Green neon tetra

Care at a glance

The green neon tetra from the Rio Negro and Orinoco region resembles the ordinary neon, but stays smaller and has almost no red: in this species the blue-green light stripe dominates. In a large group over a dark substrate that gives a remarkably even, glowing effect.

It comes from warm, extremely soft and acidic blackwater and is distinctly fussier about that than its better-known cousin. Give it a mature tank with leaf litter or peat, a good-sized school and very fine food; hard, cool water it will not endure for long.

Related species

• Bleeding heart tetraHyphessobrycon erythrostigma
• Red eye tetraMoenkhausia sanctaefilomenae
• Silver dollarMetynnis argenteus
• Silvertip tetraHasemania nana
• Red-bellied piranhaPygocentrus nattereri
• Rosy tetraHyphessobrycon rosaceus