Tetras

[The Betta boy]

I know I'm in no position to talk about this (see earlier thread), but I'm interested in mixing tetra species to make one big, colorful, school. My favorites are emperors (especially the blue ones) long fin neon tetras, and embers, but I'm open to other suggestions. I have currently 6 neons, and 1 glowlight in a 50 gal with ghost shrimp and a clown pleco, and I plan to add guppies.

 

[Colin_T]

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website (Water Analysis Report) or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Depending on what the GH of your water is, will determine what fish you should keep.

Angelfish, discus, most tetras, most barbs, Bettas, gouramis, rasbora, Corydoras and small species of suckermouth catfish all occur in soft water (GH below 150ppm) and a pH below 7.0.

Livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), rainbowfish and goldfish occur in medium hard water with a GH around 200-250ppm and a pH above 7.0.

If you have very hard water (GH above 300ppm) then look at African Rift Lake cichlids, or use distilled or reverse osmosis water to reduce the GH and keep fishes from softer water.

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Emperor, neon and ember tetras won't school together because they are different sizes and colours. The only exception to this is if you have 1 ember or neon tetra on its own and it will try to hang out with other fish for its own safety.

If you want groups of tetras, get 10 or more of each species. If you have room, get 20-30 of each species and they tend to stay in a group more than if you have 4 or 5. Larger numbers are better for the fish. These fish naturally occur in groups consisting of thousands of individuals and they feel safe and act more naturally when in larger groups. If you only have a few of each kind in a tank, they tend to spread out and you have one here and one there.

 

[GaryE]

I missed your other thread, so I may be off base. I just took a look for it and didn't find it.

Here's my take on what you wrote for this one. It's a mistake to look at most tetras as individuals. They are fish that live in groups, and need to be with their own species. We can debate what a group is - there is research suggesting 10 is a minimum number, but aquarium traditions of keeping them in groups of 5 or 6. Newcomers to the hobby, or people whose fish have partly died off often have smaller groups, which may not be fair to the fish.
This may make me sound passive aggressive, but the issue is if you care about the well being of the fish. Most fishkeepers don't, and will always choose their own convenience over the easily ignored needs of the fish they buy.
A compromise could be the number 6. Let's say that can be a base number for how many of each species you keep. Then, if you have a large enough tank, you can have as many groups as it will hold. In my 120 gallon, 6 foot tank, I have 10 black neons, 13 cardinals, 20 Pristellas, 6 peugotti, 3 blue blacks (I ordered 6 and 3 arrived), 7 sweglesi, 10 risei - a nice colourful mix as long as you accept one tetra should be six to ten fish.

If you put together one of each in a tank, you won't have a shoal. You;ll just have a bunch of lost individuals looking for their own groups. Put me in a tank with a chimp, a bonobo, a howler and a mountain gorilla and I won't be happy because we're all primates. The other primates wouldn't be good company to talk fish with.

Lone tetras generally (not always) dial down their colours and become behaviorally strange. Some become nippy when they can't communicate with their shoal, some hide.