If you want more info on the fish featured in this video check out these species profiles! Red Cherry Tetra: ua-cam.com/video/9Sqk7ij5I0k/v-deo.html Black Neon: ua-cam.com/video/USPeZ0Pk_L0/v-deo.html Green Neon: ua-cam.com/video/jHvqzidgbgg/v-deo.html Neon Tetra: ua-cam.com/video/inKAXsRyIWc/v-deo.html Cardinal Tetra: ua-cam.com/video/w53iGJEpkJg/v-deo.html Ember Tetra: ua-cam.com/video/ON5dvCVy4ts/v-deo.html Rummy Nose Tetra: ua-cam.com/video/uV9eGH9y0PU/v-deo.html Von Rio Tetra: ua-cam.com/video/vKFZAkA4J20/v-deo.html
One I would recommend is the Lemon Tetra. Passed by because they look bland as juveniles in bare dealer tanks. Take home a shoal of 8 or more, give them a *properly* furnished aquarium with decent plant and bogwood provision, then feed them colour enhancing food and live food. After 6 months, they'll become little bursts of sunshine in your aquarium. Small enough to live in a relatively compact aquarium, but big enough to live with the likes of Apistogrammas, they're pretty much bomb proof hardiness wise in my experience. Oh, and give them Java Moss, and they'll even spawn in your community tank, as mine did semi regularly over a 7 year period, and yes, they lasted 7 years.
This is just a great list. The number one was just stunning. I am a big fan of the Buenos Aires tetra and the pristella tetra they look so pretty and the yellow white and black on the pristella is awesome on the fins. I love the Buenos Aires tetras and the schooling behavior with the bright red tail and black looks and the schooling behavior.
The most bullet-proof tetra that I had is the serpae. I can also say the same thing about the black skirt. Their only main drawback for me is that they tend to get too big and aggressive for cherry shrimps. Another tetra that people may want to consider is the glowlight tetra, thanks to its nice pinkish neon line that runs along its body, which really looks cool when hit by light. Unfortunately, their hardiness is also comparable with the neons, so you might not be able to keep them for too long.
Thanks for differentiating. Most resources clump all tetras together. I would have no way of getting this knowledge it seems. Thank you for sharing your experience. This may save fishie lives!
Think I might have slipped Silvertip Tetras somewhere into my top 10, but some great picks there. Those Red Cherry Tetras are in a different league. So cool!
I bought some Buenos Aires Tetras about 6 weeks ago. I hadn't seen them before. I love them. Beautiful red fins and a silvery blue sheen to the body. They get about 3" long and I have mine in a 55 gallon. They are a very active schooling fish and pay attention to you when you are near the tank. I think I paid $3.50 each. I also have ember tetras and neon tetres in the same aquarium and haven't had any agression problems.
I can't believe I'd never even heard of a Red Cherry Tetra before. What a beautiful fish! I have some Ember Tetras, and I agree, they're great. I love their small size, and they're pretty tough little fish. I even spotted a baby today, and the tank's only been set up for about a month and a half. They're in a heavily planted 10 gallon with a Betta and a few nerite snails. I'll be setting up a 20 gallon early next year, and Cardinals and Diamond Tetras are both on my short list for that, although the Diamonds would be pushing it, in terms of size, as I prefer tiny fish in larger numbers most of the time. I'd also like to try the Green Neons at some point. As pretty as they are, I'm over Neon Tetras, for the hardiness issues you mentioned. My housemate kind of has her heart set on them, I think, but there are too many other fish out there that are just as pretty and less prone to illness.
For years I would have said that my favorite would have also been the standard Neon Tetra. They were a staple of pretty much every community tank that we had growing up when I was a kid. My brother has a small school of them in his tank currently as well. But I think that is I were to pick today I'd go for the Ember or the Cardinal with the standard neon coming in 3rd place on my top 3.
I love my Columbian Redfin tetras! Bought 6 & within a couple months they bred & now I have 6 babies! Very active but not aggressive with my rainbows or scissor tails.
Love my 15 Cardinals in a planted 20 Long. Do ok in my hard water, but lucky enough to have acquired a tank raised group. Cherry tetras definitely on the bucket list!
Thanks Jason, great breakdown. As much as I love rummy nose they just will not live long for me - ever! My wife wasn't thrilled with my black neons until I got them in the tank with good lighting. Their lateral lines really pop off under great lighting and they tend to stay mid to upper water so they are always hitting light. Mine think they belong with all my zebra danios hahaha. I've seen the cherry tetras once and they were fantastic except the cost! I went with the serpae tetra for their deep red and black. Now they have great white tips as well. Absolutely fantastic fish! Again, great rundown of my style fish. Have a 75 gallon but really only wanted smaller fish including most on your list. So much more enjoyment to my family over watching two Oscars haha. Hope you have a blessed day brother!
Beautiful tetras! I just bought 7 neons and 3 embers today. Embers are super popular apparently, as nobody ever seems to have more than 2 or 3 if that. I can't wait for them to get through quarantine!
