Yellow Phantom Tetra
Hyphessobrycon roseus
Characidae
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About
The catalogue already has a black phantom and a red phantom. This is the third, and the thing to understand about it before anything else is that it is much the smallest of the three: barely half the black phantom's length, and two-thirds of the red phantom's. Seriously Fish gives a maximum standard length of "15 – 20 mm"; FishBase records "1.9 cm SL" and adds "This is a very small species which measures less than 3 cm in length"; AquaInfo puts it at "2.5 centimeters (total length)", which is the figure this entry uses. Put beside the black phantom at 4.5 cm, this is a different order of animal — small enough that a full-grown adult will fit inside the mouth of an angelfish, a pearl gourami or an adult Apistogramma without difficulty. "Peaceful community fish" is not a safety guarantee at this size; "can it fit" is the question. The name is a small contradiction, and both halves are honest. Seriously Fish explains the epithet: "roseus: from the Latin roseus, meaning 'pink, rose-coloured', in reference to the "bright rose" body colour", and describes the fish as having a body that is "rose-coloured, fins red with no black markings, and the ovoid humeral spot is prominent, measuring around half of the body depth". AquaInfo, looking at the same fish, sees it the other way: "The head is light yellow to pink in color, while the flanks display a bright pink to light yellow hue." So the Latin says pink, the shop label says yellow, and the animal moves between the two depending on the fish and the light. The practical identification is the shoulder: an oval dark spot behind the gill cover taking up about half the body's depth, on a fish with no black in its fins at all. That last part is the useful contrast, because the same Seriously Fish page notes that most of the species formerly placed in Megalamphodus — the black and red phantoms among them — show "a dark marking in the dorsal-fin and a dark humeral spot". There is a caveat on identity that Seriously Fish states and does not resolve: "This small species is a popular aquarium fish but there is some confusion surrounding its identity. Two colour forms have been traded, one of which also possesses tiny hooks on the fin rays." The genus history behind it is the familiar one — the fish was described as Megalamphodus roseus by Géry in 1960, and Megalamphodus was folded into Hyphessobrycon by Weitzman and Palmer in 1997. The Catalog of Fishes shows both combinations in use as recently as 2000 before settling on "Valid as Hyphessobrycon roseus (Géry 1960)". Water is where this fish earns its difficulty rating. It lives in the headwaters of Guianan forest streams, and Seriously Fish describes them without hedging: "The water is typically acidic, of negligible carbonate hardness and conductivity and stained brownish due to the presence of humic substances released by decomposing organic matter." Its aquarium range is "Temperature: 20 – 28 °C", "pH: 5.0 – 7.0", "Hardness: 18 – 179 ppm", and AquaInfo agrees closely with "a pH between 6.0 and 7.0, low hardness (dH below 10) and a temperature between 23°C and 27°C". FishBase is the outlier, printing "pH range: 6.0 - 7.8; dH range: ? - 30" — a hardness ceiling that no habitat description supports and that this entry does not use. The bands here follow Seriously Fish and AquaInfo, which is to say: soft, acid, tannin-stained, and not something a hard-water tap will give you without help.
Care
Eight or more in a soft, acidic, dimly lit tank at 23-27 °C — Seriously Fish asks for a base of at least 60 x 30 cm, AquaInfo for "at least 60 centimeters in length and 60 liters" for a group of six to ten, and this entry gates at 60 litres. Fine dark sand, driftwood roots and branches, dried leaf litter, fine-leaved planting along the back and sides, and gentle flow; tannins are not decoration here, they are the habitat. The hard rule is tankmate size, not tankmate temperament: at 2.5 cm this fish is prey for anything an angelfish's size, and it should be stocked with other small characins, pencilfish, small rasboras and dwarf Corydoras rather than with the usual medium community stock. Feed small — crushed flake, micro-granules, Daphnia, cyclops and baby brine shrimp. Harmless to plants, and a planted tank is what AquaInfo recommends for its sense of security. Keep a lid on it.
Diet
Micro-omnivore taking small invertebrates, crustaceans, algae and fallen organic matter in the wild. Finely crushed dry food plus Daphnia, cyclops, Moina and baby brine shrimp; whole bloodworm is too large for many adults.
Tankmate compatibility
Gets along with (145)
Possible with care (190)
Avoid (83)
Computed by the AquaSage engine for a spacious reference tank — always check the full verdict for your exact setup in the calculator.
Telling males from females
What works for this species, most reliable first.
- Belly depthA hint only · only on well-fed adults, and only as a comparison
For most tetras, barbs and rasboras this is all there is: a conditioned female is deeper through the belly than a male of the same length.
Also in these lists
Similar species
Same category and the closest water parameters — if this species isn't quite it, start here.
Sold in Lithuania
These Lithuanian shops listed this species in their public catalogue (checked August 8, 2026). Stock moves — ask before you travel.
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Frequently asked questions
- What tank size does a Yellow Phantom Tetra need?
- A Yellow Phantom Tetra needs an aquarium of at least 60 litres (15.9 US gallons) with a footprint at least 60 cm (23.6 in) long — for this species, swimming length matters as much as raw volume.
- What water parameters does a Yellow Phantom Tetra need?
- Yellow Phantom Tetra does best at 20–28 °C (68–82.4 °F), pH 5–7 and a general hardness of 1–10 °dGH.
- What group size does a Yellow Phantom Tetra need?
- Yellow Phantom Tetra is a social species — keep a group of at least 8 so natural behaviour emerges and stress stays low.
- Is the Yellow Phantom Tetra suitable for beginners?
- Yellow Phantom Tetra sits in the middle of the difficulty scale — manageable for a careful beginner who has done the reading, but it has specific needs worth researching first.