Neon Tetra Tank Size – The Complete Guide
If you are getting yourself ready to provide a home to some amazing neon tetra fish, you are certainly doing your research to get it right. These fish make quite the hardy pets, but they are still extremely sensitive to their aquarium conditions and could die soon if these are inappropriate.
Therefore, choosing a home that is suitably sized is essential, as this will ensure for your pets feeling well and safe. To ease your further research out, we are sharing the complete guide on neon tetra tank size below.
Also Read: 10 Facts about Neon Tetras
Minimum Tank Size for Neon Tetras
The minimum tank size for neon tetras is a 10-gallon aquarium. Although neon tetras are incredibly small fish and they usually never exceed 1.3 inches (3 cm) in length. They still are schooling fish, meaning that they have to live in groups of 5-6 at least.
Such size is recommendable because it will allow much easier maintenance. Indeed, partial water changes are much more reliable to perform within decently sized tanks, and there is lower risk for any water parameters being drastically changed while cleaning them.
Additionally, there is plenty of room available for properly setting up the tank decorations, along with lush greenery and several prettifying hiding spots.
Ideal Tank Size for Neon Tetras
The ideal tank size for neon tetras is a 40-gallon aquarium. In a bigger fish tank, you can house a bigger school of neon tetras and eventually can keep other peaceful fish too. A bigger water volume is much stable and when it comes to water parameters.
In a 40 gallon tank, you can keep 30-40 tetras. Keeping your neon tetras in a bigger group is not only beautiful, but it is better for the fish because they feel much comfortable.
More space means also more opportunities to plant helpful greenery, making the tank resemble even more to the natural habitat of these little fish, while at the same time improving the water quality and decreasing the frequency of partial water changes.
And not to mention how great can your tank look with so much space for an amazing setup. After all, a decently sized aquarium can easily become the central point of any living room.
How Many Neon Tetras to Keep Together?
You should aim to keep at least 6 neon tetras together in your tank. This is the bare minimum for your pets to be able of forming a functional school and keeping it healthy.
These fish are overly dependent on each other, and they can suffer from serious stress conditions if there are not enough specimens in a tank. And the more fish you are able to house, the happier will they be. However, your housing possibilities are restricted by the size of the living space which you can offer.
When setting up a neon tetra tank, a good thumb rule to apply is allowing approximately 1 gallon of water volume per 1 inch of fish body length. Therefore, you can fit up to 10 neons inside a 10-gallon tank.
Such proportions can sometimes be avoided, and you can safely adopt a few more specimens with the help of a few tricks. If you are willing to invest in a more powerful filtration system and to perform a few tank and maintenance modifications, it is perfectly fine to overstock your neon tank by a bit.
Heavily planted tanks that are being cleaned more regularly can, indeed, provide great requirements for some extra neon fish.
Can Neon Tetras Live in 5 Gallon Tank?
If your 5-gallon tank has a filter, your neons can survive in there, as they are really small creatures. However, the emphasis is on surviving, and not on living. Indeed, such small tanks cannot offer great space to these relatively active fish to thrive, so we highly recommend avoiding such tank sizes.
Smaller tanks are a synonym for decreased chances for proper schooling, meaning that your pets could often happen to bump into each other while trying to swim synchronized. This can easily trigger stress and even aggressive behavior among your neon group, causing serious disruptions to the overall well-being.
Can You Keep Neon Tetras in Glass Bowl?
Glass bowls rarely exceed 1 or 3 gallons of water volume. Perhaps they look quite decorative and make a nice addition to any table or shelf, but they are no proper home to any fish species.
Furthermore, you would only be able of keeping a couple of neons in there, making it impossible for them to form a school and thrive. Or survive for any decent period of time.
Can Neon Tetras Live in Plastic Tubs?
Plastic tubs are basically the same as tanks are, with the exception of the material difference. Therefore, keeping your neon tetras in plastic tubs is perfectly fine, as long as such tubs are decently sized as well as food-grade.
However, such solutions come with their own disadvantages, and one of them being overly obvious- it is plastic. That implies that you would need to find a suitably colored option in order for being able to see your pets without the need of standing right above them, but it will probably also be more complicated for you to set such tub as a suitable home environment.
All in all, plastic tubs are great, but they are perhaps handier as a temporary solution than a permanent home.
Wrapping Up
A decently sized aquarium is the very first step for providing a stable permanent home to your new fish pets. Therefore, choosing it wisely is essential.
With neon tetras being dependable schooling fish, great space (when compared to their minute size) is the basic precondition for them becoming able to thrive.
Indeed, these amazing fish need to be housed in groups of at least 6 specimens, but they also need to have plenty of space to move around as a whole unit. Providing that to your pets, along with appropriate water parameters and high-quality food, is the recipe for success.