Neon Tetra Fish Care Guide

Size: 1.5 inches

Lifespan: 5 to 8 years

Minimum Tank Size: 15 to 20 gallons

Water Temperature: 73 to 82°F

pH: 6.0 to 7.6

Diet: Omnivore

Minimum School Size: 6 to 12

Neon tetras are freshwater fishes. The natural habitat of tetras is the streams present in Amazon Basin in South Africa. Most of the tetras are found in the blackwater streams.

As they live in the dark water they evolved to live in low light tank setups.

Neon tetra are most popular in beginners because of their easy maintenance and bright colors.

How To Take Care Of Neon Tetra

Tetras are easy to take care of but yet you can't ignore some key factors while taking care of them. Every fish species have their different abilities a habits.

So do neon tetras, they are very sensitive to changes in their environment.

Sometimes the beginners face the problem of "tetras being dead after a few hours they introduce them to their tank."

In this case, there are a lot of factors that we can consider for the death of tetras.

There is a full procedure which you should follow while introducing them to their new home.

First, don't immediately leave them in the tank.

Instead, you can add a small amount of water in the package or object in which you bought them.

Follow this process for an hour by continuously adding more tank water in this way they will have time to adapt to their new home conditions.

After you complete this process, now you can leave them in the tank.

Neon Tetra Tank Setup

After you successfully introduce tetra to their new home make sure to set up their tank accurately, in the they are naturally comfortable.

Neon Tetra Tank Size

The first thing which will strike in your mind is that which tank size is good for tetras.

To answer this first you should know that neon tetras like to live in groups. If you don't keep them in school they may become easy targets by big fishes like betta, goldfish, etc.

To avoid this at least have 6 to 12 tetras in your tank.

Now answering your question 1 to 2 tetras need 1 gallon of water to sustain. This means 6 tetras will need 6-gallon (10-gallon is sufficient) tank and 12 tetras will need 12-gallon tank (15-gallon or 20-gallon is sufficient).

How many neon tetras in a 10-gallon tank?
6 Neon Tetras

How many neon tetras in a 20-gallon tank?
12 Neon Tetras

Neon Tetra Water Parameters

Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: <20 ppm
pH: 6-7
GH: <10 dGH (<166.7 ppm)
KH: 1-2 dKH (17.8- 35.8 ppm)

Neon Tetra Water Temp (Temperature)

Tetras like to swim in slightly warmer water. They can adapt to a wide range of temp (temperature) from 70°F to 81°F.

If you are living in colder places try to invest in a good heater system to maintain the required water temp (temperature).

Can neon tetras live without a heater?
Basically, it depends on the climate of your are if it is natural favorable then it's fine.

If the climate is hotter or colder then required then you have to manually add water in the tank to neutralize to the required range. 

In this process, a small fish tank thermometer can help a lot.

Neon Tetra Water Ph

Tetras enjoy to live in little acidic water conditions where water ph is 6.0 to 7.0.

To keep water clean follow regular tank cleaning routine and event in good sponge filter.

With the help to filter, you can keep tank water cleaner for longer periods.

Lightning Setup

In their natural habitat, neon tetras are evolved to survive in low light conditions.

The streams in which tetras are found most of the time they are covered with tree leaves because of that the light don't get a clear path to reach the tetras.

If you have tetras in the tank try to keep them in low light conditions away from bright light don't put them outside or near the window.

Constant bright light can also cause the death of tetras.

Neon Tetra Feeding

Tetras are very likely to eat anything which they can fit in their little jaws.

Tetras are omnivores thus they can gulp both plants and animals.

What To Feed Neon Tetras

For most of the tetras commercial fish flakes are enough for their daily died but sometimes packed food can't provide all the important nutrients which are required for their growth.

To tackle this disaster make sure to provide live and frozen food items like (brine shrimps, beef heart, hard-boiled egg yolk, chicken breast, vegetables, fruits, etc) in the diet on a weekly basis.

How To Feed Neon Tetras

Now you know what tetras like to feed on.

It is also important how you feed your tetras as you know tetras are very small in size, so they can't gulp big food items instantly.

To make it easy for them to eat first, blend big food items (brine shrimps, beef heart, hard-boiled egg yolk, chicken breast, vegetables, fruits, etc) before feeding directly.

