# Why I like tetra as tankmates:



## Thunderloon (Feb 6, 2011)

Tetra are probably the most wildly varied fish in the world but there are some very very predictable things about them.

They're very sensitive to ammonia and nitrite.
They're good tankmates.
They'll eat left-over betta food.
They have some vivid colors that vary intensity depending on water quality.


My girl tank has bloodfins, my boy tank has tons of the striped neon kinds and sherbert the half-moon has pristella and gold pristella.

Primarily the red coloration on the fish is what you watch. Intense bright is happy good tank, dim bright is ok tank, fading is either tank getting bad or the tetra is having issues. Remember that most tetra get BIIIG, you're buying fry from the store, not full growns. 

I can, at a glance at my tetra, check to see if anything is out of kilter in my tank LONG before my Betta start showing an issue. I've even had a sudden "drastic" change in the five kill three pristella whilst Sherbert swam back and forth in a panic at me because something was wrong with his posse. Sherbert was fine and wasn't showing any signs of problems!

Remember that you really can't just buy "A" tetra. They all come in different preferred minimum groups. Bloodfin need a partner, stellas need three friends and many of the small stripe types need six, eight or more in their shoal. Don't get neon/glow light of any kind with less than a ten gallon even if you plan to later move them, they shoal and that is a large formation that needs space.

So here's me, talking about tetra on the Betta forums, such a troll!


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## Littlebittyfish (Jan 5, 2011)

What size tank do you keep them in? I ask because I would like to have more fish, and I'm looking into getting a bigger tank.


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## redian (Feb 7, 2011)

That's really useful information, actually. I wish I had known that when my friend's three tetras all died at once, followed by one of the other fish in the tank a few days later. After the fourth one went I told her it was time to get a heater. I wish I could put a few in my tank, but its too small


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

I had them and all but one croaked from getting Neon Tetra Disease. The only remaining one is struggling through ich caused by the stress of his schoal all dying and leaving him alone  I cant get more for a while, and Idk if Im gonna because of his ich.
Too sensitive for me...


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## Thunderloon (Feb 6, 2011)

I put them in as company in my various tanks, four in a 5g with a halfmoon, just two with the sorority ten and I think its 21 now in with her male. Hyoooge filter on that ten tank so bio isn't a worry.

Watch them for behavior at the store before you get them, some like to dart around a lot and while it doesn't bother the girls it'll drive the boys nuts.


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## tsoto80 (Nov 26, 2010)

I am curious about something. I had 5 neons but two of them died (one the night I brought him home the other died during a water change not sure what happened) since I only have 3 left do I HAVE to get more neons or could I get 3 tetras of a different type to make up the 1 school? or perhaps 1 tetra of 3 different types? hope that made sense lol


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## Thunderloon (Feb 6, 2011)

I know the following all shoal together just fine, they fly in a position holding formation in the mild bottom flow of my tank:


Neon Tetra, buck each.
 Cardinal Tetra, two buck each.
 Glow Light Tetra, buck each.
 Black Neon Tetra, buck each.
 Albino Neon (breedable), bout five buck each?
 Albino Cardinal (very rare), heh, have money.
24karat Tetra (hard to breed reliably, high suffer rate from 'neon tetra disease' and all the ones I had went nuts) around seven/eight bucks each.
'Double' Albino Neon Tetra, this is one that not only lacks general color but also lacks the tail and gill red patches. Mine is pink with intense blue eye and line. It is very... precious... to me. No idea where to look to find another and I hope it lives the ten years the rest normally do.
Pristella tetra and others of their "class" Like bleeding heart will shoal with ones that look like they do but there are some interesting exceptions:

Albino Black Neon, has same body shape as above but wanders the tank and couldn't care less about the shoal. Acts like a pristella, mid level. I call them 18karat because they're mildly gold-ish. Black Neon are actually more Glow Light Tetra than Neon.

http://www.aquariumlife.net/articles/tropical-fish/choosing-shoaling-aquarium-fish/149.asp an informative if difficult to digest listing of compatible fish in shoaling.


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

Thunderloon said:


> So here's me, talking about tetra on the Betta forums, such a troll!


Naw it's all good. Many of us run community setups so it's good information to get an idea of other species that may be compatible aside from the common theme of guppy, ghost shrimp, platy, cory... 

Thanks for sharing :thumbsup:


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## kfish (Oct 5, 2010)

I love these posts you make, lol. So informative.

I didn't know tetras were so sensitive... my mother has a 25 gallon tetra tank (black skirts, red eyes, red phantoms). One of the black skirt tetras has been alive for like 8 years (he's so big!), the other tetras for 4-6. I guess she's doing something right, even though I keep yelling at her because she never changes water ("I don't have time!" - so much nitrate... I try to reduce it when I'm home for weekends with water changes every day, but it's still off the charts). Although they're different types, they all shoal together.



















Mr. Fish was in with the tetras for a bit when we first got him (before I could bring him up to school). Our tetras were a bit too fast for him, lol. They annoyed him.


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## Thunderloon (Feb 6, 2011)

Lol yup, Dart had absolute screaming fits at the Gold Pristellas I got with the Neons. Love Gold Prissies too, they patrol in a shoal but not school. Four or more if you have room, figure them as two inches when fry and three when growing. They're effectively four when full grown, kinda weak metabolism but so majestic flying through the food cloud.

Dart would be so angry he'd lose his air at them and have to get more.

He was named dart because he had lice when I brought him home.


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## sylvia1572 (Oct 19, 2010)

I have a ten gallon tank with 6 neon tetras, 3 otos, and 4 Ghost Shrimp. They've all been living very happily for the last 6 months. The neons are "pretty", the otos are quick and hide a lot (sometimes in plainsight...lol) and do a great job of cleaning algae; and the Ghost Shrimp just crack me up...they also do a good job of cleaning food off the gravel and are very entertaining (my favorites). I would love to put my new very small white Crowntail in but I'd probably be overcrowding the tank and I heard that neons will nibble at his fins and he might eat my Shrimp (can't have that). So...guess I won't mess with success and keep the betta in his own place.


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