No. of Tetras in 50 Gallon

Question
QUESTION: Hey Susan,
I'm planning to keep only Tetras in my 50 gallon tank. It'll be mostly Neon & Cardinal (70-80%) along with, maybe, a few other varieties.

Can u suggest an appropriate no. of Tetras? <The more the better :) >
Some suggestion regarding the types I should keep with Neon/Cardinal will also be great.
Lastly, Are Cardinal tetras much harder to keep than Neons ? I have kept Neon before successfully but never Cardinals.

Thanx in advance.

ANSWER: Hi there!!

A Cardinal and neon tetra tank would be amazing! When a tank is designated to these species it will surely never fail to be a brilliant display.

Neons and Cardinals of course look best in groups by the dozens. I'd say for your 50 gallon tank, to slowly buildup the schools. (as long as ammonia and nitrite levels are 0 ---  allow the tank to cycle the tank carefully with hardier species of tetras like black skirt tetras, or fishless cycle or borrow a sponge filter from a healthy tank) :-)

You could easily keep one neon or one cardinal per gallon if you are very good with tank maintenance (never missing a water change). These species are tiny and their bioload is very minimal.

Splitting the number into something like 25 Neons and 25 Cardinal tetras would work out great. And you should easily be able to keep a bit smaller school of another species. Most all small to medium tetra species coexist peacefully with neons and cardinals. These include Black neons (this species would provide striking contrast!), Lemon tetras, Flame tetras, Serpae, Black phantom, Silver tips, bloodfins, Hatchetfish (related to tetras), bleeding hearts, Diamond tetras, and rummynose for example.

Keep any other tetra species in a group of no less than 6 for them to be happiest. You could easily keep dozen Black neons and 8 Bleeding hearts for example.

A 50-gallon tank should be able to house at least 4-5 different schools of tetra species (including the neons and cardinals) provided the tank is allowed to established and these schools of fish are added gradually.

A well-planted tank is also much appreciated. You don't have to have an expensive setup for live plants you can grow java fern, java moss, water sprite, anacharis, and other hardy varieties of plants quite easily.

Cardinal tetras are actually a little harder to keep than Neons. They can be much more fragile because they are not as widely captive raised as Neons are. If your 50gallon is a recent setup and not fully cycled yet be sure and add the Cardinals last.

I do hope this helps! Remember you can easily change the numbers of the fish around as you wish. But as you said with neons and cardinal tetras - the more the better! The fish are much happier and a large group of them is quite a sight to behold!

Best of luck!
Susan~



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Ok.. So u're saying in addition to a total 50 of neon & cardinal I can also add about 20 more from the other species' u mentioned ?
Provided I keep up with the regular water changes and add the fishes gradually right ?
And about the water changes, can u suggest an appropriate schedule ?

Answer
one of the best ways to determine how often to do water changes is the regularly test your nitrate level. Ideally you should keep it as low as possible no more than 20ppm for the healthiest fish. Remember we are stocking the tank gradually over the course of several months and a tank should be cycled with a hardier species of tetra first like black skirt or white skirt tetras.

With an aquarium like this I was suspected you would require at least a once weekly water change of 50 percent are so. If you'd prefer not to have to do such a large water changes then simply lower the numbers of fish kept in a tank
But of course testing your nitrate level really give you a good idea whether or not this amount is sufficient to keep your fish healthy.

Let me know if you have any more questions I'll be more than happy to assist you!
Best of luck!
Susan~