How many neon tetas can fit in my 10 gallon tank?

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k3vin2k3

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I'm thinking about getting neon tetras for my 10 gallon, and how much is each one of the fish?
 
Neons aern't suitable fish for a new or newly cycled tank, they need it to be mature for at least 4months with constant good stable water stats, if the tank is fully mature though and hasn't any other fish i'd say about 12. Have you got any other fish in it and what are their numbers?
 
Its an empty tank, and it has been cycling for a month already. No fish ever in it.
 
Actully, I'd differ. I'd say that with fish that small, you could have about 16. I have 18 inches of fish inmy top tank, and everyone's ok. So, I've gotten away with it. But, maybe tetras are different. But, with fish that small, I'd say 16.
Also tetras are nicely hardy. So they'd be good in a newly cycled tank.

EDIT: Be careful though. I know 2 people who have had baby neons go up the filter. You might wanna buy one of those fry nets to put over the filter head
 
Neons are one of the most fragile tetras of the tetra family, and i doubt your friend had baby neons unless they were deliberatly breeding them as neon tetra fry are light sensitive meaning that they die in strong light so to breed them you need to keep them in total darkness to survive- their fry are also practically microscopic and translucent/see through.
 
You might want to look into getting glo light tetras instead, they are alittle bigger and from my experince quite a bit hardyer. How many you put in your tank depends on how often you want to do water changes. Right now i have 8 glo light tetras, 2 albino cory cats, 2 guppies and 2 adf frogs, i have to do water changes about every 5 days but other then that the inhabitance are in excelent shape.
 
I'd say about 350.






but you might have to take out the water, gravel, plants, and ornaments first. :lol:

Sorry I know i'm not funny but I try anyway.
 
:lol: Torrean!

Anyway... Sixteen Neons in a ten-gallon sounds like a lot to me. They like to have a bit of swimming room, and with sixteen they're not going to get that. I'd recommend five to eight Neons for a ten-gallon. My Neons are tough little things, but I think that's an exception and not a rule. I've never heard of anyone else having hardy Neons. Mine also spawned once :eek: Boy was I surprised! The Corys thought the eggs were a great snack :p

Pamela
aka Married Lizard :wub:
 
You might want to try cardinal tetras, they are similar to neons in appearance and are apparently much hardier :thumbs:
 
I know next to nothing about the fish except that they are very pretty and terribly mistreated because they are usually painted but glass tetra's might be nice.

edit: just don't buy the painted glass tetra's or the fruit tetra's (same thing nicer name) because they have been tortured and mey not live much longer. And research them before you buy because as I have said I know next to nothing about them.
 
Where k3vin is located is not listed, and maybe things are different in the UK, Tokis, but here in the US neons are rather hardy in the great scheme of things. They are commerically bred in the very alkaline waters of Florida -- very different from their native Amazonian waters. Conversely, most cardinals are still wild caught, so they will not be nearly as readily accepting of as wide range of water. Part of the problem is that neons must be bred in mass in order to be profitable, so there has been some inbreeding in the lines. Massive breeding has led to the fish being far more susceptable to neon tetra disease, for example. But you can always ask your LFS how the batch has been doing, or find a local breeder to purchase from.
 
I wouldn't put neons in as a first fish. But if it wasn't the first fish I'd say 12-14 could go in there.
 
as you are doing a fishless cycle what did you use for the ammonia source and i take it you have gone through the peaks and troughs of cycling? Your levels should be steady now if you want to add fish.
If the filtration is really good then you can up the amount of fish you get but if the filter is for the size of tank then i think 8 tetras would be enough but you should add them in a couple of groups over a couple of weeks so the filter can cope. And get them from the same source.
 
There really seems to be massive differences in opinion when it comes to neons, though -I'm in the UK, and mine really seem perfectly happy - out of ignorance they were the first fish I put into my tank, too.
Is it worth looking at your water chemistry - i.e. neons' like soft acidic water, if that is the same as your tap water then the chances are you'll find they are easy to look after! This is what I put my luck with them down to. I s'pose "hardy" interprets as "able to cope with wide range of water chemistry" then that's not much of a comment re: their hardiness, is it?!
 
I live in Silver Spring Maryland and it is a fishless cycle, and I talked to my neighbor who gave me the tank, he says a betta fish used to be in it.
 

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