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Passport
- Family
- Tetras
- Grows to
- 3.5 cm (1.4")
- Lives
- 5 years
- Temperament
- Peaceful
- Care
- Beginner
- Swims
- Mid-water
- Keep
- In a group of 8 or more
- Water
- 20–28 °C (68–82 °F)
Brazil
Care requirements
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On record for Black Neon Tetra: adult size, lifespan, minimum tank, temperature, ph, hardness, minimum group, diet, care level, swim level, tank length.
A figure that is not on record is left out rather than guessed. One marked Suggested comes from keeping knowledge rather than a page.
- Minimum tank 57 L / 15.0 US gal
- pH 5–7.5
- Hardness 1–12 dGH
- Diet omnivore
- Tank length 80 cm minimum
Care notes written from general aquarium knowledge, not from the cited sources.
About
Black neons are the sensible cousin in the neon family, and the name undersells them. There's no red at all — the fish is a black band with a bright white-green line laid on top of it, and against a dark tank that line does the same job the blue does on a neon.
They're tougher than the fish they're named after. Almost every one you'll buy was bred on a farm rather than caught wild, and they shrug off the conditions that see off neons and cardinals in a new tank.
They come from the Paraguay basin and the Pantanal rather than the Amazon, and the water there is often clear and thick with plants rather than stained brown. That's worth knowing because it frees you from the blackwater setup the other small tetras push you toward.
Tank setup
Give your black neons dense planting round the edges and clear water through the middle. They come from streams choked with marginal vegetation, and they use plant cover the way other tetras use leaf litter.
Go dark on the substrate. That white line is a contrast trick, and over pale gravel you lose most of the effect.
They don't need tannins or dim light to look right, which makes them one of the easiest small tetras to fit into an ordinary planted community tank. If you do want the blackwater look they'll take it happily, but it isn't a requirement.
Keep the water steady and moderately soft. They're genuinely adaptable, and stability matters far more to them than hitting any particular target.
Feeding
Black neons eat anything they can fit in, and they're not shy about getting to it. A decent flake or micro pellet is a fine staple, which is not something you can say about every tetra.
Push past that and they get better. Frozen daphnia, bloodworm, mosquito larvae and brine shrimp all bring up the colour and the condition, and a couple of feeds a week is enough to see the difference.
They're quick feeders, so in a mixed tank check that slower fish are actually getting their share.
Avoid: feeding once heavily. Two small meals suit them far better.
Filtration and flow
Moderate flow suits black neons, and they'll handle more current than most small tetras without complaint. They're strong swimmers for their size.
Filter for waste rather than for turnover. They're forgiving of ordinary tap water but they still want a mature tank, and the losses people blame on the species are almost always an under-cycled filter.
Weekly water changes keep the colour up. This is one of those fish where a slightly neglected tank shows on the animal before it shows on a test kit.
With plants
Black neons are entirely safe with plants and are one of the better fish for a densely planted tank. Nothing is dug, eaten or uprooted.
Plant the back and sides thickly and leave the middle open. They want cover within reach and open water to use, and a tank that offers both gets you a shoal out in front instead of a group hiding at the back.
Health
They're among the hardier small tetras and most keepers have no trouble with them. Ordinary community complaints — ich after a temperature swing, the odd fungal patch on a damaged fin — are what you'll meet.
Neon tetra disease can appear here too. The signs are a fish losing colour patchily, falling out of the shoal and wasting while everything around it stays healthy. Remove that fish rather than treating the tank.
Their colour is a slow gauge rather than a fast one. Unlike a rummynose they won't signal a problem within hours, so don't rely on them to warn you.
Breeding
Black neons spawn readily, which makes them a good first tetra to try. They scatter adhesive eggs among fine-leaved plants and then eat every one they can find.
Set up a small separate tank, keep it dim, and fill it with moss, spawning mops or a mesh floor the eggs can drop through. Condition the adults on live and frozen food first, introduce them, and take them out once you see eggs.
The fry need infusoria or a very fine dry food to start, then baby brine shrimp once they've grown enough to take it. Keep the tank shaded while the eggs develop, because light damages them at that stage.
Tank mates
Avoid10
- Convict Cichlid Convict Cichlid grows to 15 cm against Black Neon Tetra at 4 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Jewel Cichlid Jewel Cichlid grows to 15 cm against Black Neon Tetra at 4 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Panda Garra Panda Garra grows to 9 cm against Black Neon Tetra at 4 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Pictus Catfish Pictus Catfish grows to 12 cm against Black Neon Tetra at 4 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Common Goldfish Common Goldfish is not safe with Black Neon Tetra: common goldfish and tetras are a bad pairing.
Only with care10
- Chinese Algae Eater Chinese Algae Eater is aggressive and Black Neon Tetra is peaceful.
- Cherry Barb Black Neon Tetra and Cherry Barb are an uneasy mix: barbs and tetras are a pairing to watch.
- Gold Barb Gold Barb is a risk to Black Neon Tetra: barbs and tetras are a pairing to watch.
- Odessa Barb Black Neon Tetra and Odessa Barb are an uneasy mix: barbs and tetras are a pairing to watch.
- Paradise Fish Paradise Fish is a risk to Black Neon Tetra: large gouramis and tetras are a pairing to watch.
No conflict is recorded with the other 85 species in the database, so nothing to flag. 3 species are not covered at all, so they could not be judged either way.