Blue emperor tetra aka Royal tetra (Inpaichthys kerri) schooling around. Community Aquarium

They had always been the most consistently schooling fish in my experience, at least, among the tetras. Blue/purple emperor tetras, aka Royal tetras (Inpaichthys kerri) are great peaceful community fish for your larger aquarium. They may live in smaller tanks but having them in larger numbers and larger enclosures offer better looks.
Although they do it frequently, it's hard to record them while doing it because they stop the moment they'd detect movement around the room the tank's in. Recently before this was filmed, the tank was relocated to a place where I can setup a camera far away enough to let me record some behaviors.
#aquarium #fish

[@RoccosVideos]

Beautiful fish and set up. I like emperors because they give off a purple color and that’s rare with aquarium fish. ❤️🐠🐟👍

[@MorningDriftwood]

yeah, their purple color is beautiful. Even the slightest white light shined on them can give off purple reflections. Too bad, the camera can only pick some of it.

[@jnicemiz]

Just a note for viewers, there are INPAICHTHYS KERRI which are often called Blue or Purple Emperor Tetras, and then there's NEMATOBRYCON PALMERI which are also called Emperor Tetras, they look similar, but they are not as community friendly. The males will often be territoriality aggressive with their own and other species.

[@MorningDriftwood]

how was the setup done that these had to happen. I have N. palmeri and they act like most tetras I have wherein, during calm times, each fish find themselves a spot in the tank and dither in place. They would charge at fish who come close to them but injuries are unobserved. This is the same case with almost all my various tetras including the I. kerri and excluding the neons (red, cardinal, black). But then, I do only have 32 inches and two 3 ft. long well-planted tanks so I have manage to avoid all these aggressive and fin-nipping behavior of tetras since I started keeping them. The only times where I observe injuries, in the form of frayed fins, is during to after spawning periods but it's due to the fish launching themselves rapidly up and hitting objects such as plants and hardscapes.

[@angiebear8727]

Very pretty.Your Siamese algae eater seems to think he’s just part of the gang. 😂 cute

[@MorningDriftwood]

Yeah, also the otocinclus and Beckford's pencilfish will join too when I had them together. Pretty much the fishes with similar pattern along their body, but it's the Kerri tetra that has to start it.

[@budspencer3313]

Tolles Aquarium, schön eingerichtet und tolle Fische!👌👍

[@MorningDriftwood]

Thanks! 😁

[@budspencer3313]

@@MorningDriftwood 🙋‍♂️✌👌👍🙏

[@mraquaticnews5676]

Wow! Stunning Tetras and a beautiful tank well done!

[@AvidDreamer90]

I love watching this. I can't wait to get a school of kerri's of my own!

[@MorningDriftwood]

yeah. get more than what you can see here. I'd get more but tetras aside from the most common neons and cardinals don't have decent stock at where I am and no I. kerri had shown up in the past year.

[@AvidDreamer90]

@@MorningDriftwood I actually started up a new 20g with seven since commenting! They're going into a ~35 gallon in a few months, so I can definitely afford to get more. There aren't any stocked near me either, though. I had to have them shipped to me.

[@papyrusthegreat457]

How do you get them so colorful like that?

[@TerryLestrange]

Soo beautiful I wanted congo tetras again but seeing this I prefer the emperors. Love your tank

[@MorningDriftwood]

💙 I would love to have Congo tetras to go with my Anubias but my tanks are just too small for a school of them. 😦

[@TerryLestrange]

@@MorningDriftwood I had them in a 240liter tank and they were amazing. But I decided in the future to take smaller fish. I find it sad to see some fish in too small aquariums. My tank was not really small but they deserved better.

[@mraquaticnews5676]

All the best

[@amazingaquaticsandexotics3030]

cool

[@matthewbishop8743]

Beautiful fish and nice tank! Where did you get those gravel???

[@MorningDriftwood]

Thanks! The gravel was actually from an unused pile originally bought for home improvement. If they're not available from fish stores in the aquascaping corner, check landscaping shops or home improvement stores.

[@matthewbishop8743]

@@MorningDriftwood thanks for respoinding! I have been checking, but all I seem to find is the brownish /creamish blends, not a dark one. Any name brands or specific stores to check?

