# Black Neon tetra



## AlecFish (Nov 26, 2011)

I've fallen in love with these guys, just love the coloration from a black to a greenish white. Anyways wondering if any of you have kept them, they would be with possibly cardinal tetra's as well in a heavily planted tank. I have a few questions as well. 

Do they ever show any aggression? 

Are they tight schoolers? 

What's their maximum size? 

How many would you suggest in a 75 gallon? 

I'm open to any other suggestions for fish!  
Thanks


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## driftwoodhunter (Jul 1, 2011)

I can't say how many for your tank, but I've kept black neon tetras in almost every tank I've had - I love them. Hardy fish, schoolers - but not a tight school. I've had them with neons, cardinals, tiger barbs, rosy barbs, rainbows - you get the idea, very peaceful fish. The females will get much deeper bodies than the males so it will be easier to sex them as adults. I have some in a 40b now that are going on two years old. I love these fish! As they get older their red eye will become very intense - great coloring. Mine aren't very big. I don't know exactly, but between 1-1/4" and 1-3/4" I think.


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## AlecFish (Nov 26, 2011)

If you have 2 schooling tetra's do they ever school with each other. 
Like, lets say I get 14 of these and 20 cardinal's will they school together or stay with there own species?


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## driftwoodhunter (Jul 1, 2011)

My black tetras school with the harlequin rasboras in one tank, and they schooled with the celebes rainbows in another tank until I had to remove the tetras. Whether this is normal or not I don't know - it would be typical of me to have atypical fish! lol


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## AlecFish (Nov 26, 2011)

The the black neon's active? 
How well do they look against a heavily planted tank?


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## driftwoodhunter (Jul 1, 2011)

They're not super active - not like danios for instance. Mine sorta float along, mostly in the middle levels of the tank, covering the whole length of it. They don't hover in one part like my fat lazy tiger barbs - lol.
because they are so dark they don't stand out in a heavily planted tank like neons or cardinals do, but I still like them.
Maybe you could find vids of black neon tetras on YouTube, that would give you a good idea of how they look in a group...


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## AlecFish (Nov 26, 2011)

Yeah, thanks I found quite a few vids on youtube. They look awesome in a group although they don't do much they're still pretty cool.


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

I liked mine. As I recall, keep them well fed or they nip the tips of fine leaved plants. I didnt feed mine for a weekend and came home to tips missing


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## Naekuh (Oct 19, 2011)

Aquarist14 said:


> I've fallen in love with these guys, just love the coloration from a black to a greenish white. Anyways wondering if any of you have kept them, they would be with possibly cardinal tetra's as well in a heavily planted tank. I have a few questions as well.
> 
> Do they ever show any aggression?
> 
> ...



umm i have a mix school of tetras with blacks... 

1. They arent agressive unless its to each other for pecking order. 
2. one of them tends to stay with my other tetras, a mix of neons and glowlights... the other guy tends to be by himself, it looks like he's playing watch. But he's off by himself until he's scared where he will rejoin, then go off by himself.
He's the first one tho to dash for food, hence why i think he's watch. 
3. seems like all the tetras are capping at 1inch... when i got the blacks, they were the biggest tetras i had, as my neons and glow lights grew, they look average now. 
4. depends on the bioload, why type of chemical and biological filtration you doing, and also how diligent you are with water changes.


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## Daximus (Oct 19, 2011)

Great fish, I love mine. They school together sometimes, and sometimes they join in with the larger herd of regular Neons I have. Totally peaceful. 

Basically they act just like regular Neons, a little bigger, and a little tougher.


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## AlecFish (Nov 26, 2011)

Yeah, they look like a beefier version of cardinal's to me. The colors aren't that great but there are other options if I don't like them. They don't have a "wow" factor to me.


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## aznartist34 (Nov 19, 2010)

They school loosely and would join others sometimes. I've seen some rather large females getting close to 2 inches but out of my school of 8 males the max is about 1.5 in. They have a beautiful yellow tinge on the lower half of the body and their red eyes really stand out. When my fish start squaring off against each other their black stripe fades in the middle and is replaced with a metallic blue tint, absolutely stunning display.


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## djscotty (Sep 14, 2010)

My Black Neons and Glo light Neons have been very hardy. The black Neons like one person said sometimes just hang out by themselves and do not school very often. My Blacks are huge compared what you see in the LFS now. They are almost 18 months old.


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## AlecFish (Nov 26, 2011)

I did some research although they're sweet fish. They're always "chill" not really doing anything. I like the Lemon Tetra a but better than these guys as they have more color and probably will swim out more often. I still don't have a ton of info on Lemon's so I can't be sure. I might do black neon's though because of the Cardinal's and black neon's looking pretty similar but different colorations. The black and white of the black neon and the red and blue from the cardinal could be an amazing sight.


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

I do have black neons in 2 of my tanks. I have never seen them school, but they do tend to hang together with a straggler or two. It was not by design, but 11 of them ended up sharing a 75T with 12 cardinals and (oh boy) 4 large Blood Parrots. I have never seen the two groups school together, when cardinals wander off to another side of the tank, black neons stay put. In comparison, cardinals are a lot more bolder and mostly ignore the Blood Parrots. On the other hand, ime, the black neons are much more hardier then cardinals. Black Neons also tend to stay in the upper 1/3 of the tank, while cardinals can be frequently seen all over the upper 2/3.

Before they got moved to 75, they were mostly alone in a 22g, with couple of otos, a beta, and a baby BN for company. In that tank they were always 'front and center', spending most of their time lined up against the current.

Another 13 are in a 36 Corner tank with Von Rios, rummy noses, and 6 loaches. In that tank I've seen black neons chasing Von Rios away from their favorite hanging spot in front of the return. They do seem to enjoy a decent current a lot more then the cardinals. The 36g is a 'black water' tank while the 75G is not. IMHO, the black neons (and cardinals) look a lot brighter and happier in 'black water'.

Black Neons are also frequently on sale at Petsmart at $1/ea. All of mine came from there with no issues.


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## driftwoodhunter (Jul 1, 2011)

OVT, I just wanted to say what a gorgeous Dane you have!


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

> OVT, I just wanted to say what a gorgeous Dane you have!


Thank you. He is the biggest fish I have


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## Guest (Nov 5, 2013)

*i will tell you about them*

they are not agresiv they are tite schoolers though


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## Guest (Nov 5, 2013)

*i will tell you about them*

they are not agresiv they are tite schoolers though


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