I've always loved the Lemon Tetra. I love their color because it's unusual and different from other fish. One of my other favorites is the Serpae Tetra. I just love the combination of the red and black coloring. Both of these have been pretty hearty for me. I've had pretty good luck with them in my 55 gallon.
Serpaes are beautiful! The local Petco has some and god, they’re so beautifully colored. A great deep vermillion red! I got them as a beginner (I mean absolute beginner) and was so disappointed bc they’re fin nippers! (I’ve only got a 20 gallon tank) Hopefully with more experience I may keep some
Candy Cane Tetras are my new favorites that I just learned about. Similar to Black phantoms in terms of shape and possibly size but just red and white instead. Really neat, one is what I'd call the "alpha" of the group with the more solid color of their taller and brighter dorsal signal fin and slightly bigger than the rest too. Had them for more than 6-7 months now and they're the pop of color I was looking for. No sickness here either. Rummy Nose and green neons have been my favorites for years too.
I love my Pristellas, too. My water is on the opposite end of the spectrum. I've got a big group in a heavily planted 75g with some Scissortail Rasboras and an Angelfish.
I have some pristella tetras also and they look amazing in a community tank. I actually like them over the serpae tetra because they tend to be fine nippers the serpae are. Where pristella tetras have that beautiful yellow black and white. I also really love the Buenos Aires tetras they are a bigger tetra so need a bigger tank they tend to grow to about 4 inches or so. But the schooling behavior is so unique and they have lots of energy in a 55 gal I have a school of 6. With some black skirted tetras. It is going to be my angel tank hopefully.
I’m currently dealing with ick rn but I saw pristellas (we call them x rays) when picking up the medicine and wow! They look so cool! Freaky but the fins have such nice yellow and black stripes
I've got Cardinals, Black Neons & Rummynoses in a 200 litre tank. The three species really compliment each other with their lack of aggression and they occupy all areas of the Aquarium.
Good list, right now I love my glow light tetras. They don't look like much in the fish store, but when they get bigger they get cool markings on the fins. Have been super hardy, peaceful and show good schooling behavior.
I've got Congos, Rummy-nose, neons. I'm relieved to hear that neons are hard to keep, since I've had my share of loss with them. I thought they'd be easy since they're like the old school vintage fish! I have now a nice school of purple-blue emporers (Kerri) and they were a little spendy, but they seem to hardy. they eat good and are not shy!
I went to the LFS recently with the intention to get some Glowlight tetras. My 4 year old son, who was with me, was very insistent on getting Lemon tetras so we left with 8 of them. Pretty cool so far. Probably better when they color up. That said my favorite tetras are neons, glowlights and colombian tetras which aren't very common.
Lemon Tetras tend to look bland and insipid as juveniles in a bare dealer tank, which does NOT suit them at all. However, if you put your shoal of 8 into an aquarium with decent provision of live plants and bogwood decorations, and feed them decent quality food, they colour up beautifully as adults and become little bursts of sunshine in your aquarium. Mine were kept in a lavishly planted aquarium with Java Moss growing on the bogwood, a nice centrepiece Amazon Swordplant and a row of Vallisneria at the back. I fed them Tetra colour food and live Daphnia. They not only turned a truly brilliant shade of yellow as adults, with intensely black contrast fin markings, but lasted 7 years and spawned intermittently in the tank. They team up brilliantly on my experience, with Cardinal Tetras, a brace of Otocinclus algae eaters, and a big group of Corydoras panda catfish (which also spawned frequently in the same aquarium, which led to me calling the aquarium the Panda Fun Palace). If you want a really spectacular display, put together 20 Lemons, 20 Cardinals, 10 Otocinclus and 20 Panda Corys in a planted 55 gallon with ornate bogwood arches covered in Java Moss. Feed them all colour food and live daphnia, plus live bloodworms for the Corys, and you'll end up with a jewel of an aquarium in your living room. Furthermore, in a 55, there'll still be room for you to add some other fish to complement your tetra swarm. I'd run with a male/female pair of Apistogramma panduro if you can get them, or one of the other more peaceful Apistos in which you can tell male and female apart easily, or if you can find them, a pair of Laetacara curviceps (one of the few truly peaceful Cichlids you can buy). If you're not worried about mixing fish from different continents in your tank, something else that would go well would be that other criminally overlooked (and beautiful in breeding dress) Cichlid, Anomalochromis thomasi. This is about as close to a "pacifist" Cichlid as you can get, and because it lives in boggy conditions in West Africa, it likes the same sort of soft, slightly acid water as the tetras and catfish I've mentioned. With this Cichlid, it stays small enough for you to add 8 of them to the aforementioned 55 gallon setup, and develops lovely sapphire blue spangles against a magenta background when it's truly happy.
