Which Fish With Neon Tetra?

[cherrytetra]

which fish get along well with neon tetra? i am looking for preferably little fishies (i just think they are so cute small!)

 

[K-Holed]

Most fish that won't see them as a meal basically. Neons tend to fair better in mature tanks though.

 

[waterdrop]

I agree, they are quite a universal community tank member. Both the neon tetras and the cardinal tetras make beautiful shoals, each color variation being lovely. The minimum shoal number for them is about 7 or 6 individuals, depending on the overall tank social atmosphere. The stress level of small shoaling fish will vary based on the feeling of shelter from nearby plant cover and the social nature of the other community fish. As the shoal numbers drop, say from 10 downwards, the neon/cardinal stress level will begin to rise, usually remaining ok at 7 or 6, but at 5 and 4 and 3 most fishkeepers will begin to see some stress signs from them such as nipping of other fish or excessive hiding or more hesitancy going after food amongst the other fish.

I believe these tetras thrive best in more soft, acid water but overall can tolerate a pretty wide range without dying. The do have an observed idiosyncrasy in the advised keeping guidelines that they seem prone to die in somewhat larger numbers when introduced to tanks that have aged less than 6 months and a similar but separate observation is that one or two of any larger set transferred from the store to your tank may easily not make the transition, regardless of the tank age, thus leading many experienced purchasers to usually buy and extra 1 or two above the final number they want.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[meguro]

Try to find the best/healthiest looking stock/fish you can. Add them to your tank in groups of 6-10 at a time. eg. 6 one week, then 8 a week later.

There are quite a few fish that work well with them, but also quite a few that don't work.

Livebearer fish eg. platies, swordtails, guppies etc.
Bottom dwellers eg. corydoras catfish, bristlenose, loaches etc.
Dwarf cichlids eg. bolivian ram, blue ram, keyhole cichlid, apistogramma etc.
Other small shoaling fish eg. barbs, danios, rasbora, other tetras etc.

The above work fine with neons. The below not so well.

Angelfish, will eat them once they mature/grow to about 8-10cm. And they will continue to grow to 12-18cm.
Larger cichlids (angelfish is a cichild too).
Black ghost knife fish.
Pretty much anything that can fit them in their mouth and match/best their speed.
Siamese fighting fish/betta splendens. Not advised. Sometimes the betta will take them on, either whenever he feels like, or if he can't catch them, then when they sleep. Or the neons may nip the bettas fins stressing it out.

I'd suggest some platies and corys for the tank without knowing the dimensions.
2-3x platy
4-6x cory (all same species preferably)
6+ neon
would look nice.

 

[alchemist]

I would have a look at a shoal of Rasbora - I have some copper harlequins who are just fantastic to watch - they are very lively and get on well with everyone else in the tank.