Neon Tetra Or White Clouds?

[bangit]

Hi, i have a 20uk gallon 3ft tank that currently has 8 white clouds and 6 fake julii corys, i am planning on moving my white clouds into another tank and replacing them with neons. Having never kept neons before i was just wondering if there is anything important i need to be aware of before purchase.

My white clouds are very active intresting little fish, are neons as active in terms of chasing / displaying to each other etc...?

Would appreciate some advice from some neon keepers!

thanks

 

[celaeno]

i've never kept neons or white clouds, but i know that neons are prone to neon tetra disease (ntd) and are not very hardy. white clouds also like colder water, if i'm not mistaken.

 

[bangit]

ye, white clouds are sub tropical so can be kept a low tropical temps, one of the reasons im moving thme is so i can turn the temp up a bit and get some dwarf gourami. (1 male 2 females)

Anyone else got any advice / info on neons behaviour etc

Thanks

 

[paul-discus]

Neons are'nt the hardiest of tetras, but given the right conditions should be fine, though of caurse there are other tetras that you might like to consider, and again if your conditions are right rummy nose tetras are quite stunning in a group and very active.

 

[fishboy619]

neons arent the hardiest tetra, but if your waters right and you take good care of them, which i know you will, then they will be fine.personally i would chose cardinal, they look almost the same as neons, but dont catch neon tetra disease.up to you really tho

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

i'm not as fond as cardinals as neons, but i have never, ever had any luck with neons. i think the longest i've kept them alive with nothing else dying was...two months. they aren't hardy. at all. it seems like once one dies the rest die. christmas light syndrom.

 

[bangit]

So are a more hardy fish then i actually prefer cardinals to be honest may get some of them instead , ill have a think.

In terms of behaviour in the tank are neons / cardinals interesting to watch Do they shoal well etc...

Also, im planning on keeping some gouramis in the tank, is this going to be an issue with the neons / cardinals

 

[NEONCORY]

I must say it always surprise me to see that so many people have trouble keeping Neons. Since I never had trouble keeping them. And I don't think I do nothing special which I won't do for any other fish(weekly or at least bi-weekly water change, feed variety of food 2~3 times a day, .etc.) I do keep them in acid side of nuetural water around 7ph temperature around 75F, don't know about dh(kh) that I don't have test for that but imagine softer side. And they get many food from bread crumb, some tiny scrap meat, steam/boiled green peas, boiled egg yolk, walter worms,.etc. They could eat almost anything as long as their bite size. They are omnivious(sp).
Anyway, I am not expert but I love Neons. And I kept them all the time and bred them also. As a matter fact, I just got batch of eggs few days ago. They are start to hanging on the side of the tank now. Another few days, I can start feeding them.

So here is the few recommendation for you all considering acquire them.

Buy them young if possible. So you can raise them to be healthier and hardier. Beside that way you can have some idea of how old the fish is. Also give you better idea of how long they should live. I read in wild, they only average like year and half but in captivity they could last up to 10 years. I don't know since I never kept them continuously like that. I gave up keeping fish few years back because of several movings and I just got back last year. And Neons are first fish I went to get. I would try some local aquarium society meeting and auction. If your city or town is big enough, there is one. And someone might have bred them and have some extra fish. And they should be excellent shape since they are kept by someone care about the fish. And usually the price is reasonable if not a good bargain. If you can't find there, I would try some small but well maintained local fish store instead of big chain store if I were you. Because those store sometime make deals with local breeder. And this would be better because they would be better quality than the mass produced Neons from Frorida or SE Asia. Not to mention, the shorter distance they have to travel. And also, they are aclimate to your local water if not raised in it. And ask few questions before you buy. Like where is your supplier, how long in the shop tank, what is the water parameter they are kept, what is the store policy for guarantee(some store have in here U.S. If the fish die in certain time, you can exchhange.) etc. Buy the fish only if they are in store at least 5~6 days although 1~2 weeks or more is preferable. But I know most store have re-stocking day or 2 a week. Depends on the business. The reason for this, so the fish is strong enough to survive the shipping and have time to settle and acclimate to your local water. I know the Neons do better with soft acidic water than hard alkaline water. But they have been kept in wide range of water. Like I said, they would be better in softer acid but they can survive harder water. Although I don't know how long that I never kept them in less ideal water. So please try to keep in nuetural to acid(7.2 ph or less)
So do not buy the fish if the tank have dead or sick in it. The white spot (ick) or patch(could be fungus or neon tetra diseace or something), skinny(didn't raised properly), deformed(either bred too often to close gene or lack of calcium.,etc.) and any kind of abnormality.
And about the NTD. I heard that it could happen to similar tetras including Green Neons, Cardinals, and even Glow-light tetras. So if that is the only reason you decide to go with Cardinals(or Green Neons or Glowlight Tetras) over Neons. You are not out of the risk neither. However, I personally believe that it would not happen enough you to worry about it if you keep up the maintenance of the tank with the healthy fish you get from the good supplier. I don't think I never run into one after all these years.