Managed to get my hands on a group of red cherry tetras, they're still young but wow they're stunning and look as if they'll only get better, they're in with 3 line pencil fish and yellow phantom and it works so well
I absolutely love the rummy nose tetra. I had planned on getting 7 of them and naming them after the 7 dwarfs (who were named for seven types of being drunk) but we have really hard well water so I had to pass on that. I'm going to stick with the live bearers and rasboras for now. Though I've had my cherry barbs for a year now and they've handled the hardness quite well.
Bloodfin tetra is one of my favorites so far, super active beautiful Fish. They even spawned for me unexpectedly doing regular weekly water changes and I dont test my water lol.
Those red cherry tetras are just spectacular! I've tried neons (they all die) and black neons (they all die)... maybe it's my water or the fact I just don't pay attention to water parameters like i could? I've never had ick issues with them, tho. Whatever it is, I won't be getting any more tetras although I love those fish! But this video gave me a lot of great information and I will come back to it if I ever decide to try it all over again. Thank you for all the great content! I enjoy all of your videos very much. I'm doing Joanna's thing - nano fish. (and corys) Best regards.
Nice list! Some here I’ve not heard of before. I have a small school (11) of red eye tetra. I do like them a lot. By the end of the week I’ll have them, rummy nose and XRays together in one large tank.
Great list. I would have trouble ranking my favorite. Tetras are my favorite group of fish. I just love the variety of colors and peaceful behavior. They are a wonderful fish.
We currently have a school of ember tetras and we love them!! When they color up they're just gorgeous. My son is looking into black skirt tetras for our next project. 😁
I've really enjoyed watching my Emperor Tetras grow and bloom. They may not be the most striking fish to look at but the blind cave tetras are awesome to watch in a decent group
Love your list and I have to try red cherry tetras some day. My favorite is the purple emperor tetra. The color is killer and they’ve been incredibly hardy despite my 8.0 ph. Out of my original 15 I still have all of them after a year…plus one because they bred for me. 😊 LOVE them. 💜
I love my black neons. They're doing great in my hard well water. I also love my diamond tetras, but I have had more bad luck with them. I got them from the same tank as the black neons, but 9/10 quickly died of cotton mouth (I think) while not a single black neon got sick. The diamonds have big personalities for tetras and are very active. My newer batch of diamonds is living it up with a couple danios. They often shoal together!
Black Neons are a solid choice. Confident: so it won't be hidden all the time. The colour is subtle... but still attractive, and a big shoal moving in unison in a well planted tank is amazing. Substrate colour choice needs some thought in order to work with the fish's colour. Reddish-brown works best for me. They get lost against a fully black background and totally washed out if the substrate is way too pale. Cheap as chips as well - so a big group isn't going to break the bank.
I have ember tetras and I love them. It started with a friend who had three fish that she was giving away. She told me they were "goldfish"... well, two were platys and one was a little ember tetra. I don't know how she wound up with just the one tetra, but he was a pale tan color and nearly clear when I got him. The fish were in an unheated aquarium with no real plants. In the UK during the winter, it's a bad idea to keep an unheated aquarium unless you have goldfish (my house would get to be 15C because it is so drafty). So I got them a large aquarium, real plants, a heater, and finally (after the tank was well-established) some more tank mates. So now he has a little school of buddies that he hangs out with. They get fed all kinds of things- brine shrimp, krill flakes, crushed up crisps, even daphnia. And my little buddy looks more orange by the day. :)
Most of my favorites were already in your list! In addition to the rummynoses, neons (“original”, green, and cardinal) and black phantoms, I also love glowlight, pristella, emperor, and gold tetras. Thought I saw those last two swimming in the background with some of your favorite tetras in this video.
I personally think all types of Tetra's are the best fish to keep, my aquarium is mainly full of various Tetra fish including the Standard Neon, The Lemon, The Colombian, The Glow light and my personal favourite which is number 2 on this list The Black Neon but I am now interested in The Ember because that looks very nice
Great list. I have Embers, Cardinals and Rummies as well but would add my others to that list, Diamond, Columbian Red Fin and Emperor Tetras. Never seen your number one here in South Africa.
When it comes to 20 gallons max my pic is green neons. 💚😉 But 29 and up black skirt, white skirt, and even the glo version of skirted tetras will always be my favorite. Have a 50 gallon dedicated to them (soon to be a 60 breeder) and it is a beautiful, peaceful tank. 😊
Lemon Tetra is a good replacement for the Red Cherry Tetra, at a fraction of the price and a lot easier to find, if you enjoy its look, its actually one of my favourites
i saw some Buenos Aires tetras in your tank, no mention. I kind of like them, they can go with bigger fish and they add a lot of movement in the Aquarium.
Small tetras are so timid and difficult to feed. When i sit in front of my tank. My betta, gouramis and barbs will wiggle like mad for food. While my tetras will just stay at the bottom. Its even worst when it's a feeding frenzy. My tetras dare not even join in, rather just stay below and wait for the food to sink. Even when the food reaches them below, they just eat a tiny bit.
