adding to a new tank
- Thread starter honeybee105
- Start date
I don't white clouds minnows would be good. They are a schooling fish, so 6-7 I think would be a proper amount, but not in a 2 gallon tank. They are also a cool water fish, 68 to 74 deg temp for color to show best. They should have swimming room also. Neons are a schooling fish also, and they like bright lighting. Maybe one or two honey Gouramis, they are very small compared to dwarf gouramis. Plus water movement is not necessary, just like Bettas tanks. A little shade is all they need to hide a little. *twirlysmiley*
Hmm...well, I haven't actually asked a neon what their personal preferrences are, but from my own experience and observations...
Neons, like most fish, prefer a dim, half-lit tank. This most mimics their natural, plant infested Amazon river origins. A half lit tank means there is penty of shelter about, no lurking predators to worry about, and the fish will feel much more secure. Thus, a secure neon is a non-schooling neon as they peck about foraging individually and dart about the plants.
Bright lights, such as the bright, gaudy lighting in your LFS display tanks, mean "oh my catfish! I'm out in the open! SOMETHING IS GOING TO EAT ME!" Thus, neons will school up and move with that flowing unity that makes them so appealing. Schooling is a defense mechanism that works on the "better you than me" principle in that the individual neon hopes the predator can't pick them out of the crowd. It also makes the little neons appear as one big fish that a predator might think twice about tangling with. I have found that with bright lighting, neons will hug to the bottom of the tank and try to hide behind any object they can, only moving when something spooks them from one side of the tank to the other. This constant being in the "flight or fight" mode can be very stressful on fish.
At night, when the lights go out, neons go to sleep. The school will drift apart and the neons will actually sink to the bottom of the tank and rest there individually. It is actually possible to catch a neon with your hands while they are like this, provided you don't wake them up first. Thus, sleeping time is every neon for itself time. Large nocturnal predators such as plecos will feast upon the unwary neon that sleeps too close to where they prowl.
A two gallon tank is not good for neons. Neons are tropical fish that should be at stable temps of 76oF to 78oF. Two gallon temps are very hard to keep stable. I would suggest white clouds or a male betta.
~~Colesea
Neons, like most fish, prefer a dim, half-lit tank. This most mimics their natural, plant infested Amazon river origins. A half lit tank means there is penty of shelter about, no lurking predators to worry about, and the fish will feel much more secure. Thus, a secure neon is a non-schooling neon as they peck about foraging individually and dart about the plants.
Bright lights, such as the bright, gaudy lighting in your LFS display tanks, mean "oh my catfish! I'm out in the open! SOMETHING IS GOING TO EAT ME!" Thus, neons will school up and move with that flowing unity that makes them so appealing. Schooling is a defense mechanism that works on the "better you than me" principle in that the individual neon hopes the predator can't pick them out of the crowd. It also makes the little neons appear as one big fish that a predator might think twice about tangling with. I have found that with bright lighting, neons will hug to the bottom of the tank and try to hide behind any object they can, only moving when something spooks them from one side of the tank to the other. This constant being in the "flight or fight" mode can be very stressful on fish.
At night, when the lights go out, neons go to sleep. The school will drift apart and the neons will actually sink to the bottom of the tank and rest there individually. It is actually possible to catch a neon with your hands while they are like this, provided you don't wake them up first. Thus, sleeping time is every neon for itself time. Large nocturnal predators such as plecos will feast upon the unwary neon that sleeps too close to where they prowl.
A two gallon tank is not good for neons. Neons are tropical fish that should be at stable temps of 76oF to 78oF. Two gallon temps are very hard to keep stable. I would suggest white clouds or a male betta.
~~Colesea
I think Colesea basic summed it up about neons. Mine are basically sleeping for about 20 minutes after lights turn on. They don't do a thing other than hover in the plants. Although I wouldn't recommend the white clouds either. They also are a schooling fish, and prefer cool water 64 to 70 F degrees water. Male betta, or honey gouramis is what I think would be best for that tank. Really only 1 betta or 2 honeys gouramis should be in the tank, with the frogs it seems too crowded. 