Neon Tetras are omnivores and will eat almost anything that you put into the tank.

Once the aquarium has been cycled, you can slowly introduce your neon tetras or other fish.

Fill up the aquarium with water, and start the process of cycling it.Attach a filtration system along with your desired substrate and any decorations or driftwood.A 20 gallon aquarium has 170 pounds of water alone. To put everything together, I recommend proceeding in this order. Some peat moss can help to naturally lower the pH of your aquarium, while adding to the natural aspect. That means that it would be helpful to have a planted tank, with several pieces of large driftwood. Neon Tetras, and the brackish streams they come from, have heavy plant matter, driftwood, and all of the associated natural goodness. I recommend also including some sort of medium in your filter that allows bacteria to easily grow, which will help with cycling your aquarium.ДЄnother major aspect of constructing the ideal neon tetra habitat will be replicating the in-tank aspects of the location they come from. IвЂ™d recommend a HOB filter rated for your aquarium size, or a sponge filter if you are planning to try and breed your tetras. To keep these fish, youвЂ™ll want a minimum of a 10 gallon tank if you only keep 6-8 neon tetras, however, to really let them move, IвЂ™d recommend having at least a 20 gallon aquarium.ДЇor the filter, pretty much any filter will work, neon tetras donвЂ™t have a heavy bioload.

That means youвЂ™ll want 6-8 as a minimum, with more being better. On top of this, Neon Tetra are schooling fish. If your water parameters donвЂ™t match this, donвЂ™t worry too much, you can still keep neon tetras perfectly healthy. They also prefer soft water, with a hardness <15 dGH. However, being from the Amazon means that neon tetras prefer low pH water, in the mid-6s. I recommend leaning towards the upper end of that range.ДЄs for your other water parameters, I know itвЂ™s generally hard to tightly control your aquarium pH or hardness. This means you should have a heater for your aquarium, and keep it anywhere from the mid-70s on the lower end, up until the mid-80s. Neon Tetra are tropical fish, and need tropical water temperatures. Neon Tetra Tank SetupДЄs an aquarist, the most important aspect of fish care to me, is replicating the fishвЂ™s natural habitat. Cardinal tetras also tend to be a bit rounder, especially on the bottom. The biggest difference in appearance between these two fish is the length of the red stripe, which continues until the gills of the fish for cardinal tetras. One fish that the neon tetra is often confused with is the cardinal tetra, which as grown in popularity in recent years. They also have a distinctive red stripe starting at the tail and continuing to their middle. They have a pinkish stomach, and a distinct blue top half. They have several small fins on the bottom, and then one large fin on top like most fish. neon Tetras are small fish, never more than an inch or two in length. The distinctive appearance of Neon Tetras can be seen above.

Neon tetra size