I love all tetras. I think it's hard to go wrong. I need to shout out the Red Eye though. I have a school of 16 in my 75G and they're a great fish. They are a truly solid silver and the black and white bars really pop. And of course the bright red eye. Definitely hardy fish too.
I've just got into blind cave tetra the past couple months, their behavior is very strange, once acclimated they actually have a sharp silver on their flanks that look great. They're also by far the easiest fish to net out of a tank as needed lol
My weird brain just thought it would be funny if you added ph to one of the scoring categories: so they get points depending on their recommended ph. Anyway, this video was great for learning about tetras and just seeing your opinions.
My Rummynose got ich but got better with heat and salt. All the Candy Canes that were in with them died within 48 hours. I think I made things worse by trying to clean the gravel for them and stirring up too much dirt while they were weak. Like vacuuming during an asthma attack.
My all time favorite tetra are Black Phantom tetras, I don’t get why but I just LOVE that tetra. Then my second favorite would probably be the Congo tetra, amazing tetra with amazing colors, the only downside is their size but if you have a tank for it, they are amazing. Then I also love the Ruby tetras, very small and quite shy but I just love how you gotta look for them in the tank and I love their little neon red dot/stripe by their back fun
I have a bunch of Black Neons who are also with some Lemon Tetras and Candy Cane Tetras. All of them get long great and have no issues in my hard water. The Black Neons are the oldest fish in the tank and are pretty much bullet proof.
I have Redeye tetras in a large South American tank. They are a larger tetra and keep in a tight school. Having an upturned mouth means they really fill out the top of the tank.
I have a personal bias toward the rummy nose tetra. I absolutely love them. No other tetra peaks my interest like they do. My hubby suggested I put other kinds of tetra in my tank with my rummy nose and other fish and I said something along the lines of.. are you mad?! Lol.
My favorite tetra is the Amapa Tetra (Hyphessobrycon Amapaensis). They look like a Black Neon but with a red stripe running along the black. Absolutely gorgeous fish but I've literally only seen them in one of my LFS once in 20 years of being in the hobby. Hoping to get some online at some point.
Bought 7 red cherry tetras a few weeks back for 10 euros for all 7 of them, the man i bought them from ended his hobby, so i was lucky to buy at such low price of 1,50 euros a piece. Also my favorite tetra!!!!
What I like about black neon is the red spot above the eye and with the right angle of light a small red spot on the tail and a bleu hue on the fins. For the rest my tank has 3 out of 3 from your list. ;-)
If you want more info on the fish featured in this video check out these species profiles!
Red Cherry Tetra: ua-cam.com/video/9Sqk7ij5I0k/v-deo.html
Black Neon: ua-cam.com/video/USPeZ0Pk_L0/v-deo.html
Green Neon: ua-cam.com/video/jHvqzidgbgg/v-deo.html
Neon Tetra: ua-cam.com/video/inKAXsRyIWc/v-deo.html
Cardinal Tetra: ua-cam.com/video/w53iGJEpkJg/v-deo.html
Ember Tetra: ua-cam.com/video/ON5dvCVy4ts/v-deo.html
Rummy Nose Tetra: ua-cam.com/video/uV9eGH9y0PU/v-deo.html
Von Rio Tetra: ua-cam.com/video/vKFZAkA4J20/v-deo.html
One I would recommend is the Lemon Tetra. Passed by because they look bland as juveniles in bare dealer tanks. Take home a shoal of 8 or more, give them a *properly* furnished aquarium with decent plant and bogwood provision, then feed them colour enhancing food and live food. After 6 months, they'll become little bursts of sunshine in your aquarium. Small enough to live in a relatively compact aquarium, but big enough to live with the likes of Apistogrammas, they're pretty much bomb proof hardiness wise in my experience. Oh, and give them Java Moss, and they'll even spawn in your community tank, as mine did semi regularly over a 7 year period, and yes, they lasted 7 years.
Thank you. Just the information I need for my group of 31.
Yay for the Embers making top 3, love those fish! The Cherry looks interesting but I never seen those in person. Great video!
This is just a great list. The number one was just stunning. I am a big fan of the Buenos Aires tetra and the pristella tetra they look so pretty and the yellow white and black on the pristella is awesome on the fins. I love the Buenos Aires tetras and the schooling behavior with the bright red tail and black looks and the schooling behavior.
The most bullet-proof tetra that I had is the serpae. I can also say the same thing about the black skirt. Their only main drawback for me is that they tend to get too big and aggressive for cherry shrimps. Another tetra that people may want to consider is the glowlight tetra, thanks to its nice pinkish neon line that runs along its body, which really looks cool when hit by light. Unfortunately, their hardiness is also comparable with the neons, so you might not be able to keep them for too long.
Thanks for differentiating. Most resources clump all tetras together. I would have no way of getting this knowledge it seems. Thank you for sharing your experience. This may save fishie lives!
Think I might have slipped Silvertip Tetras somewhere into my top 10, but some great picks there. Those Red Cherry Tetras are in a different league. So cool!
