Pairing Questions: Neons and Sharks?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

CJRose14

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
May 13, 2015
Messages
37
Location
Indianapolis
Hey, all! I'm still working on fishless-ly cycling my tank, but I'd like a bit of input. :) I've always wanted a decent school of neon tetras (at least 10). However, when I had tanks years ago, I could never keep them from being eaten from what I thought were mostly peaceful fish. I didn't have live plants back then.

Now, I've got a fairly well planted tank and it should grow to be VERY well planted. Foxtail, java ferns, tons of crypts, some aubias and some cardinalis. With the plants, do you think there's any chance of neons living with a red tailed shark? I'd also like to get some cherry shrimp in there.

I've never had a shark before, but i've always loved them. This is my ideal tank. While I'm waiting for my tank to cycle, tell me. Do you think my ideal tank is possible? Haha. For the record: I'd be open to getting some larger cardinal tetras, but from what i've read, they need slightly softer water and ours is quite hard.

Edit: Tank is a 46 bow. :)
 
Last edited:
I think you would have better luck with cardinals. I've not heard of a case of RTS eating fish but with neons it's a possibility. You would need tons of hiding places as the RCS would likely be shark snacks if he saw them.


Caleb
 
I think you would have better luck with cardinals. I've not heard of a case of RTS eating fish but with neons it's a possibility. You would need tons of hiding places as the RCS would likely be shark snacks if he saw them.


Caleb

Thanks, Caleb! Do you have experience with Cardinals? A friend of mine who keeps them is the one who told me they can't tolerate hard water. It's been a while since i've tested (the strips are generally so inaccurate that I don't bother anymore) but I know our water is pretty hard.

Also, I wondered about the shrimp. I do want a very heavily planted tank, so I didn't know if they'd survive if I started with 10-15 and just let them breed like crazy. I figured the RTS would get some, but I don't know if he'd eat ALL of them. Haha. I figure these are good questions to ask prior to buying all of these fish and doing it purely by trial and error. :p
 
Last edited:
I haven't kept cardinals but I do have neons. My pH runs around 7.0-7.4. Given enough acclimation they will be fine. If you use city water your LFS likely has close to the same pH anyway.


Caleb
 
+1, cardinals should be fine. RTS can be aggressive, I don't know if they could eat neons but they could certainly kill them. Cardinals as well if in the mood but I bet the slightly larger size will help. I have a rainbow who is as aggressive as the cichlids he is housed with. I've heard RTS are the same.

Maybe in truth this isn't the best combination, perhaps some larger tetras or barbs would be a safer bet.
 
I have a rainbow shark paired with 8 neon tetras and they're doing perfectly fine together.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
The only thing about neons I find really is that they are very skittish. In the slightest sign of aggression/violence they will school very tightly and often try to hide behind plants and decor. With a shark in the tank I imagine they school 24/7. I have 10 in a 45g and it took weeks for them to leave the school and be comfortable to venture on their own. The most aggressive things in the tank are a female kribensis and a female blue ram. Just a heads up.


Caleb
 
Thanks, everyone! I'm also quite attached to cherry shrimp. Haha. I think for the sake of my future shrimp, I'm going to give up my RTS lust and just convince the fiancé to let me have a second, semi-aggressive tank down the line. :p

So. What else would you all recommend with a pack of neons and some shrimp? :) I ADORE serpaes, but I don't know if they'd end up decimating the shrimp. Personally, the serpaes I used to have were always pretty nice and never even nipped my angels. But I've heard a lot that they can be fairly aggressive.

Edit: I got a massive piece of driftwood the other day that has tons of caverns and hiding places and i've glued a bunch of Christmas moss onto it, so hopefully that will help shield some of the shrimp and neons if I do end up with something slightly more aggressive.
 
I would stick to smaller fish if you are doing shrimp. The shrimp will need lots of hiding places as only the smallest of fish will actually leave shrimp completely alone. I've heard of even rasboras messing with shrimp and they are tiny fish.


Caleb
 
I would stick to smaller fish if you are doing shrimp. The shrimp will need lots of hiding places as only the smallest of fish will actually leave shrimp completely alone. I've heard of even rasboras messing with shrimp and they are tiny fish.


