Tetra (company)

Tetra Holding GmbH.

Industry	Fishkeeping
Founded	1951; 66 years ago (1951) Germany
Headquarters	Melle, Germany
Key people	Jochem van Rietschoten, Andreas Rouvé, Anja Krüger General management
Products	Tetramin Aquasafe Tetratec Tetrawhisper
Number of employees	700+ (2006)
Parent	United Pet Group (Spectrum Brands)
Website	www.tetra-fish.com

Tetra or the Tetra Werke (Company) is a fish food manufacturing company founded by a young German scientist, Dr. Ulrich Baensch.

In the 1950s, there were only about 50,000 fish keepers in Germany and the hobby was, at the time, considered as traditionally very time-consuming, rare, difficult and complicated because it required routine collection of live food from streams and river beds, until the invention of dried flake food (Tetramin) for tropical fish by Dr. Ulrich Baensch. Baensch's Tetramin fish food consisted of four different type of flakes and vitamins. The brand name Tetramin was derived from the Greek word Tetra (meaning four) and the third syllable of the word vitamin.

The invention of Tetramin flakes, in its trademark yellow tin and brown lid, allegedly changed the fishkeeping hobby from a minor aquatic specialty into a favorite of millions of enthusiasts all over the world, thus making Tetramin a supposedly notable brand of fish food and Tetra Werke as a self-proclaimed globally recognized company in the industry, earning international affiliate.

The Tetra group employs over 700 colleagues, has representatives in more than 90 countries worldwide and is the largest manufacturer of aquaristic and pond products in the world. Apart from pet food, Tetra supplies fish keepers and pond owners with other products such as water conditioners, plant conditioners, technical equipment and medicinal products. It was once a part of Warner-Lambert and was later acquired by Pfizer. In December 2002, Pfizer sold the Tetra aquaristic and pond business to the "Triton Fund", a private independent European investment fund. Investors in the Triton Fund include European insurances and banks as well as significant American institutions. The Triton Fund paid $238.5 million US for the Tetra business. Three years later, on April 29, 2005, Tetra Holding GmbH was acquired by Spectrum Brands, a global consumer products company.

The Tetra Company was heavily criticized by the marine fishkeeping community after its appearance on Good Morning America in which it claimed that one of its kits, a 10-gallon (37.3 liters) aquarium and filter, could support the fish from Finding Nemo (a Regal Tang and Ocellaris Clownfish). Most hobbyists pointed out that the Tang alone needs a much larger aquarium (at least 4' in length) and that it would die in such conditions. However, a 10-gallon saltwater aquarium could successfully house an Ocellaris Clownfish (without the Tang).