markings. Also your Dwarf Gourami, is a Blue Gourami. They're not always good community fish, so I would return both for the real thing. Make sure you pay attention next time so these mistakes won't happen. Not to be mean. I also like to look up things I don't know in the store on my phone or iPod. Pasfur, I think you may be thinking of the out lined one, not the first few pictures.


Javy is right, that is a Blue Gourami. I have a female, and I've had good luck with her in my community tank. She will sometimes chase fish more her size, but never the schooling neons. She sometimes shoos away my Bolivian Ram or rarely one of my female dwarf rainbows, but it's not a very common thing. She has gotten very beautiful, and in a planted tank, they really are very attractive. I think it depends on how big your tank is, and what other fish she'll be in with. I don't think they like to be "intruded" on by others, and like their territory/space. And also, just the personality of the fish can make a difference. I had a male, and he was a complete bully with the female, (they were in a tank all my themselves at that time) and I did give him to my LFS. 

Gwen

Gwen


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## LyzzaRyzz (Dec 18, 2011)

Yeah, in my other thread, I found out hea a blue gourami!
I hate when pet stores mislabel!

I'm not sure what I want to do about him though..
He's so pretty, and doesn't have the chance of the virus dwarfs have..
I'm wondering if I could just keep him alone? How big or small a tank can I do this in? Would a 15 gal long be okay for him?

And I wish I had Internet on my phone, since I need wifi to use my itouchs Internet...these things wouldn't happen to me!


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

Concerning the mystery tetra. I think this is Hyphessobrycon erythrostigma, Bleeding Heart, rather than the "gold" form of Pristella maxillaris. I have never maintained the latter (i.e., the gold form, I do have the natural) but from my comparison of photos online--bearing in mind my friend Heiko Bleher's advice to me that online photos of fish are always suspect;-)--the fin colouration and markings are not compatible. The poor fish in the photos is certainly washed out, but that is frequently the case with this species, it rarely looks good in the poor conditions of a store tank.

I would return it for another Pristella. This species, the BH, needs a group as it may fin nip if stressed, and this fish will be stressed on its own. This is not a species to maintain without a good group. I have a small group of them (lost a couple due to an internal protozoan a month or so ago, will be getting more) and they are always close, and with the very similar and very closely-related H. bentosi. They are close cousins so this works out well, but notwithstanding their friendship together I will be adding to the BH.

To the behaviour in the video, that is normal. I suspect the black-spot fish doing the chasing is a male, I spotted a couple of male displays during the sequence. However, the black mark is disturbing. I have seen this, or something very much the same, a couple of times on a characin, and the fish slowly weakened until death. I say slowly because it was weeks and even months. I've no idea what it is, but it did not seem to spread to other fish, and the fish itself continued relatively normal, so I left it. I'm no expert on disease issues, so this is just my experience that may or may not be pertinent to what is on this Pristella maxillaris.

And last on the gourami, i agree, that is not a Dwarf, but a Blue Gurami. I would return it, this too is risky. Both from the ppoint of view of the gourami, and the characins that may well nip it.

Byron.


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## LyzzaRyzz (Dec 18, 2011)

I will be returning the bleeding heart for a few more pristellas..I may return the black spot fish, though if it's not transmitable, I may just keep him and wait for the inevitable.

I have six pristellas and was thinking four more.

I have the day off tomorrow, and will be going back to the pet store.

It's such a shame, since I really like that gourami!


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