Pro tip: avoid feeding hard-boiled egg yolk on a daily basis, because it promotes pollution in tank water.

Neon Tetra Best Food

As such a balanced diet of frozen, live, and commercial fish flakes are good for tetra's health and colorful body.

Some good fish flake options for tetras are:

Best fish flakes for neon tetra

1. TetraMin Nutritionally Balanced Tropical Flake Food
These flakes have omega 3 with other fatty acids to improve the immunity and color of tetras.

2. TetraColor Tropical Flakes
It is specially created to enhance the color of tetras, while proving them good nutrition.

3. Brine Shrimp
Brine shrimps are high in protein value thus they are best suited for fry to boost their growth.

4. Micro-Worms
Micro worms are easy to culture you can store them in abundance.

Food For Pregnant Neon Tetra

During the pregnancy just try to mix some frozen and live food once or twice a week.

What Do You Feed Neon Tetra Fry

Fry are very small in size so they can't eat flakes. Try to feed them frozen and live food items like hard-boiled egg yolks, chicken breast, beef heart.

Blend these ingredients, into the past and then serve to the fry. This nutritious diet will boost the growth of them and also enhance their color and immunity.

Neon Tetra Breeding

Breeding neon tetras is not an easy task. They need a very specific environment and water conditions to begin the mating. In general breeding neon tetras is considered hard and for this reason is not recommended for beginners.

The one who is just started and wanted to get the experience of breeding fish in the home aquarium, for this purpose tetras should be avoided and you should go for fishes like guppies.

Pregnant Neon Tetra

Neon tetras are egg scatterers this meant when females lay the eggs, after that males fertilize them.

After the male has fertilized the eggs separate the parents from eggs. Neon tetras are known to eat their own eggs and also fry.

Keep the fry in a dark place as they are very sensitive to bright light. If you keep them in a bright environment they will die due to this.

Fry would be adults in up to 2 to 3 months, then you can safely allow them to interact with other neon tetras.

Before you go to the next step first you should have a pair of tetras one male and another female.

Identifying male and female tetra could be tricky, but you can easily find them if you focus on the line present on their body.

Males are slender and blue lines on them are straight.
Females are bulged and have curvy blue lines on them.

Neon Tetra Breeding Tank Setup

A separate tank is required for breeding to take place. Shift the male and female tetra to their new tank.

A separate tank is important because tetras need little different habitat than regular to breed properly. Place the breeding tank at the dark spot it will help in the process.

First, have the same water in the breeding tank as a community tank than after a day change 50% of the water in the breeding tank.

This will create fake changes in water conditions like in tetras natural habitat during rain.

The breeding tank should have a pH level between 5 - 6 and temperature should slightly be lower down around 75 °F.

How to tell if a neon tetra is going to lay eggs?
Find female tetras who have bulged belly then the rest and are behaving un normal (like hiding in pits, etc) In this way you can determine if your fish is going to lay eggs.

How long do neon tetra eggs take to hatch?
On an average, a neon tetra egg takes 24 hours to hatch.

Do neon tetras eat their eggs or fry?
Neon tetras are notoriously known to eat their own eggs or babies. To avoid this mishap keep them in separate tanks until babies are strong enough to compete in the community tank.

Neon tetra breeding behavior

1. Chasing by male
Look if the female tetras are being chased by males in the tank. This is the sign that the male is ready for mating. So now he is finding a partner in the tank.

2. Look for Bulges
In the case of females if they are pregnant they will have a huge bulge on their belly confirming that she has hundreds of eggs in her belly.

3. Look for pits
Some times the breeding neon tetra makes a pit at the bottom of the tank to lay the eggs in it.

It your neon tetras are showing these breeding signs than with wasting time move them to a separate tank.

Neon Tetra Tank Mates

Neon tetras are small and shy so they become an easy target of bullying in the tank by big fishes.

It is important to choose their tank mates with proper research so that they can share their tank space happily.

If you didn't pay much attention to choosing good tank mates, it can result in the sudden death of neon tetras.

Is neon tetra good for a community tank?
Neon tetras don't pose any harm to its community tank mates.

Good Tank Mates For Neon Tetras

Neon tetras are harmless but not everyone is like them. Fishes like betta and goldfish can heavily damage the tetra's body and could lead to their death.

