Neon Tetra Feeding Frequency, Tank Mates, and Care Techniques

The neon tetra, also known as the neon tetra characin, is a freshwater ornamental fish of the family Characidae and the genus Paracheirodon. Today we will introducehow often should you feed a neon tetra? What fish is it suitable to keep with? How can you keep it so it doesn't die easily?

1. How often should you feed a neon tetra?

Feeding a neon tetra twice a day is enough. Feed once before 8 a.m. and once before 6 p.m. It is best to choose live bloodworms, microworms or granular fish food as the main food; these live foods do not easily pollute the water.

2. What fish is it suitable to keep with?

1. Siamese fighting fish

The Siamese fighting fish likes to live in water of 22-24 degrees, but not below 20 degrees. It is not demanding about the acidity, alkalinity or hardness of the water, likes to eat mosquito larvae, and is famous for being combative. When two males meet, they will certainly fight; when fighting, they open their gill covers wide and quiver their fins. Therefore, when keeping them, do not put more than 2 adult males in the same tank, but they do not fight with other tropical fish, and female fighting fish do not fight among themselves either.

2. Angelfish

Angelfish have a very gentle temperament and have no special requirements for water quality. In weakly acidic water they can be kept mixed with the vast majority of fish. The only thing to note is the tiger barb of the family Cyprinidae; these naughty and lively little fish often like to nibble the anal fin and caudal fin of angelfish. Although it is not a fatal attack, in order to maintain the beautiful shape of the angelfish, it is still best to avoid keeping angelfish mixed with them.

3. Bolivian ram

Keeping the Bolivian ram should be said to be fairly simple; it is gentle in temperament and relatively able to coexist peacefully, but for the sake of breeding it is still better not to keep too many mixed together. It is best kept in a planted tank, can be kept in a small aquarium, and basically this species is not a picky eater and can adapt to artificial food.

4. White Cloud Mountain minnow

The White Cloud Mountain minnow is a small fish of the family Cyprinidae, found growing only in the small streams of the mountainous area around Baiyun Mountain in Guangzhou, China. Its wild population is now extinct, and it is a national Class II protected wild animal of China. It is relatively commonly kept in captivity in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, China and other places. In the ornamental fish market there are artificially bred and kept individuals, which are also exported to all parts of the world.

3. How can you keep a neon tetra so it doesn't die easily?

1. The keeping environment of the neon tetra

In the wild, the neon tetra mainly inhabits the blackwater and clearwater areas of the Solimoes River in South America. Its habitat has a typical tropical rainforest climate, hot and rainy all year round, with a temperature between 20-26°C, a pH between 5.0-7.0 (on the acidic side), and a GH between 1-2. It is best kept in soft water, but after many generations of breeding it can also accept the hardness of tap water.

2. The breeding method of the neon tetra

The neon tetra reaches sexual maturity at 6 months of age, and 8-10 months of age is the best breeding period. When the female's belly is swollen, keep her separate from the males for a few days first, feed her plenty of food, and then pair them and put them into the tank. The breeding water quality requires a pH of 5.6-6.8, GH 1-3.5°, and a water temperature of 25°C. Place an artificial spawning nest in it. The breeding tank must be shaded from light and kept quiet. One female can lay about 150 eggs. After spawning, take the parent fish out to avoid them swallowing the eggs; the fry hatch in 24 hours.

3. Management of neon tetra fry

Neon tetra fry are tiny and swim only a little, so they can only eat when the food reaches their mouths. For the first food, sift egg yolk water through a 200-mesh net and feed it drop by drop with a dropper. After some time, when the fry are swimming normally, switch to egg yolk water sifted through a 150-mesh net. The fry grow slowly, and the period during which they feed on egg yolk water is longer than for other small varieties. In addition, the hatching water for the fry is extremely soft, and the water temperature is completely different from the daily keeping water temperature. When the fry grow to 5 mm, they should be moved to a large tank to be kept, and be careful to let the fry have a process of adapting to the water quality.