#Glow neon tetra professional#

Neon tetras look very beautiful when combined with other tetra species, but they can be combined with fishes from a broad range of other families as well. The Neon Tetra is a peaceful fish that is often kept in community aquariums with other non-aggressive fish species of roughly the same size. Neon Tetra behaviour and suitable tank mates: The name Cardinal Tetra is derived from the long, red robes worn by cardinals and these robes do not end half-way. If the striping instead continuous much longer, you are looking at a Cardinal Tetra. If this red strip ends roughly halfway from the nose of the fish, you are looking at a Neon Tetra. Under the sparkling blue stripe, you will see a red lateral stripe in both species. Distinguishing these two species from each other is however not difficult at all if you know what to look for.

The Cardinal Tetra is even sometimes referred to as “Red Neon Tetra” in everyday language, even though it is in fact a separate species and not a colour variation of the Neon Tetra. The Neon Tetra is often mixed up with the Cardinal Tetra, since they both feature striking red and blue stripes. You might also be keeping them on an inadequate diet. If the colouration continues to be dull even after some time in the light, your tetras might be ill or stressed. If you quickly turn on the lights in the aquarium after a longer period of complete darkness, you might not notice your Neon Tetras at first. The belly is of a silvery colour and the anal fin is nearly transparent.ĭuring the night, when the fish is resting in a sheltered place, the sparkling colours will be turned off and the fish will look dim. The side over the blue stripe is of a dark olive green shade. The Neon tetra is also decorated with a red stripe that runs from the middle of the body to the base of the caudal fin. A glistering blue line runs along each side of the body, from the nose and all the way to the adipose fin.

Just like the other tetra species, the Neon tetra has a spindle shaped body and a blunt nose. Today, an introduced population of Neon Tetra is established in Singapore. The commercial bred Neon Tetras have often been adapted to conditions that are very different from those found in their native habitat. The flow through tropical regions and the water temperature stays around 20 – 26° C (), sometimes higher. The South American blackwater and clearwater streams and rivers have very soft and somewhat acidic water. (In Brazil, the name Rio Solimões is sometimes used even further upstream, but the name Rio Marañón is more common for those parts.) Rio Solimões is a name attributed to an upstream part of the great River Amazon a part that starts at the border of Brazil and Peru and ends when the river converges with Rio Negro. The Neon Tetras have bright colours and an iridescent stripe in order to be visible in dark blackwaters.Ī lot of Neon Tetras are caught from Rio Solimões. You can however not find Neon tetras in the whitewater rivers that run from the Andes. It is present in both blackwater and clearwater stream tributaries. The Neon tetra originates from westerns Brazil, south-eastern Colombia and eastern Peru and wild Neon Tetras can be found in the headwaters of the River Amazon, Tiger, Napo and Yarapa. The Neon Tetra is a pelagic freshwater fish native to tropical parts of northern South America. Wild caught Neon tetras from Brazil, Colombia and Peru are however also still available in the trade. If you purchase Neon tetras in the United States, the chance is high that they hail from Thailand, Singapore or Hong Kong.

#Glow neon tetra professional#

Over 1.5 million Neon tetras are imported to the United States alone – each month! It can be tricky to breed in captivity for hobby aquarists, but professional breeders that produce immense quantities of Neon tetra exist in several countries world wide. The Neon tetra is an extremely popular aquarium fish, especially among beginner aquarists. They are often kept together in planted community aquariums with soft, acidic waters and tropical water temperatures. The less commonly kept Black Neon tetra ( Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi)is however a more distant relative since it belongs to another genus within the family Characidae the genus Hyphessobrycon.Īll members of the genus Paracheirodon are native to the Neotropic ecozone in northern South America and their bodies are decorated with a characteristic sparkling blue lateral line. This makes it closely related to other popular aquarium fishes like the Cardinal tetra ( Paracheirodon axelrodi) and the Green Neon tetra ( Paracheirodon simulans). The Neon tetras belongs to the genus Paracheirodon in the family Characidae.