# Max number of Neons for a planted 55g?



## cgcaver (Jul 10, 2005)

Was wondering how many Neon Tetras I can put in my 55g. They are the only fish in the tank. I want a nice big school of them, but I dont want to constantly fight the bio-load. Whats the max # I could have do you think?


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## NoDeltaH2O (May 13, 2005)

Neon tetras are very light bioload contributors. If these are going to be the ONLY fish int he tank, then I think you could get away with about 100 of them, especially if the tank is planted and growing well. The "1" of fish / gallon" rule needs to be bent quite a bit when dealing with extremely light or extremely heavy bioload contributors.


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## balloon_fish (May 26, 2005)

Hey no delta , see you've joined aquaticplantcentral.

In my opinion 100 is way too many to let them have room to school (but they can fit if its fully planted like no delta said), maybe a range from 30 to 60 is a good number if you would like them to school a lot. But before you buy all 100 or however many i would suggest getting a quarentine tank setup cause if one neon gets sick then the others will most likely be sick also. Just some extra info, when the neons get used to the environment and they feel safe they wont school anymore. Maybe the only time is when you do a water change or move plants around and maybe if you walk by or stick an angelfish in there or something.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

You probably could get by with 100, bio-load wise, but I think the 30 - 60 range would be a good choice for a 55 gallon.

I agree, a q-tank is very important, especially when you're buying that amount of fish. If one gets sick, it could domino, and you'd hate to have to treat your whole show tank when it would be so much easier in a q-tank.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

And I'd suggest Cardinal Tetras (Paracheirodon axelrodi) instead of Neons. They're much nicer.


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## frmrreefr (Jan 5, 2005)

Also more expensive! I plan on creating a school of about 100-150 neons in an 85 gal with a couple of Angels thrown in to "help" them school....


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## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

A couple angelfish will not help neons or cardinals school. I havea dozen cardinals in my 75 gallon along with five Peruvian altum angelfish. After the first few days, the cardinals became comfortable and now meander throughout the tank as an amorphous mob. My angelfish seem totally uninterested, even though they are wild caught.

Carlos


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## frmrreefr (Jan 5, 2005)

Totally different experience for me. I had a school of neons in a 20H that would do anything but. I added two black angels and they schooled like their lives depended on it until I removed the angels and placed them in a 55 which was about 2 months after I originally acquired them. YMMV though....


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## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

A 20gH isn't very large for a school of cardinals and a pair of angelfish -- I was not surprised that they schooled. Not when the angelfish are almost always less than 10 inches away! 

I've been keeping angelfish/cardinal tetras together longer than I've been growing plants... almost 10 years... with various purchases of cardinals and several groups (mostly wild-type Peruvian altums, but had golden and marbled veiltails for a short period) of angelfish in a 55g. My experience was always the same with cardinals, with rummynoses, with red phantoms, etc...

Carlos


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## frmrreefr (Jan 5, 2005)

frmrreefr said:


> YMMV though....


Read carefully.....


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