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I've got a school of 6 Green Neon Tetras, and I'd like to increase this by another 2-4 fish. However, I hadn't seen the green neon's on sale before I'd bought them and I haven't seen them since, will a 'normal' neon school with them? or maybe a cardinal? I'm not hopeful that my LFS will be getting more as these were labelled as wild.

Can't say much about green tetras, as I've never had them... But I do have quite a mix in my 55 gal at the present time.... Golds, neons, glowlights, diamonds --- and what I've witnessed is that in swimming around they do mix with each other... At any given moment, two of one kind and three of another might be seen swimming along together... While at other times, you will see a group of the same tetra type... In short, the swimming partners don't seem to remain consistent - one way or another!

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To thine own self be true...

I agree with dreamweaver, tetras do seem to change schools and are not very consistant. I think that you could add some other tetras with your current ones. Here are my tetras in a school.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/aquapickle27/IMG_3214.jpg

I have serpae, neon, black neon, and glowlite tetras in a school.

†Aquapickle†

I think that Green Neon Tetras will school with normal Neons & Cardinals.


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I see no reason why they won't given that Green Neons, Neons and Cardinals all belong to the same Genus, and furthermore share similar water conditions in the wild, even if their ranges don't overlap. Mind you, they're all Amazonian fishes and not that far apart from each other ...

In fact, many of the South American Tetras are compatible because, if you check their wild ranges, many of them actually do overlap. Even those that don't have overlapping ranges in the wild will generally get on with each other, apart from the likes of Serpaes and other fin-nipping reprobates that are best kept with something a bit tougher!

Among your 'typical' and widely available small South American Tetras, the following can be mixed quite happily in my view, provided that you make sure each has a good number of its own species as part of the overall fish count:

Neons
Cardinals
Green Neon/False Neon
Lemons
Flame Tetras
Glowlights
Black Neons
Rummy-Nosed Tetras
Garnet Tetras
Head & Tail Lights
Belgian Flag Tetras
January Tetras
Kitty Tetras
Columbian Red Blues
Rosy Tetras
Ornate Tetras
Bleeding Hearts
Loreto Tetras
Ulreyis
Pristellas
Red Phantoms
Black Phantoms

... and about 40-odd others !!!!

Among the ones you might have to experiment with are Emperors and Diamond Tetras - some people here claim that Emperors are a lot less social than the 'conventional' small Tetras, but I've yet to see this in action, so to speak. Diamond Tetras are sociable with each other, but their compatibility with other Tetra species has yet to be fully determined, and you might have to keep an eye on them to see how they get along, but if you end up with a compatible display, the result will be worth it because Diamond Tetras really live up to their name in the right setting!

Among the Tetras that are considered decidedly unsocial are Cochu's Blues, but they're not a novice's species anyway!

Serpaes can be nasty, and to a lesser extent so can Red-Eye Tetras. Buenos Aires Tetras are larger than most others, and tough enough to be used as dither fish for Convict Cichlids! Another group of Tetras that are considered likely to be nippy in some circles are the Penguin Fishes or Hockey Stick Tetras.

Finally, if you EVER decide to go with Beckford's Pencil Fishes, be advised that I had a batch that were complete and utter psychopaths - while they lived up to their billing as the hardiest of the Pencil Fishes, under NO circumstances could mine be called 'peaceful community fishes' ... Mine behaved like hardcore criminal Mbuna or Central American Cichlids! If you decide to try them out, watch them like a hawk!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Are these "Green Neons" Paracheirodon simulans (the "False Neon", which looks like Neons and Cardinals except that its red stripe is smaller than either's), or Hemigrammus hyanuary (also called the "Costello" or "January" Tetra, which has no blue or red on it at all, but instead has a genuinely green stripe and a large brass-colored tail light)? The latter turn up far more often in the stores around here -- but you can't expect them to school with Neons or Cardinals because they look totally different, whereas P. simulans (which I've never kept) might very well mingle with its blue and red brothers. At any rate, both species are totally peaceful.

Thanks for all of this. I think they're the Paracheirodon simulans, as they do look a lot like neon's. They did have a green tinge to them when they were smaller, but they seem to have got bluer with age.

Anyway, off to the LFS at the weekend to see what I can get.