For those that keep Neon Tetras... what is the recommended size tank for 3 of these little guys. I'm interested in putting together a nice little tank for my bedroom. I've never had them before. Are they hard to keep? Besides goldfish, the only fish I've ever had has been guppies, and I managed them well.

Actually, same question applies to Guppies. Recommended tank size for 3?

Do Guppies and Tetras mix well?

I may consider getting one Neon Tetra, and a male/female guppy pair.

Guppies should be ok with neons (in general, there are always exceptions). But, I would stick to a single male guppy rather than a pair for two reasons:

First, that the male will harrass the female, and with only one female, she will have to deal with all the agression (its generally recommended to have a 1male/2 female or so relationship for this reason).

Second, that if you get a pair, or a single female (they can store sperm) you will end up with babies, and have to deal with them, which kind of defeats the whole small bedroom tank thing.

As for neons, they are not always the hardiest things, I've heard this may be due to inbreeding. Some people have great luck with them, but a lot of people have them die in fairly large numbers. Also, I would get more like 5-6, but you should be able to keep that many in a 5 gallon tank (they are not big waste producers). If you want guppies as well, I'd get more like a 10g tank.

I agree with them not being very hardy - I bought 6 cardinal tetras last week, lost 2 within 3 hours, another on Saturday and 2 on Monday - this morning, the last one wasn't looking happy at all.

I've learned that no matter what you do, you MUST have a tank that is well established, with absolutely NO ammo or nitrite before you even think about Neons and cardinals.

Best of luck!

hes right, youd be better off with a few guppies, perhaps all males so no babies?

getting more than one male guppy without females around can be a bad idea too. i bought 3 males to add to my community tank awhile back before the fish store had any females in. i was planning on getting some females when their shipment came in, but my males didn't last long enough. two ganged up on one until he died and then when they were two, one turned on the other and tormented him until he died. this happened within 2 days time. if you want to get more than one guppy, i'd suggest getting at least 2 females per male so they will get along. but then you'd be back to having to deal with possible fry. it's a vicious cycle, huh?

on the other hand, i've had excellent luck with my neon tetras. as long as you cycle your tank first and keep the pH at a steady level, they are not too hard to keep.
i hope this helped you!