These are our top picks for neon tetra tank mates:

1. Guppies
Guppies are one of the most famous tropical fishes within global boundaries. To trust they're conveniently available in every continent on this planet except Antarctica.

They're loving nonviolent fishes. They suit most of their requirement with the tetras. Moreover, they are stunning and colorful. They will make your tank more colorful than ever.

They are omnivores, so one can live on to consume both plants and animals. Guppies are good pick for beginners as they may be a no-fuss eater and can acquire a huge range of water temperatures.

2. Cardinal Tetras
These lovable little neon tetras appearance-a-likes are regularly confused for neon tetras. To spot the difference examine their stripes.

As stripes on neon tetras pass only midway via the body and have much less colorful blue stripe as compared to Cardinals.

Cardinals are appropriate partners for tetras as now not only their names and appear are similar their food plan and residing habitats are pretty much like the tetras.

Cardinals want a high nutrient food plan to live. Fish flakes and pellets with frozen and live food could be an excellent pick for feeding them.

These fish species are small and can't shield themselves on their very own, so maintaining them in a collection of 6 - 10 might be a better choice.

Their small length additionally makes them inclined of bullying by huge fishes, as they could mistake them as their food. To prevent this mishap get a sufficient hiding spots inside the tank.

Cardinals are quite energetic fishes so to make use of it provides them proper swimming space within the tank.

Neon Tetra Diseases Guide

Due to bad water conditions or unhealthy food neon tetras could be caught by many diseases.

About some important diseases, we are going to discuss with information about their causes, and treatment.

Neon Tetra Disease

This disease is named after neon tetras. It is a very contagious disease and can viral in the tank in a very short time span.

Causes
This disease could cause if fish to consume the body of other dead fishes in the tank.

When a fish feed on the dead body tissues an organism called Pleistophora hyphessobryconis establish as parasites on healthy fish.

Symptoms

1. Restlessness

2. Difficulty in swimming

3. In more lethal phase spine tetras could curve

4. Fish will start to lose color

Treatment
No known treatment of this disease is available. Once your fish catch this contagious disease separate it from other fishes to ensure their safety.

2. Fin Rot

It very commonly found disease in tetras.

Cause
Fin rot is caused by the various groups of bacteria like Aeromonas, pseudomonas, and vibrio, etc.

Fin rot is also caused by bad water quality and a stressed tetra has more chances to be caught by this. Overeating or unhealthy eating is one of the common reasons for fin rot.

Symptoms

1. The color of tetra will start to fade

2. Teras fin starts to become colorless and form white spots on the edges

3. The fins will start to shrink over time

Treatment
Thankfully there are many antibiotic treatment kits available to treat this disease.

You can buy these kits from a local pet store or from an online store like amazon, etc.

3. Columnaris

It is also known as cotton mouth. This disease is often confused with fungal infection but it is highly contagious and fatal than that.

Causes
Infectious disease is caused by bacteria the Gram-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped bacterium Flavobacterium columna.

The bacteria enter the fish's body through gills, mouth, swollen wound.

Symptoms

1. Behavior of tetra will change and will show aggression

2. White patches will form on the body

3. The fins will be dull and loose

4. The gills will change color either they will be light or dark brown

5. The fish will breathe rapidly in a painful manner

Treatment
First of all decrease the tank temperate below 75 degrees Fahrenheit because columnaris is much more lethal in higher temperatures above 75 °F.

After this give your fish a medicated bath using aquarium merbromin, alternately methylene blue, or potassium permanganate and salt.

Most asked questions

How Long Do Neon Tetras Live?
An average neon tetra live about 5 to 8 years if conditions are good and the environment is favorable.

If the condition is not as good then they may only survive for less than 5 years.

So if you want that your tetras live longer than follow the guide carefully and also read neon tetra pro guides to get every bit of knowledge about tetra care.

Do neon tetras breed easily?
Yes, neon tetras are known to quickly multiply their population. So times they get uncontrolled and breed rapidly, while over populating the tank.

To control tetras breeding keep males and females in different tanks only allow them to meet when you want to breed them.

Do neon tetras die easily?
Neon tetras are very sensitive to their environment and could die easily. To be exact they can die within hours if the environment is not favorable.