Please note that the photos of animals and plants may not accurately represent our current stock and could include past orders or stock images. Some images may showcase more mature specimens, as certain species do not display their full colors or patterns until maturity. While we strive to accommodate requests for additional photos, we cannot guarantee their availability. Thank you for your understanding!
Description
Exodon paradoxus, often called the Bucktooth tetra, is a unique, predatory South American tetra. Piranhas have a reputation as vicious schooling predators; despite their small size, these fish live up to that reputation far better than any piranha does. In nature, they travel in massive schools and attack fish to eat their fins and scales, even those much larger than an individual Exodon. In aquaria, they will brutally attack almost anything you try to keep them with; for this reason they are best maintained in a single-species setup. If you do want to attempt to keep them with anything, non-reflective, scaleless fishes such as certain loaches or armoured catfish are about the only options worth trying. As with many aggressive fishes, Exodons should be the last species added to a tank in such scenarios. These tetras should be kept in a large group to diffuse aggression and keep the weakest school members from getting bullied too heavily.
These are subadults ranging from 2-3.5" long. While you may buy the fish individually, we strongly recommend any interested party buy a large group of at least 10 individuals; you want a very large school of Exodons to successfully keep them from eating each other, and their vicious feeding response is best enjoyed in large doses! Contact us for a group rate on the entire batch of 14!