Neon Tetra Stats
Minimum Tank Size: 5 Gallons (10 Recommended)
Care Level: Easy
Water Conditions: PH 5.5-7.5 and Soft to Medium
Temperature; 68-78F (20-25C)
Maximum Size: 1.5 inches (4 centimeters)
The neon tetra (Paracheirodon innesi) is one of the oldest tropical fish in the hobby, having first been collected and kept as far back as the 1930’s. Despite having been kept by hobbyists for over 80 years now, it still remains one of the most popular and sought after fish. The reasons for that are simple – it’s striking iridescent colors and peaceful temperament, make it a perfect addition to any non-aggressive community tank.
The neon tetra was originally found in South America, inhabiting both clearwater and blackwater streams in Columbia, Peru and Brazil. When found in blackwater streams, the neon tetras remain visible to other members of their species due to their unique and stunning colors.
If it is well taken care of in a home aquarium, it can live up to 10 years, though 5 years is a more common life span. The one thing that most often causes a shortened life span in neon tetras, is the dreaded “neon tetra disease”. It manifests itself as lumps on the body, fading colors and trouble swimming. This disease is usually fatal, and any newly purchased neon tetras should be quarantined before you add them to a tank that has healthy neon tetras.
Housing
While many of the early neon tetras found in the hobby were considered to be extremely hardy fish, the ones available now are mainly commercially breed and can be more delicate than the original wild caught neon tetras.
Because of this, it is recommended that they should be housed in at least a 10 gallon aquarium. The larger aquarium ensures that the water quality is more stable, as any major change to the water can prove to be fatal to neon tetras.
Neon tetras are undemanding when it comes to filtration, and thanks to a small bio-load only require a basic HOB (Hang on back) filter or a sponge filter. They should never be added to a tank that hasn’t been properly cycled, and the more mature a tank is, the better.
I would strongly recommend choosing an Aquaclear Power Filter
Feeding
Neon tetras are omnivores in the wild, and eat algae, small invertebrates and insect larvae. In the aquarium, this diet can be reproduced with a high quality flake food, blanched zucchini medallions and a variety of frozen foods as a treat. When choosing a prepared food, I would recommend Hikari Micro Pellets
As for frozen foods, neon tetras prefer blood worms, daphnia and brine shrimp. For many of the smaller neons, blood worms can be too large to swallow whole, and you will see them swimming around the aquarium with what look like bloodworm cigars in their mouths. If your local fish store carries live food, then fruit flies and blackworms will also be greedily accepted.
Breeding
Breeding neon tetras can be difficult, and requires very soft water. To begin with, you need to sex the fish to ensure that you place both a male and a female in the breeding tank. The easiest way to sex them is to observe their bellies – the female’s is rounder and will have a slightly bent line on it. The females will also look slightly plumper from above, but this can be a difficult method to accurately sex the fish.
In order to trigger spawning, the fish should be placed in an aquarium with a very short light cycle. While some people claim that they should be kept in darkness, I have found that a short light cycle which is slowly increased also works very well. Another trigger that often works is performing a very large water change (50% or so) which simulates the seasonal rainfall in their natural habitat.
Once the neon tetras have spawned, the adults should be removed from the aquarium, as they will happily eat all of the eggs they have just laid. The eggs will hatch in about 24 hours, and due to their tiny size should be feed infusoria for the first few days. After this, they can be feed baby brine shrimp, or any of the commercial fry products.
Hey guys thanks for the informative article.
Would it be fine to have White Clouds and Neon Tetras in the same tank?
Yess it is fine I have both in my tank
Do Neon Tetras do fine with White Cloud Mountain Minnows?
Neons generally prefer warmer water than white cloud mountain minnows, so it’s usually not the best idea to the keep them together. For the tank to work you’d either have to keep the WCMM in water warmer than they prefer, or neons in water colder than they need. However, beyond that there shouldn’t be any other problems as they are both relatively peaceful fish, and similar in size.
will guppies and neon tetras be good togather
They will go very well together, as long as you remember neon tetras are a shoaling fish. They need to be kept in groups of at least 6, and this is especially important with long fin fish like guppies, since a stressed out neon may fin nip. But other than that, they are both very peaceful fish, and if you have a 10-20 gallon (37-75 liter) tank you should be fine.
