Black Neon Tetra

Care at a glance

Overview

Keep them in a group of at least six, in a tank of about 60 liters or more, and they'll spend most of their time cruising the middle. They're peaceful and fine in a community with other small, calm fish. Temperature in the low to high 20s C and a pH anywhere from soft acidic up to neutral both work. Feed a mix of small flake, micro pellets, and the odd serving of frozen brine shrimp or daphnia.

In the wild

Black neon tetras come from slow streams in the Paraguay basin of Brazil, the kind of water that runs soft, acidic, and tea-stained from fallen leaves. To match that at home, give them a planted tank with some dim corners, a sandy bottom, and a few dried leaves if you want. They settle in faster and color up better when the lighting is on the low side.

Good to know

This is a small characin in the family Characidae, topping out around 3.5 cm. You can spot it by the black stripe with a thin glowing line running just above it along the body. They are egg scatterers and don't guard their eggs. The species is not considered threatened in the wild.

Did you know

The species name honors Herbert R. Axelrod, the aquarium publisher. Despite the shared common name, it isn't closely related to the regular neon tetra, which sits in a different genus.

Related species

• 

  Flag Tetra

  Hyphessobrycon heterorhabdus

  1.4 in (3.5 cm)16 gal (60 L)70–81°F (21–27°C)

• 

  Loreto tetra

  Hyphessobrycon loretoensis

  1.4 in (3.5 cm)16 gal (60 L)72–81°F (22–27°C)

• 

  Black phantom tetra

  Hyphessobrycon megalopterus

  1.4 in (3.6 cm)17 gal (65 L)70–82°F (21–28°C)

• 

  Peruvian tetra

  Hyphessobrycon peruvianus

  1.6 in (4 cm)16 gal (60 L)72–81°F (22–27°C)

• 

  Red phantom tetra

  Hyphessobrycon sweglesi

  1.6 in (4 cm)15 gal (55 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)

• 

  Rosy tetra

  Hyphessobrycon rosaceus

  1.6 in (4 cm)15 gal (55 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)