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I'm getting a 55gal to put in my basement. I'm going to try my hand at keeping tetras. All the tetras my lfs does'nt have are the ones I want to get. I've found some supliers on the web that have them but they want $24 in shiping for a $5 fish:%). So my question is how do I get these cool fish cheaply and localy? Also, I've always had a specal interst in tetras but I never tried keeping anything other than neons, cardinals and silvertips. I've found several articles online but they don't give much info on the different kinds of tetras or the care of them. Your help would be appreciated. Thanks-

P.S. If you havn't noticed I'm a tetra newbi.

I LOVE MY 55GALLON REEF!!!!!

Well, what tetras are the ones you want to get you can try [link=aquabid]http://aquabid.com" style="COLOR: #0000C0[/link] and see if they have the tetra you want.


==fish1

I am looking for neons, silvertips, (which I can find in my lfs) bloodfins, flame, columbian redfin, gold, black skirt, black phantom, phantom and any other tetras compatible with these. Also, what would be a good centerpiece fish to go with these?

I LOVE MY 55GALLON REEF!!!!!

Not sure about how to get other tetras except ask the pet stores if the can order some for you. As far as a Centerpiece fish I really like gouramis. My favorite is the pearl/lace gourami.

My lfs is very cooperative with their buyers about ordering the fish that anyone requests, unless your lfs is very inconsiderate they should do the same.

those breeds r common n u should b able to order them there all farmed as to the care pm if u want details ive breed n raised all but the columbian

Thanks for all your help. O.K. now for the real reason that I posted on this topic. I need some info on tetra care and just what a tetra is. Like the habits and the normal stuff the fish does, not in speciffiying the species or anythinhg else. and an other thing PLEASE dont ask me a lot of hard or advanced questions that a experienced fishkeeper would know (notice my status is Small Fry or Beginer or Newbi). so please just keep it simple when giving me info and stuff on care and keeping of tetras. Thanks C.J.T

I LOVE MY 55GALLON REEF!!!!!

In general its a good idea to keep in mind that tetras are shoaling fish and will do much better in shoals of at least 6 fish with lots of swimming room.As far as tank conditions go it simply depends on what type of tetra your talking about as different tetras require different tank conditions.Good Luck in your future fishkeeping endevers.

While I've got a considerable amount of experience with them -- indeed, I'm something of a Tetra freak -- just about the only advice I can give you is some cautionary notes on the types I've found most difficult to keep. In that category, the ones I've consistently had most trouble with because of delicacy are Diamonds and Cochu's Blues. Some others -- Cardinals, Rummy-Noses and Red Phantoms -- seem to me tougher than they're often described as being (although the first two in particular still definitely prefer frequent water changes). Glowlights, on the other hand, strike me as somewhat more delicate than they're usually described -- maybe because they've been seriously inbred in the fish farms.

Where aggression is concerned, I've had fairly serious trouble with Serpaes -- they seem to be first-class fin-nipping bullies when kept with other species, which is a pity since they're both beautiful and tough.

And my strongest recommendation of all is: do NOT get Neons! At this point, Neon Tetra Disease - the most horrendous fish disease I've ever encountered, by a country mile -- is literally pandemic among Neons sold in stores, apparently because it's spread around in the mass fish farms where they're bred. Not only is this disease incurable when the victim shows any visible symptoms (faded whitish areas on the body; crooked spines; staggering or spiralling swimming), but it's extremely difficult to keep it from spreading to the rest of the fish in your tank -- and a lot of other species besides Neons catch it (including a fair number of non-tetras). If you see any sign of it, the only recommendation I can make is: get the fish out of there FAST and euthanize it; remove all corpses the moment you see them (it's especially easily spread by fish eating infected corpses, although it can also spread through the water itself), and try adding quinine and/or nitrofurazolidine to your water, which may or may not do something to help kill the free-swimming organisms -- I'm still trying to decide. Do NOT use Nalidixic Acid, no matter what you read -- it has little or no effect, and it's the only fish medicine I've ever encountered which is seriously poisonous to fish. The first time I contended with Neon Disease, I poisoned half the residents of my 50-gallon tank just by trying to use that stuff.

If you want to minimize your chances of getting Neon Disease, stick with Cardinals -- being virtually all wild-caught, far fewer of them carry it, and indeed they seems considerably more resistant to it than Neons (and some other species.

The only other tips I can give are: make sure your water doesn't get seriously alkaline (better to keep it mildly on the acid side), and change 10% of the water per week. Do these, and you should have litttle trouble keeping a wide variety of Tetras -- and the beauty and seemingly endless variety of these fish (just when you think you've seen every type that could possibly exist, a new one shows up in the stores) is marvelous.

Thanks for all your Help and info BruceMoomaw. See people this is what I'v been wanting all along, a nice info packed post that gives warnings, (thanks for that too Bruce you saved me a lot of grief) care info, and info on species in general. If I could get some more replies like the one Bruce gave me it would be awesome. Thanks C.J.T
(I wonder how a tetra fry would taste. lol) sorry bad joke

I LOVE MY 55GALLON REEF!!!!!

with tetras it depends on where they r from personally ive never found serpes to b at all nippy n kept them with male bettas and gouramies
ive never had any trouble with diamonds on blues n ive had great success with neons but found gold tetras and flame tetras to b much much harder to keep

tetras come in different shapes n sizes many r neon tetra shaped others however have a higher body profile like black widows all r thin fast moving fish which most are schoolers n do well with there own kind

most prefer tempts in general of 75-78 degrees with the major exception in neons which do best at round 72
ick is a problem much more serious then NTD
ick is prominient in colder older water which proper care n maintence this threat is greatly reduced tetras depending on the fish at hand can do well in small tanks like 10g to large tanks
u can find a tetra to take up life in the top mid or bottom of the tank
they all have teeth n most do well on flake but they all love live food offerings frozen food like bloodworms beef heart daphina brineshrimp are all great foods also
tetras r common in all fish stores n are cheaper then cichlids n such with congos being the most expensive ive seen them go for over 25 bucks a piece canadain but there usually 8 - 10 bucks in most places
tetras belong to the charachins i hope i spelled that right whihc include a large variety of fish that u could spend a life time keeping n never touch them all
hope this helps

I've had several bouts with Ich -- but I've also found it incredibly easy to treat: Rid-Ich seems to do the job just fine. I have never, in 15 years, lost a single fish to Ich for this reason (although you have to go after it FAST, because it spreads like wildfire) -- but I have found NTD to be the absolute devil to cope with when it does get into your tank; it is seemingly indestructible.