Yes, I have both in my tank and they are amazing, just make sure you have 6 neons in your tank.
I have four blue neons and three orange….they hang out together some but not much. The two different colors/species don’t seem to mix. Should I have more? I have a 55 gallon tank with guppies, catys and plecostomas…also, my neons aren’t very active and seem fat….should I be concerned?
When you say fat, do you mean plump, or is it bloated with scales sticking out like a pinecone? That would be the classic sign of dropsy, which is very dangerous for small fish like these. And are there any white patches on the fish?
As for the number of fish, neons seem to do better in larger shoals. Six is always the minimum, but a lot of people swear by twelve or more. And I wouldn’t worry about them not shoaling together. They only seem to do that when they feel threatened, and otherwise they will keep to themselves for the most part.
Thank you Robert! I feel better….they are just plump….no patches or scales sticking out or anything…..I do have hard water but otherwise they seem ok…not as active as my guppies and catys but they do move around….honestly it seems like they hang out a lot just watching the guppy antics….
I have just started with a 64litre tank,,,after 10days added 6 neons &2 peppered cat fish,now 10 days later,one neon is on its side still alive in the gravel,should I take it out now
Was the tank cycled at all? If you don’t know what that is, it means you add something to water to create ammonia, which starts the cycle in the tank. If it was cycled, then the fish are probably suffering from ammonia poisoning. You should take the water to the pet store to be tested, and if there is ammonia, you should buy something to neutralize. And until it settles down, you should do small water changes every day. Also, the addition of live plants can greatly help improve the water chemistry, and I tend to use live plants in all of my tanks. You can read the complete guide to cycling a tank here.
Poor neon tetras, they must be the most persecuted fish in the world.( Payment for being beautiful) They say ignorance is bliss, but to me its, down right stupidity. Say no more.
I currently have six neon tetras and one male betta in a ten gallon tank. It has not been cycled yet. I set the tank up just today, and I got the neon tetras yesterday. I’ve had the betta for about a month. I have a sponge filter, and I am ordering a heater tomorrow. Currently the temperature of the tank ranges from 58 to 73 degrees Fahrenheit depending on the time of day, but I should have the heater within at most two weeks, which will keep the temperature between around 73 to 83 degrees Fahrenheit.
Would it be possible to add two to four more neon tetras, and/or six to eight glass catfish, or would this be too crowded? And if I can, when should they be added? Also, my betta refuses to eat anything but BettaMin fish flakes, which has small red fish flakes and freeze dried brine shrimp. Would it be ok if the tetras ate this, or should I take care to only have them eat pellet food for community fish?
Thanks!
I wouldn’t add anything to that tank at all, and as it is, you may lose some fish to cycling. You can combat that by adding lots of fast growing aquatic plants to the aquarium, and regularly testing the water for ammonia. If you have a major spike, you should treat it with any of products on the market that will lower ammonia in the aquarium. Things will be pretty rough in the tank until it’s cycled, and the neons are especially sensitive to bad water. But even once the tank is cycled, you’re pretty close to the max. If anything, you could probably add another one or two neons, but that’s pushing it.
As for the food, Bettamin fish flakes should be fine for the neons. I looked up the ingredients, and it’s not too far off from normal fish food, so they should be find with it.
I hope this helps.
Got 2 neons, 2 cardinals, 1 yoyo loach, 3 ghost shrimp, and 2 cherry barbs all in a 10 gallon tank. Had them for 3 years. All very are very healthy. Good thing my neons did not get the disease. Plus all these facts are helpful. Thanks! UwU
I’m glad the information was useful, and it’s always great to hear about these mixed tanks that are doing well. Good luck with your fish (and shrimp).
