Neon Tetras - some advice on various issues please (Tank size/school-size/cycling/heat/lighting/anything-else)

Question

I am looking at populating my tank solely with Neon Tetras. My tank is 22 UK gallons. The tank is about 4 years old and everything in it (substrate and ornaments) have been used in other tanks, also I have been cycling the tank for 8 days now. It has a sponge filter, UV light, air-pump, four plants, a few ornaments including ones big enough at the back of the tank to provide hiding-places for moments of solitude.

I would be very grateful for advice on the following:

How many can I safely introduce at once?

How many can I (eventually) have in total given the tank size?

Is it safe to keep the UV light on for a few hours at night?

I will be buying a heating unit in the next few days - how long should I run that (and at what constant temp??) before I introduce the first fish?

I also intend to buy a complete test-kit to cover ammonia/nitrite/nitrate issues. Any tips on that and water change frequency/amounts?

Anything else?

Many thanks for your informed advice :-)

Answer 1

It sounds like you are doing well so far and that you are not rushing into anything too quickly which is a mistake many people make. I think populating your tank with all neons is a good idea since they do better in groups and look better that way too.

I would start with introducing a group of about 5 first as soon as your temp. is regulated to 74-78 degrees F. Wait for one week, do a 20-50% water change (amounts are debatable, I prefer doing 50% myself), then introduce about 5 more. Do this repeatedly until your tank is fully stocked at around 20-25 fish. I would continue to do these water changes weekly or bi-weekly (I think weekly is better) after your tank is stocked and gently squize out your sponge filters in lukewarm water every couple weeks or so to clean them. Make sure you use a dechlorinator such as 'Stress Coat' and some beneficial bacteria like 'Cycle' is good as well to add to new water during water changes.

Use a freshwater master test kit made by Aquarium Pharmacuticals, inc. or you can buy individual test kits for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph which in my opinion are the essentials especialy for beginners, or you could by some multi test strips which are a little less precise but are quicker and easier to use.

It is best to have your light on in the daytime and off at night but if it is on for a couple hours during the night I think it will be OK. As NoSoup pointed out the more you leave your light on, the more chance you have of getting algae overgrowth in your tank. There are many ways to deal with this as well but this is a seperate issue intirely.

Answer 2

You could introduce about 5-7 at a time and total about 35 Neons (26 U.S. gallons). Run the heater until the water is a fairly stable 77 degrees. It would be best if the light was only on 12 hours a day (very maximum) or you will have algae issues. Change 20% of the water every 2 weeks (do this by vacuuming the gravel). If you can get a hold of some live aquatic plants like Anacharis/Elodea, Java Moss, Dwarf Hairgrass, or Chain Swords, the Neons will have a better pop in their coloring. Good luck with the Neons!

Nosoop4u

Answer 3

First of all cycling your tank is very important, and gets done faster if you add a couple fo zebra danios
You can introduce fish as soon as your nitrites and ammonia levels are at "0", then your cycling is done
Temperature should be anywhere between 76-80 degrees, when you turn on your heater it takes about 24 hours for the water to adapt to the set temperature
Neons are schooling fish, so they should be kept at least 6 per group
There are several species, like the neon tetras, black tetras, .... here is a site with all the different species
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetra

I think you should be able to keep at least 5-6 school of different neons in your tank

You're suppose to turn the light off for 12-14 hours at night, and leave it on for 10-12 hours during the day

Hope that helps
Good luck



EB

Answer 4

I am not sure what method you are using to cycle your tank, I am currently 8 days into cycling my tank as well, testing my water daily. I would also say that putting in a heater and keeping the water at a high temp will help speed up the cycling process.

Have a look at the following link that will give you advice on fishless cycling.

http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861

If you use the methods as described in the above link you should be able to introduce the full amount of fish for your tank.
without knowing the dimensions of the tank it is difficult to advise how many this would be but it is usually safe to say 1" of fish for every Gallon of water, this would allow you to add 11 neon's as they grow to about 2" I think, you could add more depending on the surface area of your tank.

neon tetra info for water temp and PH levels
http://www.aquaria.info/modules.php?file=speciesdetails&id=848&op=modload&name=database

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

Well thats a good chioce of fish!!!!

You should be able to safely add about 5 neon tetras at once.

You could have about 15.

you can but i prefer to make a night and day feel to my tank.

I'd say about 27'c

I change my water 20% every 2 weeks.There is info in the water test kit.




Those fish don't tend to schoal mutch. But i would add guppies and platies. If you type in on google search community tank type 1 thats the community that neons fit into and it tells you the type of other fish you could add good luck..

Answer 6

Pretty much as everyone says, it will have a nice splash of colour however they will be all over the place with out a threat they tend not to shoal, also i'd have the temperature set more to the mid 80's as with most fish from the Amazon, this will also help to keep white spot off.

Aj