10 Reasons Why Neon Tetras Are The Perfect Pet

Pets are such a joy to have in a person’s life. They become an inseparable part of your life. Studies tell having a pet helps you develop emotionally, physically, and psychologically. But, when you think about a perfect pet, you generally guess a cuddly dog pops up in your mind, right? Or a cat? Maybe a bird? What about fish as a perfect pet? If you are interested in fish as a pet then Neon Tetras are the perfect pet for you.

Neon Tetras (Paracheirodon innesi) are small tropical freshwater fish that are found in the Amazon River Basin. The name pops up first in mind among the fish parents around the world who consider them as the perfect pet. Because Neon Tetras are small in size, easy to take care of, are hardy, peaceful, active, and have longevity plus beautiful vibrant colors.

Stay tuned, As I will be discussing more of these features that make Neon Tetras the perfect pet in more depth.

Why Would A Fish Be A Perfect Pet?

First, let me tell you in general why fish can be perfect pets. Since ancient times people signify fish with grace, peace, and luck. In some cultures, fish are auspicious to have around your close surroundings. Due to which, fishkeeping has existed since the old ages.

In addition, watching fish swim around in the water ease your eyes, your heart, and your mind. Specifically, researchers state having fish as pets can help people with their conditions like stress, anxiety, blood pressure, and Alzheimer’s disease.

You get a lot less responsibility in comparison to other pets like dogs and cats. The following are the reason for having less responsibility while keeping fish as pets:

No requirement for vaccination
Low maintenance
Are cheaper
No special training required
Takes less space
Are quiet
Easy to Breed

10 Reasons Neon Tetras Are Perfect Pet

Now, let me discuss in detail why in particular the Neon Tetras are the perfect pets even among the fish.

Beautiful Appearance

You are getting quite an eye-catching, and elegant pet in the Neon Tetras, increasing the grandeur of your aquarium.

Neon Tetras have a shiny neon turquoise blue line starting from the tip of their nose to the ending at their adipose fin. Also, they have a satiny white belly along with a red line starting from the middle of their belly down to their caudal fin. Their Neon color also helps them to be visible in the dark waters.

Whenever your Neon Tetra is unwell or has a disease, these bright shiny colors tend to fade. I advise you to isolate the fish immediately just to prevent any probable contraction to others in the school.

Moreover, Neon Tetras are among the most alluring fish in the fishkeeping world. Accordingly, if you want beautiful fish or a school of beautiful swimming around in your aquarium I highly recommend Neon Tetras.

Find out more about ‘How Many Neon Tetras Should You Keep In School?’

Neon Tetras Do Not Require Large Space

Neon Tetras can grow to an average size of 1.5 inches. But, they also tend to grow to 2.5 inches.

Learn about ‘How Big Do Neon Tetras Grow In Size?’

Due to their small size, even a school of Neon Tetras do not require a large space in the aquarium. To be more precise, you can keep a small school consisting of 4 to 5 tetras in a 5-gallon aquarium tank. I have 8 Neon Tetras in my 10-gallon aquarium tank personally.

If you are thinking of having a larger aquarium, get the idea of How Many Neon Tetras Per Gallon Of Water | Different Gallon Tanks? from here.

In contrast, big fish require a larger space in the aquariums. Now, larger aquariums are expensive and harder to maintain in comparison to the smaller ones.

Due to this, if you want to do fishkeeping in aquariums of small size then I recommend keeping Neon Tetras.

Learn more about how to clean a tetra fish tank from here.

Can Last Without Food For Weeks

Are you a person whose job requires you to stay away from home more often? Or maybe you are a person that likes to travel a lot?

Then you may be confused about the idea of keeping a pet as you will not be able to attend to them regularly. A lot of busy and working pet owners have the same problem.

You will find the perfect pet in Neon Tetras for these situations. Because Neon Tetras can survive weeks without you needing to feed them. You will find them the as same as you left them to be while you were away.

Most of the Neon Tetra tanks consist of live plantations due to which the fish can self-feed on these plants to survive. So, I recommend you to have lots of tall or floating plantations in your Tetra tank.

To know more about the best aquarium plants for your Neon Tetra, you can click here.

Neon Tetras Are Inexpensive

The world of fish keeping is quite expensive. Different species of fish have different prices and can give a hard time to your wallet.

Every fishkeeper wants to buy those fish fitting under their budget. Due to which, Neon Tetras are quite famous among the fish keepers both beginners and veterans for attractive low-price.

Specifically, Neon Tetras cost from $1.99 to $2. So, just imagine for just a few dollars you can get a reasonably sized school of Neon Tetras in your tank.

Moreover, not only the fish itself but also the required equipment and the diet are also highly affordable in comparison to other species of fish.

Get an idea of what Neon Tetras need in their tank.

Neon Tetras Need Low Maintenance

As mentioned before Neon Tetras are small, due to which there is no necessity for a large tank. A 5-gallon aquarium will hold a miniature school of tetras very well.

Feeding the Neon Tetra is also very easy. As per my recommendation, you can feed them for once or twice a day and the basic protein of blood worms or brine shrimp is enough for them. Some of the best products that you can use are:

Being a tropical fish Neon Tetras needs temperature maintenance of 60-70°F. This requirement needs fulfillment only if you live in an area with cold or dynamic temperature. Areas with humidity and temperature of 60°F and above do not need heaters.

Artificial subdued lights and plantation is required for photosynthesis, nitrogen cycle, and maintaining oxygen levels. Similarly, a simple filtration system is required to maintain water cleansing as well as preventing probable diseases of Neon Tetras.

Regarding cleaning, you need to replace 20 to 25 percent of the water every other week for cleaning water. Tetras will also eat algae so it’s your choice to scrub them from the tank glass or leave it be.

