Best plants for Neon Tetras

Question
Hey,
  Basically i have recently bought a Biorb Tropical Fish Tank 30L/8 gallons, which includes a filter, halogen light and heater etc. I set the tank 4
days ago with plastic plants, however i am concerned that when i buy neon tetras they would prefer live plants over plastic. Do you think this
would be the case? If so then which live plants would you recommend that i should get for my neon tetras? Also, note that this is my first time
keeping a tropical fish tank. Having said that, do you think is it alright if i can exchange the plastic plants to live plants at this stage now? Since
i have added the stress coat and stress zyme in the tank water. So if i exchange the plants would i have to change the water completely and
add stress coat and stress zyme once again? Also, is there any other liquids i have to put in the water if i have live plants in the tank to keep
the plants maintained etc? Finally, how long would you suggest i wait to add the fishes in the tank. I would be very thankful if your could reply
as soon as possible.  

Answer
Hi Ammad,
Neon tetras are not recommended for beginner tanks or so they say.  And here is why; Tetras are more sensitive than other fish to toxin levels, and require preferably no traces of ammonia or nitrite in a tank.  Therefore a neon tetras prefer cycled tanks.  Since your tank is still new, it is not cycled yet.  A cycled tank consists of 2 sets of bacteria.  1 set breaks down ammonia into nitrite and another set breaks down nitrite into nitrate.  Fish can tolerate nitrate a whole lot better than the other 2 toxins.  Ammonia comes from fish waste and fish food.  When first starting out, you must get a very small amount of fish to gradually grow the necessary bacteria.  Too much fish will mean tons of ammonia.  And since if your tank is not cycled yet, you wont have the right amount of bacteria to break down all that ammonia which will cause ammonia intoxication.  Thats why you see many beginners start out with a tank of fish and they all die a week later.

It is ok for you to keep tetras, but you must get a small amount and do water changes every 2-3 days to keep the ammonia and nitrites low.

During cycling, you will see a rise in ammonia, then it will lower, then you will see a rise in nitrite, then it will lower, then you will see a rise in nitrate.  The end result will be 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, with readings of nitrate.  The reason why the other 2 "lower" in toxin levels is because the bacteria are successfully breaking it down.

Neon tetras also prefer a planted tank than non-planted.  Most plants require a nutrient rich substrate such as Eco-Complete, Flourite, ADA Amazonia Aqua Soil, or just plain topsoil (NOT potting soil).  They also require the spectrum 6700K or anything close to it such as anywhere from 5000K-10,000K.  Some easy plants that can be grown without a nutrient rich substrate is Anubias Nana, Water Sprite, Wisteria, Elodea (Anarcharis), Java Fern, and Java Moss to name a few off the top of my head.    

I know it is a lot of information.  In summary, to keep fish in a newly set up tank, you need to do water changes.  No water changes = dead fish.  

-Matt-