Providing additional foodstuffs such as live, frozen, and freeze-dried meals such as bloodworm, daphnia, and tubifex once or twice a week will provide additional benefits to your fish's health and well-being but is not a must for this fish. These modern food products have been developed to provide all adequate nutrition to maintain your fish's health and dietary requirements. In the home aquarium, the Blue Purple Emperor Tetra will readily accept most good quality dried foods such as granules, flakes and sinking pellets. In addition, the belly is white and occasionally has a silvery sheen, and its fins are transparent. The females also possess a thick black line instead of blue, and the area above it is beige with a silvery-blue sheen. In comparison, females also have an elongated dorsal fin however, their adipose fin is usually a reddish orangy brown. The other fins are transparent except for the pectoral and anal fins that also have a hint of blue. The male's dorsal fin is elongated, and their adipose fin is blue. In addition, they possess a thick iridescent dark blue stripe that extends from the snout through to their eye and the caudal fin. The male's entire bodies are light purplish-blue except for their stomachs which are beige. Male and female Blue Emperor Tetras differ in colouration. Lighting should not be too bright, and a darker substrate and background will help show off their pleasant colours. Although plants are not found in abundance in this species natural waters, a moderate amount of planting will be appreciated and will help make the fish feel more secure.

Peat filtration can also help in this regard. This will create shady areas for your fish and gradually release tannins from the wood, which will help acidify the water whilst giving it a natural, clear tea colour. The best aquarium setup for these Tetras would include plenty of driftwood. You must pay much attention to water quality because Blue Emperor Tetras can be sensitive to high nitrate levels and fluctuations in water chemistry. It would be better to avoid larger, more boisterous tankmates as these Tetras are easily intimidated. These fish will also do well with Rasboras, smaller Gouramis and peaceful Barbs. These could include Corydoras Catfish, small Dwarf Cichlids such as Mikrogeophagus or Apistogramma, Pencilfish, and some smaller suckermouth Catfish. Ideal tankmates for Blue Emperor Tetras should be small and peaceful.

In addition, rival males will show their best colours when displaying at one another. Not only will this make the fish feel more secure, but it will result in far less hostility between the males, and it will create a much more effective and natural-looking display. You should always maintain this species in good-sized groups of around ten or more individuals. However, this type of behaviour only really manifests if you do not keep them in sufficient numbers and there are not enough visual barriers amongst the decor. Unfortunately, Blue Emperor Tetras do have a somewhat undeserved reputation for fin-nipping. Blue Emperor Tetras are active peaceful shoaling fish.

Blue tetra