Caleb

Yeah, I'm good with smaller fish for this tank. We talked about doing a tank of just tetras and shrimp (along with possibly a gold nugget pleco if I want to shell out the money for one down the line), but aside from Serpaes, i've never really kept tetras so I'm not sure what would work well. :)

Edit: Do you all think fancy guppies would work well?
 
I had a guppy with rasboras and shrimp. Went on vacation for a week and came home to no shrimp. Prior to that it worked well for two months. I'm not saying either fish killed the shrimp, they likely starved but 4 were completely eaten before I came home.

I expect guppies would be fine.
 
I had a guppy with rasboras and shrimp. Went on vacation for a week and came home to no shrimp. Prior to that it worked well for two months. I'm not saying either fish killed the shrimp, they likely starved but 4 were completely eaten before I came home.

I expect guppies would be fine.

Haha, fair enough! Do you suppose Rasboras would do well with the neons and the shrimp? I've never kept them, but I think they're pretty.
 
I have harlequin rasboras specifically and yes I think they would do fine with neons and shrimp.

When I got my harlequins from petco they were basically brown and colorless. Now they are filled with purple, gold and black pigments, lots of opalescent color. They look great. But you need at least 5, I would recommend 7.

5-7 rasboras
10 neons
1 male guppy
A group of shrimp

This would make an awesome stocking IMO but I'm unsure of if this may be overstocked. Maybe consult aqua advisor for a reference.
 
What size is the tank?

RTS need lots of room to roam and own the tank bottom. I had a mature one and she was on patrol all the time, all the other fish would just turn around and go the other direction or detour around, and leave her alone, I made sure to have a figure 8 race track open for her to cruise, as well as the perimeter of the tank and a few hiding places.

Here was a deco that was fake but all the fish loved it, this was the sharks most used hide out you can see it in the right side of the FTS.

60074-albums11380-picture65410.jpg


She was 6.5 inches long and originally lived in someone elses 110G when I adopted her she went to this temporary QT tank (in pic), then into the big tank- 72G

60074-albums11380-picture50628.jpg


60074-albums11380-picture57008.jpg


I tried a Rainbow Shark, and he got mean with the other fish. So he didn't work out, even with the places to roam, race track in two levels, etc. It will depend on personality, and probably age as well. Mine was old and mellow. For sure one of my favorites!

In the pic with the Cardinals and Neons, there is also a Glowlight Tetra. Pretty red line through the body. Some fish are just a pain. Most of the Serpaes I have seen in tanks are trouble makers. Nippy too. I have had the Cardinals and we have 7.4 and lower to about 6.4 pH.

I think with lots of hiding places some shrimp might not get noticed, but as mentioned already little and baby shrimp are just the size for fish to snack on like potato chips, can't eat just one. Once they know what they taste like they will look for them.
 
Last edited:
Thanks so much for all of the advice and information! It's a 46 bow front tank. :) I think I've just given up on the RTS. Haha. Eventually I'll be able to talk the fiancé into getting a second, semi-aggressive tank. ;)
 
Thanks so much for all of the advice and information! It's a 46 bow front tank. :) I think I've just given up on the RTS. Haha. Eventually I'll be able to talk the fiancé into getting a second, semi-aggressive tank. ;)

That tank is all around a standard great size and beautiful tank. Probably good option for a semi-aggressive tank.

Keep your eyes open for someone breaking down a tank with a mature RTS and try it out. Better for a 72G size probably; they really do love to swim!
 
That tank is all around a standard great size and beautiful tank. Probably good option for a semi-aggressive tank.

Keep your eyes open for someone breaking down a tank with a mature RTS and try it out. Better for a 72G size probably; they really do love to swim!

Yeah, for sure! I'm SUPER impatient with this one, but I'm happy to be back in the aquarium game. The largest tank I ever had before was a 29 and I'm already itching to get a larger one. :p If I do a semi-aggressive tank, I definitely want something larger than 55G.

I just can't wait for these nitrites to get the heck down so I can add in some shrimp to start in this tank. It's killin' me. Haha.
 
Back
Top Bottom