Should I buy it?
Silver Tip Tetra
Hasemania nana
Typical trade / ID note: Hasemania nana
Also known as: silvertip tetra, copper tetra, Silvertip tetra, Copper tetra
Fishori provides conservative planning guidance, not guarantees.
Based on typical aquarium care sources; details may vary between setups. Use the numbers here as planning defaults — your room, water, and routine still shape real-world outcomes.
An active copper-coloured schooler that nips long fins. Stock eight, skip the bettas and guppies, get a confident school in a planted 60L.
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.
Top things that go wrong
- Fin-nipping risk in typical community layouts. Fin-nipping risk toward long-finned or slow tank mates when the school is understocked, bored, or kept in a tank too short to spread out in.
- 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. Shrimp: compatible in most setups. Cherry shrimp and other dwarf species coexist with peaceful small fish, though baby shrimp are food for almost any fish that gets to them.
Common mistakeAdding silver tips to a tank with a betta. The nipping is immediate and persistent and does not reduce with more plants or more silver tips.
What most shops don't tell you
- 1.Trio bought as a peaceful schooler. The trio fixates on the slowest tank mate and shreds its fins.
- 2.Mixed with betta or angelfish. The long fins draw constant pursuit even from a full shoal.
- 3.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.
- Beckford Pencilfish60L min · same group, comparable tank size
- Black Neon Tetra60L min · same group, comparable tank size
- Bloodfin tetra60L min · same group, comparable tank size
- Cardinal Tetra60L min · same group, comparable tank size
- Glowlight Tetra60L min · same group, comparable tank size
- Green neon tetra60L min · same group, comparable tank size
- Lemon Tetra60L min · same group, comparable tank size
- X-ray tetra60L min · same group, comparable tank size
- Amano Shrimpalso beginner peaceful, similar tank size
- Assassin Snailalso beginner peaceful, similar tank size
- Beckford Pencilfishalso beginner peaceful, similar tank size
- Black Neon Tetraalso beginner peaceful, similar tank size
- Black phantom tetraalso beginner peaceful, similar tank size
- Bloodfin tetraalso beginner peaceful, similar tank size
No reverse lookups on file yet.
Plan grid
Key limits are shown above; this section adds planning detail: pH band, swim level, bioload and activity, and the radar.
Swim zones
Planning trait chart
Six indices for comparing species on paper before you spend.
- Beginner ease78
- Peacefulness68
- Community fit53
- Small-tank fit100
- Hardiness76
- Energy86
Numbers are deterministic planning indices from Fishori fields — not a scientific score of your individual fish.
Common setup sketches
Conservative patterns from Fishori fields — still run the pair checker for every species you add; sketches are not a stocking guarantee.
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.
Safe directions on file include: Corydoras Catfish, Otocinclus, 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.
Tank mate intelligence
Use the "Often compatible" lists as a shortlist, not a stocking plan. Always run the pair tool and check the footprint of your actual tank first. Verify behaviour for Silver Tip Tetra against your own reading before you buy.
Pair-level compatibility with this fish as anchor.
Read the blocking rule on each pair page before experimenting.
Do-not-stock combinations on conservative hobby rules.
Compare with
Run a real pair check: Silver Tip Tetra + Corydoras Catfish
Behaviour, temperament, and what to watch
Prose and lists come from the same record: read temperament first, then glass-level signals so you are not surprised after day three.
Silver Tip Tetra is peaceful in mixed company. Fin-nipper when the school is understocked, bored, or kept in a tank too short to spread out in.
Stress / aggression triggers on file
- long-finned tank mates
- small groups
Fin nipping: Fin-nipping risk toward long-finned or slow tank mates when the school is understocked, bored, or kept in a tank too short to spread out in.
Predation: Not a predator toward similarly-sized community fish. The usual community caveats about mouth size still apply for very small fry or shrimp.
Territory: Not strongly territorial, but still claims a working area in the tank. Give it room to settle without overlapping the next species' patch.
Planted tanks: excellent — easy plant ideas
In the glass: typical and warning signs
- Busy at feeding time — expects food to hit the water predictably.
- Shoaling/schooling: most colour and confidence show when the group meets **8+**.
- Clamped fins, gasping at the surface, hiding non-stop, or refusing food after the first week.
- Rapid breathing when parameters swing — fix ammonia/nitrite first, then reassess mates.
- Chasing one individual repeatedly, torn fins on tank mates, or food theft every feed.
- Separate or rehome if injuries appear, one fish is pinned, or feeding becomes a daily chase.
- If water is stable but behaviour worsens, reduce stocking or remove the highest-impact species first.
Fish behaviour can vary between individuals and tank setups. Always observe new fish closely after introduction.
Care parameters: water, food, inverts, grouping
Chemistry and group rules sit here so you are not re-reading the same line from tank mate or temperament blocks. Swim level is in the plan grid above.
Hardness
soft
Diet
omnivore
Mixed diet: a quality flake or pellet as the staple, with frozen or live foods two or three times a week.
Shrimp & snails
Shrimp: compatible in most setups. Cherry shrimp and other dwarf species coexist with peaceful small fish, though baby shrimp are food for almost any fish that gets to them.
Eight or more. Smaller groups redirect nipping at tank mates; full shoals keep it intra-species.
Egg scatterers and schoolers still spawn in stable tanks. Have a plan for the fry, or accept that the parents and tank mates will eat them in a community setup.
- 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
Same library as the rest of Fishori: tank-mate index for this species, category peers, guides, and litre-based stocking lists where min tank on file is within the hub volume.
Plan with tools
Pair-level rules and multi-fish stocking use the same conservative engine — add this fish in the tank builder only after mates pass pair checks.
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:
Profile status: partially verified · Evidence tier: medium · 2 linked source(s). Fishori does not fabricate citations.
Fishori uses conservative planning rules based on these sources.
Confidence is explained in the summary at the top of this page (same tier as here), not repeated below.
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.
- Fishori profiles work from typical aquarium trade sizes and hobby care norms. Specialist site checks and literature review for this species are not yet recorded here, so the ranges on this page are planning numbers rather than guarantees.