From Aqua Guide, the free encyclopedia
Neon Tetra
Paracheirodon innesi
- Temperature
- 21–25 °C
- pH
- 4 – 7.5
- Min. tank size
- 54 L
- Lifespan
- 2-5 years
- Diet
- omnivore
- Care level
- easy
| Scientific classification | |
|---|---|
| Scientific Name: | Paracheirodon innesi |
| Family: | Acestrorhamphidae |
| Origin: | South America, western Brazil, eastern Peru, and southeastern Colombia |
| Care Characteristics | |
| Care Level: | easy |
| Diet: | omnivore |
| Max Size: | 3.80 cm |
| Water Type: | freshwater |
| Temp Group: | tropical |
| Temperament: | peaceful |
| Min Group: | 6+ together |
| Varieties: | The wild form dominates the trade, and it is the one worth buying. Selectively bred strains exist: albino neons with red eyes and no blue, golden neons washed out to a pale straw colour, diamond-head neons carrying extra iridescence over the shoulders, and long-finned neons with extended fins. All of them are line-bred from a commercial population that is already showing the effects of decades of intensive farming, and the fancy strains concentrate the problem — they are consistently less robust and shorter-lived than standard neons. The long-finned form is the one to avoid outright. It swims poorly, is easily outcompeted at feeding time and is a target for any fish with an interest in trailing fins. Do not confuse strains with species. The green neon tetra (Paracheirodon simulans) and the cardinal tetra (P. axelrodi) are separate fish, not colour forms, and the green neon in particular needs warmer, softer water than a standard neon does. |
| Lifespan: | 2-5 years |
Quick Tips
- Bioload:Low
- Min Tank:54 L
- Substrate:Sand or fine gravel
- Plant Safe:Completely safe
- Filtration:High - robust biofiltration and low bacterial counts
Neon Tetra (Paracheirodon innesi) is a species of fish in the family Acestrorhamphidae. It is native to South America, western Brazil, eastern Peru, and southeastern Colombia. The neon tetra is the fish that sold the aquarium hobby to the world. Around two million are sold in the United States every month, and fewer than five per cent of those are wild-caught — almost every neon in a shop tank was farmed in Southeast Asia. It comes from the blackwater and clearwater streams of the western and northern Amazon basin, in south-eastern Colombia, eastern Peru and western Brazil, where the water is stained the colour of tea and can sit at pH 4.0 to 4.8. It reaches about 3.8 cm. The blue is not pigment. It comes from guanine crystals in the skin that reflect light, which is why the stripe shifts from blue to violet as the fish turns, and why the colour drains to grey or black overnight when the fish is resting. A tankful of pale neons at lights-on is normal, not a symptom.
Compatibility
- Temperament
- peaceful
- Keep in
- Groups of 6+
- Swims
- middle
- Fin nipper
- No
- Delicate fins
- No
Species similar to Neon Tetra
Matched on family, then category, then water type