Neon Tetras Have Long Life

Neon Tetra can live for up to 10 years on average only if you provide proper care on important factors like:

Proper diet
Maintenance of required water parameters
Subdued lighting with a planted environment
Controlled temperatures

Additionally, I recommend you to keep your male Neon Tetras apart from the females for longevity. Because the females face a lot of stress from the male for mating which hampers their life quality and longevity in total.

Neon Tetras Are Calm And Peaceful

Neon Tetras are among the peaceful and calm fish species. As a result, you will find any non-aggressive fish being compatible and safe to keep in the same tank as them.

The only time Neon Tetras can behave aggressively is during feeding time in an overcrowded and small aquarium. So, I highly recommend keeping as many fish as per the standard capacity of your tank.

Take a look at our article about ‘Neon Tetra Behavior: Are They Aggressive/Fighting or Playing?‘ to learn more.

Hardy Fish

Neon tetras are a hardy fish breed. They are able to sustain different water parameters and changes in temperature along with the pH but take up a certain time period for the adaptation.

Nevertheless, you must maintain standard temperature, water chemistry, and subdued lighting for them to have longevity in their life. If the environment is unadaptable they can succumb to diseases and stress.

The crucial time for the Neon Tetras is their journey from the pet store into the aquarium. Because have been moved to a new environment they consisting of new water chemistry, temperature, and environment which need adaptation.

Active Fish

Fish as an aquatic animal have it in their nature to swim around their environment. Neon Tetras as fish are no exception.

Believe me, it is adorably mesmerizing to watch these little creatures swim with their school. They excite you when they seem to compete with each other while feeding.

I always tend to watch my tetras swim gracefully whenever I have any kind of stress or tension.

The only time they are inactive is when you turn off the lights. If you find any strange change in the activity pattern of your Neon Tetras, it means the fish is sick or is in stress.

Easy to Keep Other Tetras Together with Neon Tetras

You can easily keep other breeds of Tetras along with Neon Tetras. Till this part of the article, I hope you must already known that Tetras are calm and peaceful.

Well, due to this particular reason you can keep other Tetras along with Neons. Neon Tetras like all other Tetras also prefer to school with their own species, so you can expect to see a school consisting of different types of tetras along.

Related articles on tankmates for neon tetras:

Frequently Asked Questions

The following are the questions often asked by the fish parents:

Do Neon Tetras Need Light At Night?

No, Neon Tetras are a tropical fish meaning they need the right circadian rhythm( an internal process that regulates the sleep-wake cycle and repeats on each rotation of the earth every 24 hrs in their habitat.

As a result, the Tetras require lighting from 12 to 14 hours a day thus not needing lighting at night. You can equip your aquarium lights with timers to prevent continuous lighting throughout the night.

Moreover, Neon Tetras adore and favor subdued lightings, so too much exposure to lighting is not recommended. You can calculate lighting as 2 or 5 watts per gallon of water in the aquarium.

I would recommend you to use Tetra Hidden LED Stick Light for Aquariums, Brilliant White.

Do Neon Tetra School With Other Different Fish?

Neon Tetras are schooling fish and favor schooling with their own species rather than other species. So, generally speaking, Tetras do not tend to school with other species of fish.

But, a fish stays in a school for security against any threat. Due to which there have been cases where fish school with other species when feeling threatened. Hence, there is the possibility of Neon Tetras schooling with other species in that case.

How Do You Keep Neon Tetras Happy?

Neon Tetras are a pretty easy species of fish to keep as a pet. Due to this, you only got to fulfill the basic specifications to give your fish baby a quality life and happiness.

The following are the requirements:

Calculated Tank Size:

Neon Tetras can grow to a size of 2.5 inches so depending on the number of tetras you can calculate the size of your tank i.e a gallon of water per Tetra.

Filtration:

HOB, Internal filter, or a simple sponge works fine as Neon Tetras do not produce much bioload. I would recommend you to use Tetra Decorative ReptoFilter, Terrarium Filtration.

Specific Temperature:

Neon Tetras are tropical fish from the Amazon where the temperature is warm. Due to this, a temperature between 70 to 82°F with a pH 7.0 is to be maintained. You can calculate the temperature using the thumb rule of 5 watts per 55 gallons and 3 watts per 60 gallons.

It is not absolutely necessary but if you live in a cold place, you might use AQQA Mini Submersible Aquarium Heater to maintain the appropriate temperature for your tetras.

Subdued lighting:

The natural habitat of Neon Tetras does not consist of bright sunlight due to aquatic plantations. As a result, to keep them in an aquarium, they favor subdued lighting.

Live Plantations:

Neon Tetras love its environment having tall and floating plants. Plantations help in increment of the nitrogen cycle, oxygen levels, filtration, provide safe shelter, etc. Tall plantations like Vallisneria, Cabomba, and Brazilian pennywort along with floating plantations like Frogbit and Red river floaters are the standard fish inside your tank consisting of Neon Tetras.

Final Verdict

Neon Tetras are a perfect pet for both beginner and veteran fish lovers. These are beautiful and mesmerizing fish in appearance and it’s really eye-pleasing to see a school of Tetras swimming left to right in the aquarium.

They are oviparous animals as they lay eggs to produce the fry. If you do not separate both the male and female from the eggs then they will eat their own eggs. As a result, a separate tank for incubation is required.

These fish require low maintenance. You only got to take care of filtration, and temperature along with the subdued lighting for a better quality of life and longevity.

You will find them compatible with most of the non-aggressive species of fish. So, schooling so community fishes can be expected with the Neon Tetras.

Lastly, I hope all the above reasons are enough for you to choose Neon Tetras as the perfect pet. In addition, they are very affordable, require less space, and their necessary equipment are also not highly expensive. For this reason, there will not be any no big suffer for your wallet.

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