Widow Tetra: Price in India, Colours and Care

The widow tetra (Gymnocorymbus ternetzi), also called the black widow or black skirt tetra, is one of the hardiest tetras for an Indian home aquarium. In shops it is mostly sold in bright colour forms: at FishyKart a single widow tetra costs ₹75 to ₹99 depending on the colour. Adults reach about 5-6 cm (2-2.4 inches), live in groups, and do well at 20-26°C and pH 6.0-7.0, adapting to harder tap water better than most tetras. The one habit to plan for is fin nipping, which a large group usually stops.

Photo: emptyvi - Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Widow Tetra Price in India

Prices below are taken from FishyKart's own store. They change with stock and offers, so open the product page for the current price.

Because widow tetras need a group, compare the combo price with buying single fish. A shoal of 8-12 is the real cost of keeping this fish, plus a tank of at least 2.5 feet.

Widow Tetra Care Sheet

Sources: SeriouslyFish species profile for Gymnocorymbus ternetzi; FishBase species summary.

Widow Tetra Colours

The wild widow tetra is silver-grey with two or three black bars behind the head and a black rear half and fins, which gives it the "black skirt" name. With age the black often fades to grey. Other forms you will see in India:

• Long-fin (veil-tail) widow: a bred form with long flowing fins.
• White skirt tetra: a pale, leucistic form, also sold as the golden or white widow.
• Coloured widows (blue, green, purple, pink, yellow): bright forms produced either by genetic modification (fluorescent "glo" strains) or by dyeing.

Photo: Angel Ramos - Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

SeriouslyFish warns that dyeing is very stressful to the fish and often shortens its life. Genetically coloured fish keep their colour for life and pass it on to their young, while dyed fish fade over weeks or months. If a colour fades fast, the fish was probably dyed. Care is the same for every colour form; see also GloFish for fluorescent fish in general.

Tank Setup

• Size: a 2.5 feet tank (about 68 litres) or larger for a group of 8-12.
• Temperature: 20-26°C. In most of India a heater is needed only in winter; in summer keep the room shaded so water stays below about 28°C.
• Water: soft to moderately hard, slightly acidic to neutral water is ideal, but widow tetras adapt to most stable tap water.
• Decor: plants along the back and sides, open swimming space in the middle, and dim to moderate light, which brings out darker colour.
• Water changes: 25-30% weekly.

Tank Mates and Fin Nipping

Widow tetras are peaceful toward fish of similar size, but SeriouslyFish notes their reputation as fin nippers, which is usually solved by keeping at least 12 of them. Good tank mates are active, short-finned fish such as zebra danios, platies, rosy barbs, corydoras and other medium tetras. Avoid bettas, fancy guppies, angelfish and other slow fish with long fins. Widow tetras also cope with the harder water that mollies need, which makes them one of the few tetras for a molly tank.

Feeding and Breeding

SeriouslyFish calls the widow tetra an unfussy omnivore. Feed flakes or micro pellets daily and add small live or frozen food such as daphnia and bloodworm a few times a week. Males are slimmer and a little smaller than females, with more pointed dorsal and anal fins. They are quite easily bred: the eggs are scattered among plants, hatch in 18-36 hours, and the fry need infusoria first, then microworm or baby brine shrimp. Remove the adults after spawning, as they eat the eggs.

Buy Widow Tetras at FishyKart

For other tetras for a community tank, see the types of tetra fish guide or the rummy nose tetra, a calmer schooling tetra for planted tanks.

View Widow Tetra Combo → Browse Tetras →

Related Guides

• Types of Tetra Fish
• Rummy Nose Tetra
• Serpae Tetra
• GloFish