Great list! I also love The Silvertip Tetras. Look so basic and plain when small but bright oranges and yellows as adults.
I bought some Buenos Aires Tetras about 6 weeks ago. I hadn't seen them before. I love them. Beautiful red fins and a silvery blue sheen to the body. They get about 3" long and I have mine in a 55 gallon. They are a very active schooling fish and pay attention to you when you are near the tank. I think I paid $3.50 each.
I also have ember tetras and neon tetres in the same aquarium and haven't had any agression problems.
I like the number scale! Thanks for a great video. :)
I can't believe I'd never even heard of a Red Cherry Tetra before. What a beautiful fish! I have some Ember Tetras, and I agree, they're great. I love their small size, and they're pretty tough little fish. I even spotted a baby today, and the tank's only been set up for about a month and a half. They're in a heavily planted 10 gallon with a Betta and a few nerite snails. I'll be setting up a 20 gallon early next year, and Cardinals and Diamond Tetras are both on my short list for that, although the Diamonds would be pushing it, in terms of size, as I prefer tiny fish in larger numbers most of the time. I'd also like to try the Green Neons at some point. As pretty as they are, I'm over Neon Tetras, for the hardiness issues you mentioned. My housemate kind of has her heart set on them, I think, but there are too many other fish out there that are just as pretty and less prone to illness.
Excellent selections here, Jason. Thanks very much!!
For years I would have said that my favorite would have also been the standard Neon Tetra. They were a staple of pretty much every community tank that we had growing up when I was a kid. My brother has a small school of them in his tank currently as well. But I think that is I were to pick today I'd go for the Ember or the Cardinal with the standard neon coming in 3rd place on my top 3.
I pretty much agree with every fish you listed. All awesome tetras although I’ve never see a cherry tetra. They are beautiful! Thanks for sharing. 😊
If you run across the Cherry Tetra I highly recommend them!
I love my Columbian Redfin tetras! Bought 6 & within a couple months they bred & now I have 6 babies! Very active but not aggressive with my rainbows or scissor tails.
It's funny I was trying to decide between red cherry and ember tetras and this list helped me decide. Thanks!
Have fun!
Love my 15 Cardinals in a planted 20 Long. Do ok in my hard water, but lucky enough to have acquired a tank raised group. Cherry tetras definitely on the bucket list!
Thanks Jason, great breakdown. As much as I love rummy nose they just will not live long for me - ever! My wife wasn't thrilled with my black neons until I got them in the tank with good lighting. Their lateral lines really pop off under great lighting and they tend to stay mid to upper water so they are always hitting light. Mine think they belong with all my zebra danios hahaha. I've seen the cherry tetras once and they were fantastic except the cost! I went with the serpae tetra for their deep red and black. Now they have great white tips as well. Absolutely fantastic fish! Again, great rundown of my style fish. Have a 75 gallon but really only wanted smaller fish including most on your list. So much more enjoyment to my family over watching two Oscars haha. Hope you have a blessed day brother!
Beautiful tetras! I just bought 7 neons and 3 embers today. Embers are super popular apparently, as nobody ever seems to have more than 2 or 3 if that. I can't wait for them to get through quarantine!
I've always loved the Lemon Tetra. I love their color because it's unusual and different from other fish. One of my other favorites is the Serpae Tetra. I just love the combination of the red and black coloring. Both of these have been pretty hearty for me. I've had pretty good luck with them in my 55 gallon.
Serpaes are beautiful! The local Petco has some and god, they’re so beautifully colored. A great deep vermillion red!
I got them as a beginner (I mean absolute beginner) and was so disappointed bc they’re fin nippers! (I’ve only got a 20 gallon tank) Hopefully with more experience I may keep some
Candy Cane Tetras are my new favorites that I just learned about. Similar to Black phantoms in terms of shape and possibly size but just red and white instead. Really neat, one is what I'd call the "alpha" of the group with the more solid color of their taller and brighter dorsal signal fin and slightly bigger than the rest too. Had them for more than 6-7 months now and they're the pop of color I was looking for. No sickness here either.
Rummy Nose and green neons have been my favorites for years too.
I’ve got 9 of them. Just lost one recently but have had the rest for about a year. Great fish
I do like the Black Neon and the Congo but I really love my Pristella Tetras… they thrive in my rock-hard high pH water.
I love my Pristellas, too. My water is on the opposite end of the spectrum. I've got a big group in a heavily planted 75g with some Scissortail Rasboras and an Angelfish.
Congo is #1 for me but I've never kept Pristella. They do look nice
Pristellas are beautiful fish, and a school of them always looks awesome!
I have some pristella tetras also and they look amazing in a community tank. I actually like them over the serpae tetra because they tend to be fine nippers the serpae are. Where pristella tetras have that beautiful yellow black and white. I also really love the Buenos Aires tetras they are a bigger tetra so need a bigger tank they tend to grow to about 4 inches or so. But the schooling behavior is so unique and they have lots of energy in a 55 gal I have a school of 6. With some black skirted tetras. It is going to be my angel tank hopefully.
