White Skirt Tetra Care Guide - Aquarium Setup, Diet & Breeding

White Skirt Tetras are the pale, often translucent or silvery-white form of the familiar Black Skirt Tetra. Their deep-bodied shape, long flowing anal fin and vertically compressed profile give them a distinctive skirt-like appearance, while selective breeding has produced variations ranging from soft cream to bright white. Some commercially available fish may also have been artificially coloured, so naturally pale specimens are preferable.

These are active, social characins that spend most of their time in the middle levels of the aquarium. In a group, they develop a lively but generally peaceful presence, weaving through the water and occasionally displaying to one another. They may nip fins when kept in small numbers or in cramped conditions, particularly if bored or stressed.

In the wild, Gymnocorymbus ternetzi inhabits quiet waterways, tributaries and seasonally flooded areas with subdued light and plenty of submerged vegetation. The water is often stained by leaf litter and other organic material, creating a darker environment in which their silvery body can catch the available light.

White Skirt Tetras are a domesticated colour variety rather than a separate species. Their attractive colouring and robust nature have made them popular community aquarium fish, although their active behaviour and tendency to investigate long fins should be considered when choosing companions.

White Skirt Tetras are a selectively developed pale colour form of the Black Skirt Tetra, Gymnocorymbus ternetzi. The original species comes from slow-moving rivers, streams and flooded habitats in the Paraguay River basin of South America, including areas of Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay.

A group of White Skirt Tetras should be kept in an aquarium of at least 75 litres, with a footprint of around 60 by 30 cm or larger to provide adequate swimming length. Use open swimming space alongside areas of dense planting, floating plants or driftwood that create shade and visual cover. A dark, fine-grained substrate helps their pale colouring stand out and gives the aquarium a natural appearance, while gentle to moderate water movement is appropriate.

Up to 5 cm (2 in) in adult body length. Females are usually slightly larger and deeper-bodied than males.

White Skirt Tetras are omnivores and should receive a varied diet of quality tropical flakes or small granules, supplemented with frozen or live foods such as bloodworms, daphnia, brine shrimp and mosquito larvae. Small portions offered once or twice daily are suitable, with enough food provided for the group to consume within a few minutes. Occasional vegetable-based foods can also add variety.

White Skirt Tetras are suitable for peaceful community aquariums when kept in a proper group. Good tankmates include other similarly sized tetras, rasboras, danios, peaceful barbs, Corydoras, small peaceful loaches, bristlenose plecos and calm dwarf cichlids. Avoid housing them with very timid fish, slow-moving species with long flowing fins such as bettas and fancy guppies, or large predatory fish that may view them as food.

White Skirt Tetras are egg-scattering spawners that can be bred in a separate, dimly lit breeding aquarium. Condition a male and female with plenty of live or frozen foods, then provide fine-leaved plants or spawning mops for the adhesive eggs. After spawning, remove the adults because they may eat the eggs. The eggs usually hatch within 24 to 36 hours, and the fry can initially be fed infusoria or another suitably tiny first food before moving on to newly hatched brine shrimp.

Females are generally plumper, particularly through the abdomen, while males tend to be slimmer and may have a more pointed body profile. The differences are subtle, especially in young fish, and are easiest to see when mature males and females are viewed together.