I have a neon fish that i think is going to have babies,herbelly looks fat.
Se also hides in the cornor of the tank. Can you tell me what to do.thankyou
I’m sorry to say, but your neon is most likely sick. They don’t give birth, and instead scatter their eggs – but even being egg laden wouldn’t result in the behavior you’re describing. It may have neon tetra disease, but it more likely has bloat. Both of those illnesses can be high contagious, and you should remove the fish to a quarantine tank as soon as possible. If it’s neon tetra disease, there is no reliable treatment, and it will spread rapidly to your other fish. If it’s bloat, then you can try antibiotics, but usually by the time the stomach is bloated (thus the name), there is significant organ damage, and the fish can’t be saved.
I put that one in a separate tank. I guess it was poop she push out.
Another important information about Neon Tetra is that it is susceptible to suffer from Neon Tetra Disease (NTD). I’ve written a comprehensive post on this: http://www.theaquariumguide.com/articles/neon-tetra-disease
Hope it is useful for everyone here.
That’s some good information to have. Also, I quite like your site.
Can betas go with neon tetras
They might be able to go together. It’s never a sure thing when adding fish with a betta, but their small size, and lack of long fins make neons a decent candidate to try. I wouldn’t try it unless you have a backup plan in case it doesn’t work. If the betta becomes aggressive towards the neon, then it could do a lot of damage very quickly.
Bettas are one of the harder fish to find tankmates for, and I usually leave them alone, or with invertebrate tank makes like shrimp or snails.
Does neon tetra needs dim light all the time? I have my tank in my bedroom and I usually shut off the lights before sleeping. Thanks
They tend to prefer subdued lighting. It all depends on the tank setup though. If it’s heavily planted, or it has floating plants, then lighting isn’t too much of a concern. But if you don’t have any of that, then you consider reducing the lighting, as most come from areas where very little light reaches the water.
I have a 10 gallon tank with some Neon Tetra Fish and bettas. Care and Feeding is so easy with make pH of tank from 6.0 – 7.5 and temperature about 25C . Really love them!!!
Can I keep 2-3 neon tetras with an African Dwarf Frog in a 5.5 gallon tank?
While you probably could, you should really keep neons in larger group and a larger aquarium. They tend to be very sensitive to water changers, and it’s hard to keep a 5 gallon tank stable. They should also be safe from the frogs, as most African dwarf frogs can’t catch fish.
Hey I’m about to clean my tank its a 10 gallon glofish tank. I’m nervous about adding and taking water out, how should I prep the water coming in and out?
There’s no need to prep the water coming out, and all you need to do is unplug everything to be safe first. When you’re ready to put the water in, remove any sponge filters or any other internal filters, (to avoid them coming in contact with chlorine), and then run the water under a thermometer to make sure it’s the same temperature as the water in the tank. Then you can safely start to add the water. Once you’ve added all the water, add the water conditioner to treat the water. Some people like to add half before, and half afterwards, but as long as you’re fast, I don’t think it matters.
Finally, once you have all the water in, return everything to the tank and plug it all back in. If you do it this way, your fish should be fine.
We have 7 neon tetras in one tank and 5 in another and they are beautiful fish and I love them very much. I’m planning to get some more tetras because they are friendly fish. We also have 4 glow light tetras, 4 penguin tetras and these all get on well with the neon tetras.
That sounds like an impressive tanks. I also enjoy the tetra tanks – especially a well setup neon tetra tank.
I am going to get 50 Neon Tetras and put them in an over filtered 40 gal with about 25 red belly tetras
I personally tend to understock neons, simply because most of the ones available these days tend to be relatively fragile. And when one get sicks, it often sweeps through the tank like a plague. But if you do want to do that, just remember to add them only a few at a time so the fish tank has a chance to adjust to the new bio load.
Good info,now i know about Neon Tetra Fish.