[@MorningDriftwood]

@@matthewbishop8743 The pile has been sitting by our house for 10yrs+ before I used it. Closest name I can get to is "River pebbles"

[@FishRfun]

When you have these that actually show purple like these, i think they're stunning. But im going to be stocking a 250g tank and if i get some that dont show good color, its going to piss me off. Therefore ill either end up with a rainbows tank or African cichlid tank

[@MorningDriftwood]

Only the ADULT MALES do, you'd be disappointed if you happen to get a school of 70% females. I got them because I thought they were Emperor tetras (Nematobrycon palmeri) but their schooling behavior made me like them and continue on buying, not for their colors. yeah, if you're looking for a similarly sized and schooling fish, dwarf neon rainbows might do better for you.

[@yellamach_1]

I liked when the Pencilfish joined in

[@MorningDriftwood]

They always did join when they were in this tank. Sometimes, the otocinclus join in, too. I just had to transfer pencilfish since they are very hard to notice in this setup, even though there's a decent amount of them in there. I want to notice that they're there.

[@yellamach_1]

@@MorningDriftwood yeah Pencilfish are perfect for a Amazon community tank I had the 3 most common ones, but they would also stand out way more in a species only tank I bet. If I can get my hands on some brown dip-tail pencils again im gonna try my first black water tank with them or emerald eye rasboras. Im re doing my 20 long and cant decide between a big group of 15 Red Phantom Tetras or Emperor Tetras haha

[@MorningDriftwood]

@yellamach1 if I had to choose, I'll take the red phantoms since I have yet to keep any of them 🤤

[@yellamach_1]

@@MorningDriftwood Haha I'll take that into consideration. Luckily I can't go wrong with either of them. I've only had nano fish and had my eye on Dwarf Cichlids for a while. Did your Bolivian Ram get that colorful in the tank by himself? Your tanks and fish are beautiful by the way! Well done

[@MorningDriftwood]

@@yellamach_1 thank you. I only had one Bolivian Ram. It did take some time before it became colorful as it is in the latest updates.

[@tdannyV2]

Any advice on how to get to show colors this good?! :D

[@MorningDriftwood]

Good filtration to keep the water clear, maybe fine floating debris/dust can be ignored, but not cloudy from bacterial or algal bloom. Then, to make things colorful, lighting. I use a cheap fixture with RGBs. It's not intense enough to grow stem plants but gives off the right spectrum to make the fish colors pop.

[@jacopo6197]

I love your plants. Could you tell me names of some of those?

[@MorningDriftwood]

In this video, the tank has Amazon sword, dwarf dagittaria, Cryptocoryne brown, various kinds Anubias, and jungle vallisneria

[@jacopo6197]

@@MorningDriftwood thank you very much!

[@z0nx404]

Bro, what's the giant fish name? Btw lovely scape 👍

[@MorningDriftwood]

Thanks. Giant? The only large fish here are an Angelfish and a Siamese Algae eater.

[@arnogeyser6784]

Beautiful tank, what is that catfish with the long fins?

[@arnogeyser6784]

Is it some long fin Cory variation

[@MorningDriftwood]

@@arnogeyser6784 probably the long fin Peppered cory

[@arnogeyser6784]

@@MorningDriftwood it looks great, I'm going to get kerri tetras because of your video

[@MorningDriftwood]

@@arnogeyser6784 hope they do well for you.

[@Sprikitsky]

How did you get their purple colors to show? Mine are all grey at the moment. Ive added tannins, tried to make water more acidic and everything.

[@MorningDriftwood]

Are they mature? Maybe all females? My water is actually hard, coming from limestone wells, and sits at 7.8 pH.

[@Sprikitsky]

@@MorningDriftwood i dont think so, a couple are chasing others all around the tank. My tap water's PH is naturally 8.2.

[@MorningDriftwood]

@@Sprikitsky Hmmm. I don't really do anything with the water conditions to target them and show off their colors. I just keep everything as they are. The only thing I can control is the temperature with a heater. Maybe the light? I do use a cheap white + RGB fixture which immitates full spectrum a bit.

[@MorningDriftwood]

But then, even when the lights are off, the room light can still actually make them show off the purple sheen.

[@Sprikitsky]

@@MorningDriftwood ive got a planted led light one mine so i don't think thats the issue. How old are yours?

