🐟 Bucktooth Tetra (Exodon paradoxus)
A Shimmering, Metallic Body That Glitters Like a Diamond • A Genuine Scale-Eating Predator, Best Kept With Its Own Kind • One of the Most Strikingly Beautiful South American Tetras
 
This species is a genuine scale-eater (lepidophage), with specialised teeth built to strip scales from other fish; it is not a community fish, and we recommend a dedicated species-only school as the only reliable way to keep it long-term.
 
📋 The Bucktooth Tetra has an elongated, torpedo-shaped body with a shimmering, metallic sheen that genuinely glitters, widely regarded as one of the most strikingly beautiful tetras from South America.
It comes from a wide, patchy distribution across the Amazon, Tocantins, and Orinoco river basins in Brazil and Guyana. Every Bucktooth Tetra we ship is feeding well.
In the wild, this species hunts almost constantly, darting and feinting at other fish to strip a scale before retreating, behaviour that also doubles as predatory training among its own kind. Kept in a large enough school of 12 or more, this constant activity and occasional scale-nipping is spread harmlessly across the group rather than concentrated on any one individual. Catfish make a safe exception as tankmates, since they have no scales to target. It's also a known jumper, so a secure, tight-fitting lid is essential. It reaches up to 12cm, so a 250L tank suits a proper school well.
 
💡 Highlights
✨ Shimmering, Metallic Body: Genuinely glitters like a diamond
🦷 A Genuine Scale-Eater: Specialised predatory feeding behaviour
👥 Best in a Large Species-Only School: 12 or more spreads out natural scale-nipping
🐱 Catfish Make Safe Tankmates: No scales to target
🦘 A Known Jumper: A secure, tight-fitting lid is essential