I have a 20 gallon tank with some Neon Tetra Fish and bettas. Care and Feeding is so easy with make pH of tank from 6.0 – 7.5 and temperature about 25C . Really love them!!!
Rip Billy. He was was pround neon tetra and died of the neon tetra disease. We will mis you Billy. Hope god made a neon tetra heaven for you.
I’ll raise a glass for your poor departed fish tonight.
I seem to have a random tetra just lingering down the bottom of my tank, I can’t remember if I had 3 or 4, bit this one looks odd, could it be a baby??
It’s possible. In community tanks, you’ll often see one or two hardy babies that somehow survived.
Would neon tetras be goo with zebra danios?
They should be fine as long as you keep at least six danios together. Any less than that, and they may turn their aggression towards the neon tetras instead of each other (which still won’t amount to much more than fin nipping).
I think it could work fine, make sure you have plenty of hiding spots for your tetras. (https://freshwatercentral.com/neon-tetras-ultimate-care-guide)
Can I keep 5 tetras in a 3 gallon planted tank?
I wouldn’t recommend it. They’re hard to keep healthy even in larger tanks, and a 3 gallon is far too small for the water to stay stable. I would go with a minimum 10 gallons with neons, otherwise there’s a good chance they’ll die.
I have had a beta for a year now and have just introduced 4 neon tetras to his 20 litre tank. He isn’t attacking them but he is acting differently. Do you think he will just get used to them and everyone will be able to live happily ever after or should these fish go back to the shop?
How large is tank? If there’s no aggression and they all have enough space, then I would consider keeping them for a while. Just keep an eye on them and see what happens. Bettas can be strange fish: some are fish serial killers, while others are peaceful. It all depends on the fish.
Its a 20 litre tank. So far my beta hasn’t shown any signs of aggression, just looking a bit confused (which sounds weird when talking about a fish… :)) I’m hoping he will just get used to them.
I have a 10 gallon tank and thinking about getting 6 neon tetras with 1-2 Cory catfish. Do you think that this would be alright???
You should be alright with the neons, though they are harder to keep healthy in smaller tanks. The corys need to be in groups of at least 6 to be healthy, and you should probably choose one or the other. To be honest, I’d vote for the corys since they are such amazing fish and are much easier to care for compared to neons. But it’s up to you. I hope this helps.
Have 4 neon tetra fish how is the best way to get them to spawn
They tend to take a fair bit of work, but if you follow the procedure in the article you should be alright. But if you have any questions about the specifics, let me know, and I’ll try to help.
I had a tank set up special for neon tetras but after only two weeks of having them they died. While I was taking care of the bodies I noticed small lumps on them so one of my theories on what killed them was the ‘neon tetra disease’ but I didn’t notice anything before they died, so I’m not completely sure… How long is the disease noticeable before death? Another theory is that sometimes the filter I have in the tank lets out a low hum that lasts several minutes, would that be enough to stress them out to the point of dying? Also, any other suggestions for making sure I don’t have a mass death again? Sorry for all the questions…
It sounds like neon tetra disease, and I wouldn’t worry about the filter. It wouldn’t stress them out from just a few minutes.
And when your fish go that fast, it means they were most likely already infected at the store. It’s one of the reasons I actually switched to keeping cardinal tetras years back, because it’s so hard to find healthy neons. But if you watch them closely at the store, you can often determine if they’re healthy or not. If any fish aren’t swimming with the school, are swimming erratically, or are in distress in the store tank, don’t buy any fish from that tank. The key step in getting healthy neon tetras is to find a reputable store and always watch the tank. And if you establish a healthy neon tank, never add new neons without quarantining them for a few weeks first. It’s very easy to lose an entire neon tank if you don’t quarantine new neon tetras.
But if you do encounter a sick neon, remove it immediately. It’s passed on by eating parts of the infected fish, so not all is lost if you only have one infected fish.
Okay, I’ll be more careful next time! Thank you!
A lot of useful information about neon tetras! thank you!
Hi, nice info i just ask. What is cute neo tera for aquascape?
