| Neon Fish, otherwise known as neon tetras, are | | | | structures. Putting in a substrate that is dark in |
| among the most popular of all tropical fish. They are | | | | coloring will help show off their bright colors as will |
| a hardy fish but over-breeding has weakened them | | | | lighting that is not overly bright. |
| to the point that you should buy more than you | | | | Most people have some trouble breeding neon fish in |
| need because you are going to lose many of them | | | | their tank environments. This is usually because the |
| before they adjust to your tank. In the wild, neon | | | | water conditions are not just right. The water |
| tetras originated in the tropical waters of South | | | | temperature cannot be above 75 degrees. You |
| America. | | | | should separate the breeders from the other fish. |
| Neon tetras are schooling fish and need to live | | | | The eggs of neons are sensitive to light so they |
| together in multiple numbers. They are small and take | | | | need to have their breeding tank placed in a darkish |
| up little room, plus their bright blue, red and silver | | | | spot before spawning takes place. They need to |
| colors brighten up any aquarium, especially at feeding | | | | have two to three inch layers of rock and some |
| time. The perfect number of neon fish to keep | | | | finely textured plants as a spawning medium. |
| would be a group of around fifteen. They are very | | | | Two or three days before breeding, give the neons |
| peaceful fish that get along among themselves and | | | | live food to eat. Leave them in the spawning tank |
| with all the other fish. | | | | for a day. If they produce eggs, these will be |
| Don't put neon fish in with any sort of aggressive | | | | released in the early morning. They more or less |
| fish, or they will be quickly eaten. If they are kept | | | | spray the eggs onto the plants. You can barely see |
| with compatible fish and given proper care, neons can | | | | the eggs as they are transparent. As soon as you do |
| live a long time, even as much as ten years. They | | | | identify eggs, remove the breeders from the tank. It |
| need to have a water pH of between 5.5 and 7.8 | | | | only takes 22-30 hours for the eggs to hatch. In |
| and the perfect temperature for them is between | | | | three or four days the baby neons will be free |
| 60 and 75 degrees. | | | | swimming. They should be fed infusoria as soon as |
| Neon tetras like to live in tanks that have lots of | | | | they can swim. |
| vegetation to hide behind, be it real or plastic. They | | | | If you have good luck with your neon fish breeding, |
| also like to dart under driftwood and logs, and to | | | | you should end up with 40-50 young ones. |
| chase one another around rocks and other aquarium | | | | |