Black neon tetra tankmates?

[cowgirluntamed]

Tank is 20 gallon high, 24 inch long x 12 in wide x 16 inch high.

Ph is 8.2. Gh and kh are around 12 to 13 (api liquid tests).

Yes I know it's harder water but I want to try to stick with more hardy tank raised species.

Current stock is 13 black neon tetras and 1 guppy (that may or may not stay in there. The other 2 died so not sure how long this will go. I seem to have problems with guppies...).

Anyway, I really want to add 6 panda cories if I can find them at petsmart again. But I would like a pop of color. I was thinking of trying regular neons or von Rio flame tetras. I'm kind of limited to what I can get mostly from petsmart. The petstore 50 mins from me was awesome but they had a lot more bigger fish than small, it's a long drive, and they only get fish in once every couple of weeks depending on their sales. Though this is where all of these fish came from. Lol.

Anyway, when the guppies were well, they just didn't go well with these black neons. They were both scared of each other. So with one guppy it's not as bad but the black neons aren't very active. I do need some more tall plants(that's in my other thread). But my salvinia grows like a weed so I'm not concerned too much about water quality if it's somewhat over stocked. If I tried regular neons, would 13 or so work for them? If I did the von rio tetras, maybe 7? And would this amount be ok with the panda cories? Thanks!

 

[Colin_T]

All tetras need to be kept in groups of 10 or more, so no buying 7

If you want guppies, buy some females and let them give birth. Keep the babies and get rid of the adults. The adults will probably die within a few months anyway but the young will be better and should do well. Guppies from Asia are riddled with parasites and need to be treated for intestinal worms and gill flukes as soon as you get them.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

All tetras need to be kept in groups of 10 or more, so no buying 7

If you want guppies, buy some females and let them give birth. Keep the babies and get rid of the adults. The adults will probably die within a few months anyway but the young will be better and should do well. Guppies from Asia are riddled with parasites and need to be treated for intestinal worms and gill flukes as soon as you get them.

I'm done with guppies for a while. So at least 10 von rio tetras if I go for those...and I could do more regular neon tetras since they are smaller? I know these don't do as well either but as cheap as they are I would be willing to try.

So 13 black neons, 13-15 regular neons OR 10 von rio flames, and 6 panda cories would all be fine in a 20? I do have great floating plants and I so weekly 50-60% water changes. The guppy may or may not stay...most likely will until it passes...lol.

I really don't want them in a 10 gallon...and I was thinking when my a quarantining is all done to do white clouds in the 10 maybe. But I wasn't sure on that one either.

 

[zain611]

One fish you could look at are pseudomugil luminatos. They are a type of rainbow fish which don't grow big. I have a 35 gallon tank which I recently set up and thinking of getting cardinal tetras, cherry and velvet blue shrimps along with those pseudomugils.
Corries from my experience look to be happy in a sand substrate as they like to burry their mouths in it and take the grains out their gills.

Just check if they are suitable for your tank

 

[TallPaul]

Are there no local fish stores? I tend to avoid big chain stores as their tanks are littered with dead fish. I regularly have to point out to staff that their fish are dead, that a corpse is being eaten, that the fish have got fin rot etc.

You could always just get more black neon tetra. They behave completely differently in big groups. Actually 20 black neons would already be close to a fully stocked tank.

Would you consider red cherry shrimp. They will add a flash of colour, will breed quickly and will take care of any bits and bobs of left over food. They have quite interesting behaviour too

 

[cowgirluntamed]

One fish you could look at are pseudomugil luminatos. They are a type of rainbow fish which don't grow big. I have a 35 gallon tank which I recently set up and thinking of getting cardinal tetras, cherry and velvet blue shrimps along with those pseudomugils.
Corries from my experience look to be happy in a sand substrate as they like to burry their mouths in it and take the grains out their gills.

Just check if they are suitable for your tank

I've looked into the small rainbows and I don't think I care for them much. I love tetras....what can I say. Lol.

Are there no local fish stores? I tend to avoid big chain stores as their tanks are littered with dead fish. I regularly have to point out to staff that their fish are dead, that a corpse is being eaten, that the fish have got fin rot etc.

You could always just get more black neon tetra. They behave completely differently in big groups. Actually 20 black neons would already be close to a fully stocked tank.

Would you consider red cherry shrimp. They will add a flash of colour, will breed quickly and will take care of any bits and bobs of left over food. They have quite interesting behaviour too

I'm pretty sure I can overstock a bit with my great growing salvinia. Lol. This tank went from one not full grown 3 spot gourami, sat a couple of weeks after I moved him, and then I added 16 fish all at once with no ammonia spikes whatsoever. I have a love hate relationship with that plant....but I may try to sell the excess next year instead of tossing it. Lol. It grows that fast!

And no, no true local fish stores, well, just one but it is very small and I don't care for the owner. Great looking fish but I didn't care to be criticized for buying some online. I had a stow away Barb that I took to her. So I would rather not go to her. The pet store that's 50 mins from me had awesome tanks and pretty healthy fish. Just not much of a selection of small ones. Oh well. PetSmart has done me mostly good. I just be careful and now quarantine everything.

I wouldn't mind shrimp in maybe the small tank eventually...but I don't think they would have enough hiding places in the 20.