I’m currently dealing with ick rn but I saw pristellas (we call them x rays) when picking up the medicine and wow! They look so cool! Freaky but the fins have such nice yellow and black stripes
I've got Cardinals, Black Neons & Rummynoses in a 200 litre tank. The three species really compliment each other with their lack of aggression and they occupy all areas of the Aquarium.
Great choices! I have Embers, Black Neons and Red Bellies in my tank😍 love watching them
How bright and amazing colours!!
Really enjoy my Von Rio tetras but my Black Neons seem to be bullet proof! Great picks Jason. Thank you!
Good list, right now I love my glow light tetras. They don't look like much in the fish store, but when they get bigger they get cool markings on the fins. Have been super hardy, peaceful and show good schooling behavior.
My favorite tetra has always been neon tetras. I love their striking colors. Just awesome!
Love the videos never stop! How many tetras would you stock in a 75 gallon over time end result number?
I've got Congos, Rummy-nose, neons. I'm relieved to hear that neons are hard to keep, since I've had my share of loss with them. I thought they'd be easy since they're like the old school vintage fish!
I have now a nice school of purple-blue emporers (Kerri) and they were a little spendy, but they seem to hardy. they eat good and are not shy!
I've lost a bunch myself. Good water and a long drip acclimation helped me out a lot.
Love it! I'd love to see you do the same top 10 for freshwater fish in general.
I went to the LFS recently with the intention to get some Glowlight tetras. My 4 year old son, who was with me, was very insistent on getting Lemon tetras so we left with 8 of them. Pretty cool so far. Probably better when they color up. That said my favorite tetras are neons, glowlights and colombian tetras which aren't very common.
Lemon Tetras tend to look bland and insipid as juveniles in a bare dealer tank, which does NOT suit them at all. However, if you put your shoal of 8 into an aquarium with decent provision of live plants and bogwood decorations, and feed them decent quality food, they colour up beautifully as adults and become little bursts of sunshine in your aquarium.
Mine were kept in a lavishly planted aquarium with Java Moss growing on the bogwood, a nice centrepiece Amazon Swordplant and a row of Vallisneria at the back. I fed them Tetra colour food and live Daphnia. They not only turned a truly brilliant shade of yellow as adults, with intensely black contrast fin markings, but lasted 7 years and spawned intermittently in the tank.
They team up brilliantly on my experience, with Cardinal Tetras, a brace of Otocinclus algae eaters, and a big group of Corydoras panda catfish (which also spawned frequently in the same aquarium, which led to me calling the aquarium the Panda Fun Palace). If you want a really spectacular display, put together 20 Lemons, 20 Cardinals, 10 Otocinclus and 20 Panda Corys in a planted 55 gallon with ornate bogwood arches covered in Java Moss. Feed them all colour food and live daphnia, plus live bloodworms for the Corys, and you'll end up with a jewel of an aquarium in your living room.
Furthermore, in a 55, there'll still be room for you to add some other fish to complement your tetra swarm. I'd run with a male/female pair of Apistogramma panduro if you can get them, or one of the other more peaceful Apistos in which you can tell male and female apart easily, or if you can find them, a pair of Laetacara curviceps (one of the few truly peaceful Cichlids you can buy).
If you're not worried about mixing fish from different continents in your tank, something else that would go well would be that other criminally overlooked (and beautiful in breeding dress) Cichlid, Anomalochromis thomasi. This is about as close to a "pacifist" Cichlid as you can get, and because it lives in boggy conditions in West Africa, it likes the same sort of soft, slightly acid water as the tetras and catfish I've mentioned. With this Cichlid, it stays small enough for you to add 8 of them to the aforementioned 55 gallon setup, and develops lovely sapphire blue spangles against a magenta background when it's truly happy.
Managed to get my hands on a group of red cherry tetras, they're still young but wow they're stunning and look as if they'll only get better, they're in with 3 line pencil fish and yellow phantom and it works so well
That’s awesome!
I absolutely love the rummy nose tetra. I had planned on getting 7 of them and naming them after the 7 dwarfs (who were named for seven types of being drunk) but we have really hard well water so I had to pass on that. I'm going to stick with the live bearers and rasboras for now. Though I've had my cherry barbs for a year now and they've handled the hardness quite well.
Bloodfin tetra is one of my favorites so far, super active beautiful Fish. They even spawned for me unexpectedly doing regular weekly water changes and I dont test my water lol.
Just bought a few lamp eye/red eye tetras and they’ve quickly became my favorite.
I really liked mine too in a past aquarium… they seemed so peaceful and content ❤️
I’ve got a nice group too and they live as dithers with my American cichlids and they do great.
Those red cherry tetras are just spectacular! I've tried neons (they all die) and black neons (they all die)... maybe it's my water or the fact I just don't pay attention to water parameters like i could? I've never had ick issues with them, tho. Whatever it is, I won't be getting any more tetras although I love those fish! But this video gave me a lot of great information and I will come back to it if I ever decide to try it all over again. Thank you for all the great content! I enjoy all of your videos very much.
