Tetra Fish opinions?

[Popplefish]

Hi all. I've got a new 29 gallon with all the fixings (gotta love Craigslist!) and I've always wanted a tetra tank. The rest of my fish I have sort of inherited so this one I get to finally put what I want in it. I want lots of color. What are some good combos of fish/rocks/backgrounds/lights? It doesn't have to be all tetras either, I guess. Some guppies would be good... I could feed their fry to the little oscar.

Cheers!
PF

 

[bassbonediva]

I LOVE the congo tetras. Eventually (when I really have the time and money), I'm going to turn my 46gal bowfront into an angelfish tank and it's going to have a school of eight congo tetras and another school of eight cardinal tetras.

These are the congos:

Cardinal tetras look a lot like neon tetras, they just get bigger (about 2" full-grown):

 

[sushi*roll]

I like butterfly tetras, rummynoses, congos are nice too for sure

 

[hyunelan2]

Whatever you go with for fish, a dark colored (black) background, and dark substrate will make the colors of the fish seem more brilliant.

 

[vampirefish]

Rummynoses are really nice, same with neons, cardinals and glowlights

 

[littletankbigworld]

Tetras are the best! My favorites are bleeding heart tetras, blood (serpae) tetras, and long finned minor tetras. Don't be afraid of tetras that don't have bright colors when you are buying, since most appear stressed at pet stores. Once they are settled down in your tank, their truest, brightest colors will come out. I love my bleeding hearts and my bloods. They school together (bigger tetras will school together usually, no matter which species) and I love watching them play. Sometimes, I think they're more like puppies than fish. Another cool species of tetra is the Mexican tetra, also known as the blind cavefish. They have pale coloring and no eyes!

 

[big54bob]

As mentioned in other post: Oscar will get 1 foot long.

 

[misterking]

As littletank said, don't be put off by seemingly drab colours in the stores.

Lemon tetras and diamond tetras often appear dull and grey because of stress and young age in the shop, but develop into beautiful bright yellow fish under good conditions.

My personal favourite is the pristella tetra, I love the see-through body with its subtle colours and, although not too obvious again in shops, their fins develop the most stunning yellow, black and red markings and they look great when shoaling.

Someone else mentioned congo tetras further up, I love them and would highly recommend them but for a nice shoal they'd need to be in a bigger tank.

 

[Popplefish]

Hey those are good ideas, thanks! I was already thinking about black backgrounds and black rock. I'm thinking I'll stay with 3 or 4 schools of tetras that aren't going to get very big, maybe some rummy nose or neon tetras. I just don't know, but thanks for all the help!

 

[ValRasbora]

some types of tetras are...
black neon
Blue
Serpae
Rummynose
Penguin
red phantom
Red eye tetra
black tetra
Blue King
bloodfin
Cardinal
Neon
glowlight
head tail light
lemon
Black Phantom
pristella gold
silvertips
pristella
white cloud
congo

 

[Popplefish]

*blink* Thanks, Val! I'll start the search.

 

[misterking]

*blink* Thanks, Val! I'll start the search.

It's actually quite staggering just how many different types of tetras pop up on the market from time to time, just remembered another one of my favourites, colombian tetras. Beautiful blue shine to the body with red fins, lovely fish