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Fluval Aquatics | Species Spotlight | Black Neon Tetra

• Jun 26, 2018
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Tom Sarac
Fluval Brand Development Manager

Hey, guys welcome to our fish showcase series. This is the first video in a series of videos we're going to be shooting on community fish for your aquariums. We're gonna start with some of the smaller schooling species and then we're gonna progress to some other categories of fish. We're going to look at things like the average species size, what to feed them, the water conditions they prefer, the tank mates, a little bit about their origins and so forth so just to help you along making some wise choices for your aquarium.

Let's get right into it, the first species we're gonna be covering today is Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi which is the black neon tetra, really cool little fish. It originates from South America specifically from Brazil and Bolivia, those countries in particular. Comes from slower moving streams, most of them are kind of tea colored stained with tannins and so forth. There prefer pH ranges vary a bit, they like relatively soft a medium hard water. Some of their locations are some of the localities that come from, do have dense plant growth and of course, the type of setup or structure they prefer the originated from is a kind of a sandy white sandy bottom, leaf structure with some pebbles and so forth.

When it comes to behavior and the type of tank that they're suitable for, it's important to note that they are a peaceful smaller tetra. Not the smallest kind, they get a little bit larger, so they are suitable in community tank setups, with some medium or larger fish, so they are not that small.

The difference between males and females is that males are slimmer, the females are more fuller bodied and they're a little bit larger in size.

Very distinguishing feature about the black neon tetra is the red to dark orange circle around their eyes. It's contrasting and the longitudinal white kind of beige to green overtone stripe that goes through the center of the body. It's a very unique looking fish and it really makes for a nice addition to any commute tank especially with other small to medium schooling species.

They can grow anywhere between about 1" to 1.5" and lengths, females getting a little bit larger.

Other types of peaceful fish you might consider mixing them with are:

• Pencil fish
• Dwarf Cichlids
• Corydoras Catfish

The typical type of tank setup for them would be something between 20 and 40 gallons where you can keep a school of at least a dozen. A fairly well-planted tank that is not too bright, they don't like bright lighting and of course, some almond leaves on the bottom to add a slightly tan stain water will be ideal for keeping a school of these fish.

Feeding the black neon tetra, they are avid feeders, it's not a fussy fish. They prefer to feed in mid water column, although they will attack the surface. The types of food you want to feed black neons are:

• smaller granules food all bug bites comes to mind
• freeze-dried foods
• flakes
• tablet foods (for example that stick to the glass)

They'll attack virtually anything give to them, a good varied diet is ideal, so frozen smaller foods are good as well.

Water conditions, the black neon tetra is really a very hardy fish and will tolerate a large pH range from about 5.5 to 7.5 but 6 - 6.5 is really ideal for them. Hardness range from 1 to 10 dkh and 4 - 5 is a good value to shoot for. Temperature 77 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit (25 to 28 degrees Celsius). The type of water that they like is lightly stained, slow to medium currents stained with tannins like from peat for example or almond leaves is a great thing to incorporate in there.

Don't forget to comment in the in the comments area below, make sure to let us know of any other species you'd like us to cover and in order to keep in touch with this fascinating series on a different fish we're going to cover please don't forget to subscribe, thanks a lot for watching.