I'm doing Joanna's thing - nano fish. (and corys)
Best regards.
Thank you for being here!
Nice list! Some here I’ve not heard of before. I have a small school (11) of red eye tetra. I do like them a lot. By the end of the week I’ll have them, rummy nose and XRays together in one large tank.
Great list. I would have trouble ranking my favorite. Tetras are my favorite group of fish. I just love the variety of colors and peaceful behavior. They are a wonderful fish.
What a stunner the red cherry tetra is. Never heard of them.
Loved the list and would add my all time favorite tetra, Lemon Tetra, red eye and yellow body ❤️
We currently have a school of ember tetras and we love them!! When they color up they're just gorgeous. My son is looking into black skirt tetras for our next project. 😁
Love your videos! 👏👏👏
Thank you!
I've really enjoyed watching my Emperor Tetras grow and bloom. They may not be the most striking fish to look at but the blind cave tetras are awesome to watch in a decent group
Love your list and I have to try red cherry tetras some day. My favorite is the purple emperor tetra. The color is killer and they’ve been incredibly hardy despite my 8.0 ph. Out of my original 15 I still have all of them after a year…plus one because they bred for me. 😊 LOVE them. 💜
Those are cool!
This scale would be a great idea for the barbs as well!!
Atm, my absolute favourite Tetra is the Ember, closely followed by the Lemon Tetra
Fabulous list! I love the Neon, Cardinal, Green, and Ember. Gina Hetlage
I love my black neons. They're doing great in my hard well water. I also love my diamond tetras, but I have had more bad luck with them. I got them from the same tank as the black neons, but 9/10 quickly died of cotton mouth (I think) while not a single black neon got sick. The diamonds have big personalities for tetras and are very active. My newer batch of diamonds is living it up with a couple danios. They often shoal together!
Thanks for the awesome video. So wish that our prices here in Canada would be more like they are with you. Our prices in my opinion are insane.
Black Neons are a solid choice.
Confident: so it won't be hidden all the time.
The colour is subtle... but still attractive, and a big shoal moving in unison in a well planted tank is amazing. Substrate colour choice needs some thought in order to work with the fish's colour. Reddish-brown works best for me. They get lost against a fully black background and totally washed out if the substrate is way too pale.
Cheap as chips as well - so a big group isn't going to break the bank.
I have ember tetras and I love them. It started with a friend who had three fish that she was giving away. She told me they were "goldfish"... well, two were platys and one was a little ember tetra. I don't know how she wound up with just the one tetra, but he was a pale tan color and nearly clear when I got him. The fish were in an unheated aquarium with no real plants. In the UK during the winter, it's a bad idea to keep an unheated aquarium unless you have goldfish (my house would get to be 15C because it is so drafty). So I got them a large aquarium, real plants, a heater, and finally (after the tank was well-established) some more tank mates. So now he has a little school of buddies that he hangs out with. They get fed all kinds of things- brine shrimp, krill flakes, crushed up crisps, even daphnia. And my little buddy looks more orange by the day. :)
I have a diamond and an x-ray. Love both. Your #1 looks great...
I’ve never seen the cherry tetras… gorgeous!
I have several penguin tetras that I love, the only unfortunate thing is that Petco stopped selling them so it’s a pain getting new ones if one dies
Most of my favorites were already in your list! In addition to the rummynoses, neons (“original”, green, and cardinal) and black phantoms, I also love glowlight, pristella, emperor, and gold tetras. Thought I saw those last two swimming in the background with some of your favorite tetras in this video.
I personally think all types of Tetra's are the best fish to keep, my aquarium is mainly full of various Tetra fish including the Standard Neon, The Lemon, The Colombian, The Glow light and my personal favourite which is number 2 on this list The Black Neon but I am now interested in The Ember because that looks very nice
Great list. I have Embers, Cardinals and Rummies as well but would add my others to that list, Diamond, Columbian Red Fin and Emperor Tetras. Never seen your number one here in South Africa.
When it comes to 20 gallons max my pic is green neons. 💚😉 But 29 and up black skirt, white skirt, and even the glo version of skirted tetras will always be my favorite. Have a 50 gallon dedicated to them (soon to be a 60 breeder) and it is a beautiful, peaceful tank. 😊
Congo tetras are the best tetras. Have had mine for over 3 years now and out of 7 aquariums and numerous species they remain my favorite.
Blue Eyed Congo Tetra is the best.
I’ve been really in love with diamond tetras. Super easy to breed. Gorgeous fish overall. The males are completely spectacular.
Ty for this video! It might help me to convince my husband to get a tank! 😁
Great list! I was wondering how you would grade a Lemon Tetra.
Thinking about pairing them with Black Neons and a Apisto.
