Tetra Sizes?

[DAL32]

Neon Tetra: 1.5 or 2?

Black Neon: 1.5 or 2?

Silver Tip: 1.25, 1.5, 2?

As I venture further into this great hobby, I come across alot of websites claiming the aforesaid lengths/sizes these particular Tetras grow to (maximum). Is there a credible source?

When I eventually stock my new 20 gal, should I simply just take into account that either of these groups may reach 2 inches in length, therefore stocking accordingly?

Cheers

 

[Lateral Line]

I would say it was possible for all of those species to reach 50mm if they were housed in ideal spacious conditions. In a typical tapwater tank with good regular maintenance, they rarely get to that size however. Their life span tends to be shortened by having to deal with the salts in the water. Kidney tends to burn out faster then it normally would.

 

[MrWaxhead]

You could always split the difference and if you were 100% stocking neons go 12, I have safely kept 15 in a 20g before and they all grew to about 2 inches after a few years. They really do like a lot of their own species so the more you can stock the happier they seem to be. Hell I remember eons ago when I was a kid, my grandfather had a 55g tank that was a neon only tank and he had 55 of the buggers in it and they were happy as clams. I remember sitting in his basement watching them for hours

As I seem to remember back then general guideline was 1 fish per gallon based on small tetra sized fish, non the current 1" per gallon guideline.

 

[loachman]

Not that I'm 100% sure this is the issue, but there are 2 different measurements that are used. The first is tip of nose to the end of the "body," not including the tail length. The second is the end of nose to the tip of the tail, which is longer.

Otherwise, the total length of a fish is somewhat variable depending on genetics, age, and conditions. Same as people there is not "one" length. Sort of a useless answer but

When stocking, start with the assumption they'll be 2 inches. It's safe. After a few months and depending on how comfortable/successful you are and your filtration and cleaning schedule, you may be able push it to ~1.2 inch/gal or higher. DO NOT start with overstocking though, it's a recipe for disaster if things aren't stable.

 

[MrWaxhead]

Oh yes what loach said, I wasn't trying to imply just dump a tank load at one dump, I was more talking a final stocked kinda answer sorry bout that. And yes I have had several neons that were head to end of body hit the 2" mark after they hit a few years old.

 

[Lateral Line]

Traditionally, length has always been quoted without fins, i.e. body length, but people new to the hobby are usually unaware of that and include the caudal.