Overview

The Red Hook Metynnis is a high-sided fish which is laterally compressed. Red Hook Metynnis has translucent fins, except the anal fin which is curved & red with black edging giving this fish its common name. It belongs to the subfamily Serrasalmidae which contains Pirahna, Pacus & Silver Dollars. The Red Hook Metynnis has strong jaws and a good set of teeth. These teeth are usually used to eat plants rather than fish, although smaller fish will likely be munched. The Redhook is sometimes described as a difficult fish to care for but, given a large enough aquarium, correct feeding and good water quality, it shouldn’t be a problem. These peaceful fish need to be maintained in schools of at least 5 or 6 fish to get the most out of them, as they are a social species that will shy away if kept singly or in pairs. Mature males are smaller than females and have a longer anal fin.

In it’s native waters the Red Hook Metynnis prefers calm zones of main rivers where the vegetation hangs over the river banks. The Red Hook Metynnis is generally a peaceful and active shoaling fish and can be kept with other larger peaceful species. Red Hook Metynnis swim in the middle and top areas of the aquarium, so bottom-dwellers would be a good choice as tankmates, but be they might eat smaller fish even though they are truly Herbivores. Red Hook Metynnis mainly eat the leaves of submerged or marginal vegetation in nature so they make excellent algae eaters too. Does best in a heavily planted tank with dim lighting or dim lit areas. It could be tricky since these fish eat plants, driftwood and rock are suitable for their aquarium, although tougher bitter-tasting plants such as Java fern and Anubias species should survive, but will still need to be replaced regularly. They accept almost any vegetable matter, such as cucumber, peas spirulina algae, but they also eat flake/pellet foods and live foods such as bloodworms and brineshrimp.