How Many Neon Tetras do I need?

[Guest]

Hello all. I was wondering how many Neon Tetras should I add for a nice sized school without overcrowding. I have a 55 gallon tank with 12 in there atm. THe tank has been cycling empty for a month, I added 12 neons yesterday and they are doing great. I am not sure how many to get. Also I dont know how many to get at one time. I dont want to shock the tank ( ammonia spike) or especially the fish themselves (stress).

Also when I owned convicts they were breeding like crazy there was always a new family on the way. Is there some type of bottom feeder that would eat eggs if laid but not bother the neons? maybe cory cats? not sure its been a while. thanks in advance 8O I

ll show you a pics of the tanks overview as well but bmp is not allowed ill convert and upload soon.

 

[captainGregor]

Hello Dela and welcome.
If your tank truly cycled (what did you use to cycle it?) then you should not get an ammonia spike, there might be a slight increase, but hopefully the nitrifying bacteria will take care of it. All manuals I read said to slowly stock the tank when it is new. 6 tetras are minimum for school, and you already have 12. General rule of thumb is that you have 1 inch of grown fish per gallon of water. Many people dispute that though, but that is what books say. Maybe you need to wait for a while before adding more to see how your tetras are doing. They do really well in planted tanks. Loaches will eat eggs, but they are Asian, and I do not know whether you wanted to stay South American.

 

[AtodaJ]

THe tank has been cycling empty for a month, I added 12 neons yesterday and they are doing great

Were you doing a fishless cycle by manually adding ammonia? If not then the tank isn't cycled at all.

12 is a good number for Neons but you could put more in there if you like. As for babies... I wouldn't worry about that. Breeding Neons is rather difficult as I understand it so I doubt you'll get any babies on accident.

hth

 

[Guest]

Were you doing a fishless cycle by manually adding ammonia? If not then the tank isn't cycled at all.

Well the tank had an oscar in it for 2 years before it was moved. the tank was cleaned thoroughly. with almost a full water change. You think that left enough bacteria for a cycle? or I pretty much need fish for a complete cycle?

thanks i appreciate your post.

 

[tkos]

Having cleaned it there would probably be no good bacteria left. Without a food source most of the bacteria dies within 24 hours anyway. You don't need fish for a complete cycle but since you already have fish in the tank you will have to do the slow method. Luckily you have a large tank so the large amount of water and small number of fish will help keep things good. Get a test kit and check for ammonia and nitrites every so often and do water changes when ever you get any positive reading.

For a school of neons the bigger the better. Other than a bottom feeder do you plan on having other fish in the tank. If so then a group of 12 neons will suffice.

Do you plan on having plants? If so adding either ottos or SAE will be a good idea as well.

A large school of cories will also be nice. At least 5 but once again the more the better.

 

[justDIY]

another thing to keep in mind, the neon tetra is a fickle fish, and dieases / dies easily unless pampered with a pristine mature tank.

if your lfs has them on sale, by all means stock up, but if you're paying top dollar for them, go easy with what you've got and you'll have room to expand in the future.

 

[vega]

IMHO, do not add more neon at moment. Let the tank set 1st (approx 3-6 weeks) before buying more neon. Neon are very fragile fish (you could find a lots of treads in this forum about complains on neon and cardinal tetra).

It's quit difficult to breed neon as its quit difficult to get them in spawning mood (of course provided you able to kept them alive 1st ). But if you want to try use the following info...

Fyi, neon spawn in dusk or the moment they detect the 1st light. And assuming your water cond is right.

Just pour water ~4 F cooler then your tank water (simulating raining). If the fish is in right cond they will spawn. Also the egg are very sensitive to light and fungus...

If you are not looking into breading them, then get either ghost shrimp, oto or CAE as your algea controller (or you can mix them together). Cory is not a scanvenger, but they are good tank mate for neon.

 

[TankGirl]

I'm with Vega. Watch your water parameters for some weeks, esp. ammonia and nitrite, and when you cannot detect any levels of either, and you are detecting nitrAte, then the tank is cycled. I think a good school of neons would include at least 20 individuals, and if that is what you have in the tank, put in a group of 4 or 5 cory cats and it will be a great display.

 

[PlatyLady]

I know it's hard not to go right out and fully stock up your tank. I was soooo tempted this weekend to stock up my little tank full of neons. My lfs had them on sale - hundreds of neons in this massive tank. They had a black light and dark substrate. It was mesmerizing to watch! Just neons, nothing else.

Of course, with a tank with that many, I couldn't get attached to each individual, like I do now. Hmm, still thinking about it though....

 

[Guest]

ok update..... PH = 7.0 Seems Stable......
Ammonia 0 =
Nitrite =
Nitrate = 140+
this probably means im close to cycled but at the same time that seems to be a dangerous level. How much of a water change should I do to help lower it without shocking a cycle?

thanks

 

[Guest]

They had a black light and dark substrate. It was mesmerizing to watch! Just neons, nothing else.

I got black gravel. how do you think a black light would do. I dont have any live plants. I tend to think of it might prevent an algae outbreak since i have some hair growing off of my drifwood. Most important how would the fish like it. I think they like the dim light.

dela

 

[ferret]

Neons prefer darker environments. You may even consider painting the back and sides of the tank to aid in this.

 

[vega]

30% will be fine.

 

[Allivymar]

Hiya Dela and welcome to Aquariumadvice

I have a small school of neons/cards in my planted tank. One of the lights is a 50% 6500k/ 50% actinic. I have to say the actinics make those lil guys glow! They look awesome

 

[tkos]

Don't worry about a water change. It won't hurt the cycle. You need to do enough of a water change to get any bad levels into the good zone. And that high of nitrates are pretty bad for fragile fish. The bacteria is not in the water as it needs to be attached to a surface so a water change is not a problem.

 

[TheNewGuy]

IMO you need to get the nitrAtes down so do a water change and be careful if you are planning a substrate change it can be very tricky. What kind of filtration are you running? if you have BIO wheels it makes it a bit easier to do the substrate change.

 

[Guest]

eheim prof. I have recently gotten the nitrates to stablize at 40 with daily water changes. its still hanging around 40 but (monday) but i figured they needed a break from constant water change so I an going to do one last decent one today( thursday). This should get them stable around 20. This way when they hit above 40 again ill know thats how often i need to do the changes. (as someone said previously somewhere)

dela