Hyphessobrycon pulchripinnis
Buttery yellow body with black-and-yellow accented dorsal and anal fins. Brighter under dim lighting and dark substrate; washes out under bright lights. Long-lived and forgiving, a classic community starter tetra.
Lemon Tetra (Hyphessobrycon pulchripinnis) reaches 4–5 cm as an adult and needs a minimum tank of 75 L. Native to Lower Amazon basin, Brazil, it lives in the mid water column with a peaceful temperament. Aim for 23–28 °C, pH 5.5–7.5, and 2–15 dGH hardness. Lifespan is 5–8 years with good care. Keep lemon tetra in groups of 8+, yes schoolers need numbers to display natural behaviour. Diet: omnivore, Flake, micro pellets, frozen daphnia, bloodworms. Plant-safe: Yes. Shrimp-safe: Mostly (may eat shrimplets).
Care at a glance
Buttery yellow body with black-and-yellow accented dorsal and anal fins. Brighter under dim lighting and dark substrate; washes out under bright lights. Long-lived and forgiving, a classic community starter tetra.
By Mike ElmiraUpdated 2 min read
Part of our complete guide to aquarium fish for the planted tank.
The parameters that decide whether lemon tetra fits in your tank.
Mid
Yes
Group of 8+
Characidae
Omnivore
Flake, micro pellets, frozen daphnia, bloodworms.
5–8 yrs
Medium
Calm flooded forest of the Tapajós basin
Lower Amazon basin, Brazil
Tank-mate safety and the species this one is documented to thrive (or fail) alongside.
Other peaceful South American tetras, corydoras, otocinclus, rams, apistogramma. Classic community fish.
Fin-nippers, aggressive cichlids, anything large and predatory.
Hard-won lessons from the tank.
Pair with cardinal tetras in a long planted tank — the yellow body of the lemon next to the red-and-blue cardinal is one of the most striking colour combinations available. A shoal of 12+ lemons in a 100 L dimly lit blackwater tank with dark substrate is genuinely stunning.
Genus 'Hyphessobrycon' = 'small Brycon' (referring to the related genus). Species 'pulchripinnis' = 'beautiful-finned' — the species name describes the most distinctive feature.
What can go wrong and how to spot it.
Failure modes, in order of how dramatic the fix is.
Robust. Standard tetra care — watch for ich during transport.
Often dismissed as 'plain' next to neons and cardinals — but lemon tetras display behavioral subtlety neons don't. Watch them in a calm planted tank and you'll see slow gliding swimming patterns and male display flaring that fast-moving neons skip.
The practical routine, read top to bottom.
75 L+. Heavily planted with open mid-water swimming. Dark substrate brings out the yellow body colour; light substrate washes them out. Tannins from catappa leaves intensify colour.
2–3 weeks.
Where it comes from, how it behaves, and the variants you'll see at retail.
Where it lived before it came home.
Slow tributaries of the lower Amazon basin in Brazil. Soft to moderately hard slightly acidic water, often blackwater-stained but tolerant of clearer conditions than cardinals or chilis.
Insect larvae, small crustaceans, biofilm, occasional plant matter.
Not threatened. Captive-bred globally.
How they pair, reproduce, and grow.
Males slimmer with deeper yellow dorsal and anal fins (the black-bordered edge is more pronounced). Females rounder with paler fins. Subtle but visible in mature fish.
Egg scatterers. Soft acidic water at 26 °C, dense moss. Adults eat eggs — remove after spawning. Fry need infusoria for the first week, then baby brine shrimp.
The named cultivars and the lookalikes worth flagging.
Wild type, occasionally 'long-fin' and 'gold' variants.
Direct answers to the questions search engines and AI assistants surface most often about this species.
Lemon Tetra (Hyphessobrycon pulchripinnis) needs a minimum tank of 75 L. They live in the mid water column and should be kept in groups of 8+, so a longer footprint matters more than depth.
Target 23–28 °C, pH 5.5–7.5, and 2–15 dGH hardness. Acclimate slowly when moving them between water sources.
Shrimp safety: Mostly (may eat shrimplets). Plant safety: Yes.
Lemon Tetra are omnivore. Flake, micro pellets, frozen daphnia, bloodworms.
On Fin & Stem's 1–5 difficulty scale this species rates 1/5. Almost unkillable, a solid first-tank choice. Breeding difficulty: medium.
Typical lifespan in a well-maintained tank is 5–8 years.
A planted tank is a system. Pair this fish with one entry from each other pillar to plan the whole scape.
