Mike’s Fish Tank – Neon Tetra

This issue I want to talk about a popular fish, the neon tetra. The Neon tetra is an extremely popular aquarium fish. It is relatively hardy and inexpensive. They are peaceful, stay small and have a peaceful temperament. They are often found in small community tanks.
The maximum size of a Neon tetra is usually around one inch. The ideal temperature for neons is around 78 to 80 degrees F.

The Neon tetra belongs to the family Characidae. This makes it closely related to other popular aquarium fishes like the cardinal tetra and the green neon tetra. The less popular black neon tetra is a more distant relative since it belongs to another genus within the family Characidae. Over 1.5 million Neon tetras are imported to the United States alone-each month! They are tricky to breed for the hobby aquarists, but professional breeders that produce immense quantities of Neon tetras exist in several countries world wide. The neons you produce in the United States has a high chance that they hail from Thailand, Singapore or Hong Kong. Wild caught neons come from Brazil, Columbia and Peru.

The Neon tetra is a fresh water fish native to tropical parts of Northern South America. It is present in both blackwater and clearwater stream tributaries. The neons have bright colours and an iridescent stripe in order to be visible in dark blackwaters.

During the night, when the neon is resting in a sheltered place, the sparkling colors will be turned off and the fish will look dim.
If you turn the aquarium lights on quickly, you might not even notice your neons due to the dull coloration. Once the light is back on for awhile, you should notice your neons colors being vivid once again.

The cardinal tetra looks like the neon tetra but if the red stripe ends roughly halfway from the nose of the fish, you are looking at a neon tetra. In a cardinal tetra, the red stripe will be the full length of the body. Neons are a shoaling species and you should keep at least 5 neon tetras together, preferably more.

A neon tetra kept alone will be much stressed and spend most of it’s time hiding. Believe it or not, the Neon tetra can live up to 10 years in captivity, but most have a shorter life span.

Neon tetras are susceptible to the Neon tetra disease. There is stil no available cure for this disease and it will most often kill the fish. The disease is caused by a sporozoan. Common symptoms include restlessness and dull coloration. Cysts will develop and the fish body can become lumpy.

Neon tetras are omnivores and feed on plant matter as well as worms and small insects. They are not fussy eaters and will eat flake food readily.

Pets A Plenty is located in the Blockbuster Video Plaza, Rte 281 Cortland, 753-9213. Open 7 days a week. We now have a website. www.petsaplety.biz. check it out. I post care sheets, coupons, new animal arrivals, contests and more. Any questions, email me at friskyy@hotmail.com

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