Tough tetras! Who are the hardy ones?!

[Maroonostrich]

Need to know which tetras are toughies, since I believe neons are not?


Really don't want mollies/swordtails/guppies as permanent residents of my new tropical tank, but do want tetras!

I am starting a new tank and some tetras need to be the first brave inhabitants as I want to introduce a dwarf cichilid pair some time after.

Any suggestions on a few specimens to kick off with?

 

[hello kitty]

i put black neons in my tank first they are hardyier than normal neons. they have done great

 

[digital_run]

I've got 5 red eye tetras that live with a variety of tank mates and i've never had a problem with them....They aren't overly sensitive to water conditions and are fast so they can elude semi-aggressive tank mates. Heres a brave one who loves to pester my Severum and swim around my keyholes.

Ðigital

 

[WILDER]

Black neons, and x ray tetra's.

 

[Hels]

never had any problems with my glowlights (which are really sweet) but then my neons have been fine as well but probably best not in a new tank...

 

[abstract]

a school of black phantom and serpae tetras looks great...they are fast, but may be too small for cichilds (although probably not dwarfs)

 

[rdd1952]

I cycled my first tank with red eyes, serpaes and pristellas (x-rays). They are all very hardy and make a good color mixture.

 

[XKrinXerZ]

yeah pristella tetras are very hardy i have 6 of them now in my 60 gallon aquairum they do excellent!

 

[FishLuvr]

unfortunantly, i didnt know a thing about cycling a tank, when i purchased my neons, bloodfins, bleeding hearts and they all survived the cycling, along with a pleco (havent id him yet) keeps hiding

 

[sylvia]

Black phantoms are hardy and beautiful. Pristellas/x-rays are good too and they like nipping at algae as a plus. Black widows/skirts are hardy, as are serpaes, but they can be quite nippy.

What you should do is a fishless cycle. It is a LOT quicker (a cycle with fish takes 6 weeks and you will worry about water changes, stress, disease etc), usualy taking only about 2-3 weeks and you don't need to worry about water changes etc. Instead, you can spend this time researching the fish you are interested in adding later on. Once the fishless cycle is voer, as a plus, besides the fact that no fish have suffered ammonia and nitrIte burns, disease brought on by stress and a weakened immune system, you can add all your fish in at once if you want and not need to worry about spikes and deaths caused by poor water quality.

I suggest you read through the link in my signature about fishless cycling. A search in the beginner's section and probably the tropical chit chat section as well, should reveal plenty of other threads about fishless cycling with pure ammonia or fish food. If you have further questions, ask in teh beginner's section where you are most likely to get quick replies on this subject.

 

[funkybodal]

X-ray tetras are great and pretty indestructable. They're even found in some brackish areas in the wild B)

Cheers,
Luke.