[@michaelharrity9795]

I want some of these fish

[@MorningDriftwood]

Get more than some. 😀

[@Giobemo]

It looks like at least 3 males per female. No issues with the ratio?

[@MorningDriftwood]

It's 4:1 actually but there were no problems. Usually they, even the females, would just stay in specific locations and guard those selected spots and then flare against each other if there is tresspassing. They school together if triggered, usually when lights turn on or off and sometimes after feeding. During spawning times, multiple males will follow a female but the females are unharrassed, with the males just standing by until the females initiate the spawning.

[@elanoc.1114]

Você ainda tem esse aquário e esses peixes? O que taz pra eles ficarem tão coloridos?

[@MorningDriftwood]

I still have this aquarium and fish. Decent lighting and clear water will make the fish show their colors.

[@elanoc.1114]

@@MorningDriftwood Thanks for the answer! I set up a nano aquarium with these fish, I hope to make them as beautiful as yours.

[@LTrain23]

Where did you get these?

[@MorningDriftwood]

From a local store.

[@felipesales97]

Quantos litros?

[@MorningDriftwood]

189L

[@konliner9286]

I much prefer these than emperor tetra. I dont like the lof fins of emperor tetra.

[@MorningDriftwood]

I got thinking they are the "Emperor tetras." Anyway, they turned out to be great fish to have.

[@hamidabdullah1975]

Bro what you feed them

[@MorningDriftwood]

Various fish food. Mostly local brands. The only brand known globally is Hikari. I feed also some self-cultured Daphnia and occasionally bloodworms.

[@fij715]

How big is this tank?

[@MorningDriftwood]

@@fij715 The tank is a "50 gallon breeder." You can keep them at smaller sized tanks if you're not going to set up a larger community with various fish like mine.

[@fij715]

@@MorningDriftwood That about 230 liter and I bought a 400 liter aquarium or 87 gallon. How many individuals do you need for them to feel at ease?

[@MorningDriftwood]

I've had them as low as a 4 fish school and they are confident to come out in the open. Making them at ease will depend more on the setup and tank mates. My light is not very bright (any stem plant can't survive in this tank), planted all over, and I have no fish that would keep on harassing them. The problem I can think of when it comes to a larger tank would be making them apparent. When they were fewer, it's almost as of they weren't there but they were, I just had to look much harder. It's the same case as any other similarly-sized fish (below 5cm). This is why when it comes to tetras or rasboras in a large tank, I go at a minimum of 15 to 20 fish.

[@074_edwardmuzhaffarghifari3]

Are they always that purple?

[@MorningDriftwood]

Only the males (idk for the "super blue" strain). They're iridescent. The intensity depends on the angle the light is hitting them.

[@074_edwardmuzhaffarghifari3]

@@MorningDriftwood i see, so the males are iridescent purple while the females are little duller and the light cant help the female more purple right?

[@MorningDriftwood]

@074_edwardmuzhaffarghifari3 no. I think they lack or don't have much of the reflective structure that the males have.

[@jihadist4672]

Are the silver ones just regular emperors?

[@MorningDriftwood]

All of those which are schooling together are Blue Emperor tetras (Inpaichthys kerri). Regular Emperor tetras (Nematobrycon palmeri) have their stripes run below their eyes while the former have their run through their eyes. There are no regular emperors in this tank.

[@jihadist4672]

@@MorningDriftwood thank you so much now I’m forsure on what I have aha got some today and they told me it was called black emperor but I knew that was wrong thanks again!

[@MorningDriftwood]

@Jihadist what do they look like. Another way to differentiate Emperors from Blue Emperors are the adipose fins which the Blues have. There are also domestic strains of regular emperors which are called black Emperors but they are almost completely black.

[@jihadist4672]

@@MorningDriftwood Well when I got them they were silver with the black line right through the eyes like you mentioned. They’re prolly not blue yet because of the transfer from fish store to my tank I’ll check today if they coloured up and yes they were in the same tank with actual black emperor they were all black so I’m pretty sure these are blue they look exactly like those in the video except the purple tinge And yes they do have the adipose fins

[@elanoc.1114]

​​@@jihadist4672hi, so the fish became more colorful? Are they more purple?