Some of the things I mentioned is pretty common sense of obtaining fish or pet. And some time you spend to research would be really pay off before you get your fish or pet. Either books or internet. Just do some web-surf the fish you are interested in getting. So you can keep them well and they can live healthy and long and in return they can give you the wonderful enjoyment.

 

[lilfishie]

well i have found that neons aren't as weak as people say you just have to get the right conditions, i had mine for 3 years, i now have cardinals, but thinking of geting some neons to join them, they shoal nicely together

 

[NEONCORY]

I'm glad someone is keeping them well. Yeah, I heard they school together although I never had Cardinals since some reason I like the look of Neons better. I kind of like silver stomach. Anyway, like I mentioned before. They would be pretty hardy if you get them from right source. I don't think they are as hardy as Glowlight or Lemon or all those Serpie Tetras but give them right condition Neons can live several years I hear.
I forgot one more thing in earlier post. Please buy them 6 or more, they would be much happier than fewer. They would feel more secure also I believe their picking would be more wide spread. Neons are just like most any other fish that they would determine the dominent fish among the kept group. So they do little spat among them to determine the dominent fish. If you have say 2, the weaker fish is always picked on, but if you have 6, the top would pick any other 5 weaker ones. But generally, once they determine the pecking order and establish their own little territory. They just defend their own patch against the intruder but not go after the other fish in their own territory. Of course, they have to do this again, if the surrounding change. Meaning when you re-decorate the tank. But nothing major, they fight like a sissy nobody injure.
And they would enjoy the thicket of the plants. So keep the live plants if you can. It may not beautiful but they prefer the jungle with some swimming open area although they are small and they can swim through small area. I don't see them "school" since there are no other threatining fish or situation except when I do the water change. Also, they seems to know where is the good spot to catch their food.
Other than that, they do their own thing.
So it may not be such a good thing to see them "school." I know you see them sort of school at the store tank because they usually packed in the small space, not enough space to claim the territory and no place to hide but all open space. So they swim back and forth, left and right. Kind of sad. That is my opinion.
Although I never kept them in big numbers in bigger tank, I don't know if they school if I keep them in such. Will see. I got 55G empty and I can get them 100 when I grow them. Hopefully, I can finish build the canopy and mess with some lighting before they become Neon.(it takes month or so before they develope the neon color. They are little brown fish before then.)

 

[NEONCORY]

I'm glad someone is keeping them well. Yeah, I heard they school together although I never had Cardinals since some reason I like the look of Neons better. I kind of like silver stomach. Anyway, like I mentioned before. They would be pretty hardy if you get them from right source. I don't think they are as hardy as Glowlight or Lemon or all those Serpie Tetras but give them right condition Neons can live several years I hear.
I forgot one more thing in earlier post. Please buy them 6 or more, they would be much happier than fewer. They would feel more secure also I believe their picking would be more wide spread. Neons are just like most any other fish that they would determine the dominent fish among the kept group. So they do little spat among them to determine the dominent fish. If you have say 2, the weaker fish is always picked on, but if you have 6, the top would pick any other 5 weaker ones. But generally, once they determine the pecking order and establish their own little territory. They just defend their own patch against the intruder but not go after the other fish in their own territory. Of course, they have to do this again, if the surrounding change. Meaning when you re-decorate the tank. But nothing major, they fight like a sissy nobody injure.
And they would enjoy the thicket of the plants. So keep the live plants if you can. It may not beautiful but they prefer the jungle with some swimming open area although they are small and they can swim through small area. I don't see them "school" since there are no other threatining fish or situation except when I do the water change. Also, they seems to know where is the good spot to catch their food.
Other than that, they do their own thing.
So it may not be such a good thing to see them "school." I know you see them sort of school at the store tank because they usually packed in the small space, not enough space to claim the territory and no place to hide but all open space. So they swim back and forth, left and right. Kind of sad. That is my opinion.
Although I never kept them in big numbers in bigger tank, I don't know if they school if I keep them in such. Will see. I got 55G empty and I can get them 100 when I grow them. Hopefully, I can finish build the canopy and mess with some lighting before they become Neon.(it takes month or so before they develope the neon color. They are little brown fish before then.)

 

[bangit]

Thanks for the advice, ill be looking into it tomorrow at the 4 or 5 lfs i have!

 

[Slyspy]

At one point i had 12 neons, but the last few introduced NTD to the tank and only three survived. I replaced them with white clouds, which have proven to be a far more active, interesting and IMO better looking fish to keep.