I have a post in the Saltwater fish about neon's but now I found out their freshwater fish.... So I'm posting in here....

I just have a couple questions about Neon's


6+ of each type of Tetra is the minimum if you want them to be happy, correct?

How many gallons would be a minimum amount for each Neon?

Do they eat Saltwater flakes, or Goldfish flakes?

Would my Goldfish eat them?

Ok sorry for so many questions, but I guess I need to know alot about them before I get them so I don't kill them!

Thanks,
Noah

I was thinking about getting these as well- hopefully a more experienced person to come along soon!

Jenn

ok so they are fully tropical freshwater, NOT saltwater.. So they need a heated/tropical environment (around 26C) and eat tropical foods/flakes. They have different needs to goldfish, so you wouldn't really be able to keep them together. Seeing as they are so small i dont think many would survive in a goldfish tank anyways, i know neons are fast, but as soon as they let their guard down a goldie will gobble it up!

oh and i have 10 neons in my 45L.

also there is a tropical fish forum on kokos

Oh I allways thought tropical meant saltwater

shows you what a begginer I am!

For food, I have glowlights and white cloud mountain minnows, both of which are nearly as tiny as neons, and they have been very happy with Hikari Micro Pellets. The things are teeny tiny, so they can eat them easily, and it's a good quality food.

My glowlights also like live baby brine shrimp (easy and fun to hatch), and frozen bloodworms and daphnia.

Neons (and many other small tetras), are fairly low waste producers. If you want to stay small, 6 neons + 3 small corys or 10-12 neons in a 10 gallon will work, but you will have to watch water quality carefully. Or you can get a bigger tank and mix it up a bit more, small schools of two types of tetra or something similar.

Neons and most other small tetras are fairly sensitive to water conditions, so it is best to cycle the tank before getting the fish. You may still lose fish. I lost a glowlight mysteriously after having the 6 of them for 2 weeks and in perfect water.

I would not put them in with goldies, they are just too tiny, and the conditions they need don't mesh well with golds.

You will need a heater for the tank with them. Go for a submersible one, not a cheapy. If you look online at big al's or dr foster and smith, you can get a top of the line heater for only a few bucks more than a cheapy at a chain pet store. Ebo Jager and Visi Therm are good ones. I personally have a ViaAqua Stainless steel heater b/c I am clumsy and don't want to risk breaking a glass one (I've broken 5 test tubes in the last month). It's been a great one so far, but I've only had it about 3 weeks, keeps the temp dead on all the time, unlike the cheapy I used before.

there is tropical freshwater (warmwater)

and marine/ tropical saltwater (warmsaltwater)

i think................................


i want a marine tank... but its so expensive.. and the fish are also verycostly

I have 10 neons in my tank together with 2 comets, 2 fan tails, 2 black moores, these 6 are easily 10x bigger each. Neons are fine in cold freshwater IMO even though they are tropical fish, I haven't got a heater.

Moreover I've found them to be hardy fish in terms of water temperature, not And as long as you get enough neons to form a group, they will be okay with medium bigger fish. Firstly, they always stick in groups, secondly, they are so fast so the big fish could never catch them. I know what you're thinking, what about at night, well they sense the vibrations in the water. These neons have survived for 6 months.

For a short time I had to house my 2 goldies in my tropical tank, and my poor neon and cardinal tetras were almost eliminated. The goldies ate at least one a day. I really don't recommend keeping them together.