The Neon Tetra is a small freshwater tropical fish native to South America, around the Amazon river basin. Neon tetras are great for beginners, but these fish can't fend for themselves in captivity. It is important to maintain proper aquarium conditions, maintain the health of your tetras, and respond to disease so that your fish can live for a long time and stay healthy.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Maintaining Ideal Aquarium Conditions
Step 1. Buy a large aquarium
Neon tetras require an aquarium with a capacity of at least 40 liters of fresh water. This will give enough room for the fish to hide and swim. Prepare an aquarium that can hold a minimum of 40 liters for every 24 fish you want to keep.
Step 2. Do the cycling process without fish
It is recommended to do this process several weeks before buying fish. This process will clean the tank and get rid of harmful bacteria that can kill fish. Purchase a water test kit at your local pet store. Make sure the water does not contain ammonia (NH3), nitrite (NO2-), and nitrate (NO3-) before adding fish.
To do the cycling process, fill the aquarium with fresh water and turn on the filter. Add enough ammonia to increase the level to 2 ppm. Test the water daily and record how long it takes for ammonia to break down into nitrites. Once the nitrite level increases, add more ammonia to lower it. Ultimately, this process will encourage the growth of bacteria that produce nitrates. This will reduce nitrite levels. Continue testing the water until the levels of the three compounds are 0 ppm
Step 3. Close the filter line where the water enters
Neon tetras are delicate little fish, their bodies can be sucked into the filter and killed. Use mosquito net or foam to seal the water inlet on the filter. This will protect the fish and allow the filter to regulate the bacterial population in the water.
Step 4. Add organic ingredients
In their natural environment, neon tetras are used to living in water with lots of plants. Add aquatic or semi-aquatic plants to the aquarium (usually sold at pet stores). You can also add leaves and driftwood to create an environment similar to the natural habitat of the fish.
Plants and driftwood also provide a preferred hiding place for fish in their natural habitat
Step 5. Monitor the pH of the water
Neon tetras prefer slightly acidic water conditions, with a pH between 5.5-6.8. Purchase litmus paper to test for pH at the pet store. Follow the instructions on the label to read the test results correctly. It's a good idea to do a pH test every time you change the water.
If you intend to breed tetras, try to keep the pH of the water slightly lower, between 5.0-6.0
Step 6. Make a peat bag to lower the pH if necessary
Purchase nylon stockings and a bag of organic peat (sphagnum) from a gardening store. After washing your hands, fill the legs of the stockings with peat. Tie up the stockings after you've finished filling them with peat and cut off the leg of the stocking. Place the bag in the water and squeeze gently to remove any water that has passed through the peat filter. Then, leave the bag in the aquarium. Replace every few months with a new bag.
- Peat bags can also help soften the water needed for tetras to survive.
- Peat can cause a slight discoloration of the water. However, this is not dangerous. Regular (and necessary) partial water changes will ensure the aquarium water doesn't look like swamp water.
Step 7. Dim the light
In the wild, tetra fish live in dark water. Choose a relatively dark location in your home to place the aquarium. Purchase a low-intensity light bulb to create a dim light effect. Plants and other hiding places can also help create dark areas in the tank.
Step 8. Set the temperature
In general, an aquarium should have a temperature between 21–27 °C. Purchase an adjustable aquarium heater (you can buy it at most pet stores). To monitor the temperature, buy an aquarium thermometer.
If you want to breed fish, you will need to maintain a water temperature of around 24 °C
Step 9. Clean the aquarium regularly
Neon tetras need clean water with low levels of nitrates and phosphates to fight disease. Change about 20-50% of the aquarium water at least every two weeks. Scrub the algae that normally grows on the aquarium walls, filters, or decorations until they are clean.
Part 2 of 3: Keeping Tetra Healthy
Step 1. Buy some fish
Neon tetras must be in groups of 6 or more fish. Otherwise, he will feel stressed and fall ill. Do not add large carnivorous fish that can prey on tetras in the same tank. Some types of fish you might consider “friends” are other tetras, fish that eat algae such as otocinclus, corydoras, and African pygmy frogs.
Step 2. Quarantine new arrivals
You'll need to buy another aquarium if you don't already have one. Put new fish in quarantine for at least 2 weeks. This will prevent the spread of infectious diseases, such as neon tetra disease (NTD) and ich (white spot disease).
Step 3. Feed the tetras 2-3 times a day with a variety of feeds
Neon tetras are omnivorous fish and in their natural habitat live on insects as their main food. Feed the wingless fruit fly tetra and live or freeze dried bloodworms. You should also feed him algae (live or dried), artemia (live or freeze-dried), and fish pellets. You can collect this food yourself from the wild or buy it at a pet store.
- From time to time, you can feed tetra peas frozen, thawed and peeled. This will help the digestive process of the fish.
- The neon tetra may be too afraid to surface and eat or he may not pay attention to his food. If the fish are not eating, use a food web to bring food close to them.
Part 3 of 3: Responding to Disease
Step 1. Quarantine the fish infected with NTD
NTD is the most common disease affecting neon tetras. The first symptom of this disease is that the fish stay away from their friends. Fish infected with NTD will also lose the neon line on their body and appear spots or cysts on the dorsal fin. Once you recognize these early symptoms, immediately transfer the sick fish to the quarantine tank. This disease is usually not curable, but it never hurts to consult a veterinarian.
If your neon tetra looks dull at night, don't worry. That's normal. This condition is caused when special skin cells called “chromatophores” are resting. However, if this dull coloration persists during the day for several days in a row, the fish may be sick
Step 2. Treat white spot disease with environmental changes and medication
White spot disease is caused by a highly contagious parasite and is manifested in the form of small white cilia-covered spots on the body of the fish. To combat this, you can slowly raise the temperature of the tank to 30 °C over three days. This method should be effective in killing parasites.
- If the spots don't go away after 3 days, move the fish to a quarantine tank and add Cupramine (a copper-containing solution) to the water. Follow the instructions on the label. Try to keep the copper content at 0.2 ppm. You can measure the copper content with a Salifert test kit, which can be purchased at a hobby shop.
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Get rid of the white spot disease-causing parasite in the main tank with aquarium salt. You can buy them at pet supply stores. Add 1 teaspoon (5 g) per 4 liters of water every 12-36 hours. Do this process for 7-10 days.
If you have plastic plants, the aquarium salt will melt them. It's best if you take it out for the tetra's safety
Step 3. Learn about other diseases
Neon tetras that have health problems can also develop skin fluke problems (a disease caused by parasitic worms), bacterial infections and diseases, and parasitic infections. Consult a doctor or read a book about detailed symptoms and treatments for diseases that may affect fish. In many cases, you can save your fish by identifying the symptoms early and acting quickly.
Tips
- When adding a new tetra to the tank, it may swim along the walls, up and down, trying to escape. This is normal behavior.
- If your fish show symptoms of illness, immediately transfer them to a quarantine tank. Otherwise, the disease can infect other healthy fish.
- It is recommended to keep a lid on the tank at all times as tetras can jump well.
- It's best not to keep tetras in the same tank as angelfish or fish with long fins, as sometimes tetras will bite the fins of other fish, causing fin rot.
Warning
- Do not use sea salt or table salt as a substitute for aquarium salt.
- Be wary of drugs containing copper as they are often fatal to invertebrates.
- Don't use antibiotics/medicines, unless you really need them. Over time bacteria can develop resistance to antibiotics.
- Never feed a neon tetra with cucumbers.