Lemon Tetra is a good replacement for the Red Cherry Tetra, at a fraction of the price and a lot easier to find, if you enjoy its look, its actually one of my favourites
Nice list sir
Why thank you 😀
i saw some Buenos Aires tetras in your tank, no mention. I kind of like them, they can go with bigger fish and they add a lot of movement in the Aquarium.
I had no clue how much I would love my black skirt and white skirt tetras. My neons are amazing but the skirts are really fun.
Small tetras are so timid and difficult to feed. When i sit in front of my tank. My betta, gouramis and barbs will wiggle like mad for food. While my tetras will just stay at the bottom. Its even worst when it's a feeding frenzy. My tetras dare not even join in, rather just stay below and wait for the food to sink. Even when the food reaches them below, they just eat a tiny bit.
Ya, the barbs can intimidate them for sure.
I love all tetras. I think it's hard to go wrong. I need to shout out the Red Eye though. I have a school of 16 in my 75G and they're a great fish. They are a truly solid silver and the black and white bars really pop. And of course the bright red eye. Definitely hardy fish too.
Love my favorite the Serpae Tetra (H. Eques) and 2nd favorite the Rainbow Tetra (Hyphessobrycon Melanostichos).
I pretty much agree with this list. I have some Exodon tetras that are cool as well.
I've just got into blind cave tetra the past couple months, their behavior is very strange, once acclimated they actually have a sharp silver on their flanks that look great. They're also by far the easiest fish to net out of a tank as needed lol
My weird brain just thought it would be funny if you added ph to one of the scoring categories: so they get points depending on their recommended ph. Anyway, this video was great for learning about tetras and just seeing your opinions.
Ember and black neons are my favourite lol
My Rummynose got ich but got better with heat and salt. All the Candy Canes that were in with them died within 48 hours. I think I made things worse by trying to clean the gravel for them and stirring up too much dirt while they were weak. Like vacuuming during an asthma attack.
It’s possible if a lot of stuff got stirred up it can hurt.
My all time favorite tetra are Black Phantom tetras, I don’t get why but I just LOVE that tetra. Then my second favorite would probably be the Congo tetra, amazing tetra with amazing colors, the only downside is their size but if you have a tank for it, they are amazing. Then I also love the Ruby tetras, very small and quite shy but I just love how you gotta look for them in the tank and I love their little neon red dot/stripe by their back fun
All great choices!
I love tetras! I think the rummynose are my favorite, but I have never heard of cherry tetras!
Please do a species profile on lemon tetra. There are no good ones on how to take care of them available on youtube. Humble request please.🙂
some great options
Cool video, thanks
I really like Ember Tetra. 😊 The Cherry Tetra are stunning! I may have to do further research on them. 😊
Blind cave tetras are my absolute favorite. I just love the oddballs
Good list
Whats the fish at 6:28? The one thats not a tetra
That was a Kribensis!
Have 100 gal Acrylic tank with about 80 fish ( so far ). Neon tetras, green tetras, rummy nose tetras and lamb chop rasboras. What a great tank...
Love my Congo tetra I also love the purple emperor tetras I have. Cardinals are beautiful they are on my to keep list again.
I can’t believe Joanna let you put green neons at #9. Good luck with that. 😂
Ya, she wasn’t happy 😃
I have a bunch of Black Neons who are also with some Lemon Tetras and Candy Cane Tetras. All of them get long great and have no issues in my hard water. The Black Neons are the oldest fish in the tank and are pretty much bullet proof.
Big fan of the Ember Tetra. Nano tank size and large tank large school affordable option. Mine have proven hardy at least for the initial first year.
They are best high quality fishs in entire global aquarium sections.
I have a school of Bolivian Orange Lemon Tetras and the neon orange on the fins are incredible. Worth a look for you lemon tetra lovers
I like the Diamond and lemon tetras as well as the silver tip tetras to name a few haha maybe I should make a list lol
I have Redeye tetras in a large South American tank. They are a larger tetra and keep in a tight school. Having an upturned mouth means they really fill out the top of the tank.
I have a personal bias toward the rummy nose tetra. I absolutely love them. No other tetra peaks my interest like they do. My hubby suggested I put other kinds of tetra in my tank with my rummy nose and other fish and I said something along the lines of.. are you mad?! Lol.
The redline torpedo tetra are a favorite of mine
My favorite tetra is the Amapa Tetra (Hyphessobrycon Amapaensis). They look like a Black Neon but with a red stripe running along the black. Absolutely gorgeous fish but I've literally only seen them in one of my LFS once in 20 years of being in the hobby. Hoping to get some online at some point.
Bought 7 red cherry tetras a few weeks back for 10 euros for all 7 of them, the man i bought them from ended his hobby, so i was lucky to buy at such low price of 1,50 euros a piece. Also my favorite tetra!!!!
That’s awesome!
What I like about black neon is the red spot above the eye and with the right angle of light a small red spot on the tail and a bleu hue on the fins. For the rest my tank has 3 out of 3 from your list. ;-)
I like Black Neon Tetra.
Want keep a bunch Green Neon Tetra, if i have new 20 gall tank.