Sorry, what’s a ‘cute neo tera’? I’m not familiar with that.
I have a 25 litre tank and was thinking about adding some tetras (don’t know what type yet), at the moment the tank has 2 extremely small kuhli loaches and about 20 guppies, i am getting rid of some and will be left with about 7, would this be overcrowding it or will it be fine?
Unfortunately, you’re already overstocked in that aquarium. As it is, it will be difficult to keep the water in good shape. While it doesn’t work with all fish, a good rule of thumb for stocking guidelines is 1 inch of fish (2.54 cm) to 1 gallon (3.7 litres). I hope this helps.
Thanks for all helpful info about neon tetra, Rob. I have a 50-gallon aquarium and I already have 3 turtles. Can I add some tetras?
What sort of turtles do you have? Are they fully aquatic turtles?
But even without knowing the type of turtles, I would probably say no. Neon tetras are so fragile these days and turtles are so messy, I don’t imagine they would survive in the water. If you are set on having fish, I find rosy red minnows work well with turtles, though there is the chance of predation. And if you want a tetra, I would recommend cardinal tetras, since they are tougher, but you’d still have to work hard to keep the water in good condition.
this is really well written article on neon tetra fish care and it is very informative. i had gone through your article and it gave a great information about fish care. i am really amazed how you mention about breeding and feeding of fish. your articles are so amazing and i would love to know what you think about it and how could you give some review about it . neon tetra fish care
I have 10 neon tetras 5 black tertas and 3 bristel nose plecs in a 20g. im trying to get my tetras to breed by feeding them blood worms to condition them, however none of the neons take them and only one of the black tetras eats them. i think that only one of my ten neons is a male, but cant tell if the females have eggs in them. the seem rounder and thicker, do not have any spots and scales sticking out but i havent seen anything happen. what other food could i give them to trigger the breeding ? and do ypu guys think that they are just well fed and therefore all look rounder (eccept the male. the male is slim but very active and healthy) or are they holding eggs?
First of all, do you know your water parameters? If you have tap water, then you can find the info on the cities or towns website usually. Your water may simply be too hard for them to spawn.
But more likely, they’re spawning, but the adults and other fish are eating all the eggs. This is quite common in community tanks and sometimes you will see a lone neon tetra pop up that was lucky enough to survive. It’s very hard for these fish to spawn successfully in community aquariums. But if you want to keep trying ,feed them smaller food like frozen daphnia and brine shrimp and try relatively large water changes to trigger spawning. And the plump ones are most likely egg-laden in the tank, so it shouldn’t be too hard to trigger if your water is soft enough.
I feed my neons high quality food 2 to 3 times a day … i recently got a 10 gallon tank and placed a male n female there with 7.0 ph 25°c and pretty dim natural lighting. I left them for two days and took them out … after a week i still dont see any fry … anyone else breed neons?
The two problems I see right off the bat are the light and pH. It’s going to be very difficult breeding them with natural light and a pH that high. Also, what do you have for the substrate. If they are spawning, will they be able to reach the eggs? Assuming they spawn right off the bat, you removing them after a few days lets them eat the majority of their eggs. Try it in a darker space, and lower the pH balance in the breeding tank. That should give you a better chance of breeding them.
I didnt anyone was gonna reply … thanks a lot! I use a fine black substrate and theres a spawning mop in aswell… ill try to cover the tank with a box to get deal with the light issue.. i also use R/o water to get that ph down…
I also wrote an article about how to safely lower the pH. https://aquariumtidings.com/lower-ph-aquarium/
Thank You I have 2 neon tetra fishes
“any newly purchased neon tetras should be quarantined before you add them to a tank that has healthy neon tetras”
This information helped me. Thank you!
What common breeds can we keep Neon Tetras with?
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I am planning on getting a 25 gallon tank, with live plants, 3 tiger and 3 zebra nerite snails. What would be the best amount of neon tetras to get for a happy, healthy school? Also, what would be the best place to get them? Thanks.