Neon fish: care and maintenance. Aquarium neon: fish compatibility

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

In the modern world, the aquarium is gaining more and more popularity. This rather interesting piece of furniture can be found not only in large-sized apartments and offices, but also in rather more modest rooms or offices.

What is the reason for such an unprecedented demand? It is difficult to isolate any one factor. However, above all, aquarium fish are valued among non-professionals due to their unpretentiousness in food and their extraordinary ability to have a calming effect on even the most excited person.

Who lives in the average aquarium now? As a rule, these are catfish, guppies and neons. Care and maintenance do not require special skills.

This article aims to introduce readers to, perhaps, one of the most mobile species. So, neon fish. What do we know about her? Unfortunately, not so much. But in vain. This inhabitant of the underwater world is quite interesting, and one can actually talk about it indefinitely.

By the way, according to experts, if you just decide to doaquarium hobby, remember, what you need is a neon fish. Maintenance and care will be easy, and the experience you will get is almost priceless.

General information about fish

Aquarium neon, like almost all fish that live in apartments and offices, have a prototype that lives massively in the wild. In this case, streams and rivers of Brazil, Peru, Colombia and South America can serve as a natural environment.

In places where neon fish are found, as a rule, very soft and clear water, which is richly saturated with substances released by fallen trees. Accordingly, it is recommended to create similar conditions in home or office aquariums.

Neons, whose compatibility with other species, as a rule, does not cause much trouble, are small and rather peaceful inhabitants of the underwater world, having a bright attractive color, green-blue eyes and transparent fins. They are very nimble and swim in flocks closer to the bottom. The fish grow to a maximum of 4 cm in an aquarium. Their feature may be the presence of a brilliant blue stripe that runs through the entire body.

In aquariums you can keep red, black and blue fish of this species.

Neons. Care and maintenance. How to properly prepare water and soil?

These fish live well in aquariums of completely different sizes. The water temperature can be in the range from 18 to 28°C, but the most suitable ideally should not warm up above 20-24°C. Under these conditions neoncan live in an aquarium for almost 4 years. At higher temperatures, they will quickly age and, accordingly, will please the owners much less.

Neons, the care and maintenance of which does not require any additional skills, are not particularly demanding on the composition of water and the amount of oxygen in it, but it is still best to use soft peat water.

The presence of a huge number of living plants will favorably affect the fish.

For purely aesthetic reasons, it is better to use dark soil in aquariums, since neon colors show up brighter against its background.

Under conditions of poor management and stress due to transfers and transportation, fish can completely discolor.

Combining fish without problems

Experts say that neon should not be kept in the same aquarium with aggressive fish species, as they run the risk of being eaten almost immediately. In small aquariums, they should also not be kept together with goldfish.

It is worth paying attention to the fact that neon are schooling fish, so you need to buy at least 4 of them.

If the water is saturated with air for this species, it is not necessary to create its flow, but it is better to use a special atomizer that creates the smallest bubbles.

Feed our pets right

Neons do not need to be fed any special food, any food will do, both frozen or dry, and live.

By the way, the food should be medium-sized, because the fish is small, and this,respectively, means that she can easily choke on a large one. Types of food should also be changed periodically, and once a week it is necessary to do a fasting day for neon.

Besides, the fish do not need to be constantly fed with live bloodworms - they are very prone to obesity.

Neons - fish, the reproduction of which does not cause unnecessary trouble

Let's note right away that neon breeding is a rather difficult task. Experts say that an inexperienced person will not even be able to distinguish between the sex of fish, because the differences between male and female individuals are not too obvious.

The male is slightly smaller than the female, while the female, in turn, has a fuller belly. There is also a difference in their neon stripe: in the male it is almost even, while in the female it is slightly curved in the middle.

Group fish are planted for spawning. For reproduction, high-purity distilled soft water is used with the addition of a decoction of cones or oak. The water temperature should be at the level of 22-24°C and diffused light. In hard water, fish are not fertilized.

Spawning usually happens in the morning, after which the fish are removed to the aquarium, and the light is completely removed from the spawning ground, because neon caviar categorically does not tolerate it.

For spawning it is necessary to prepare the substrate. To do this, you can place a clean lump of fishing line or a bunch of willow roots in the spawning ground and fix it with glass weights.

During the spawning period, neons, the care and maintenance of which require special attention, can lay almost 200 eggs. After a day and a half, caviar is formedlarvae, and after five days the larvae will turn into fry. After that, you need to return the light to the aquarium.

Fry need to be fed with the smallest food, and as they grow, gradually add more hard water.

What are they sick with?

Neons are fish that breed several times a year and succumb to all kinds of infectious and non-contagious diseases.

In general, they do not tolerate stress, poor living conditions and lack of a pack lifestyle.

You should be careful, because your pets may well get plestophorosis, an unfortunately incurable disease that affects only their species.

Red Neon

Purely outwardly, this species is slightly larger than ordinary representatives and grows up to 4.5 cm in length. It has a slightly elongated body and a bright, extensive red color on the entire belly.

Containment conditions are the same as for ordinary neon. But it is advisable to change the water every two weeks. They are not very sensitive to fluctuations in water temperature and transplantation. They hardly breed in captivity.

Spawning conditions are identical, as for the usual type of neon. The female can lay up to 160 eggs for spawning, although, of course, not all of the fry will appear.

Black Neon

The size of this type of neon is the same as the parameters of ordinary neon, but the black has a great color. Its body shape is similar to red neon, but it has an olive-brown back and a shinyneon gold-green stripe. Below the main neon strip there is another one with an uneven bottom edge.

Reproduction and maintenance conditions are the same as for red neon, but it is worth noting that black neon are less demanding, so they are more suitable for beginner aquarists. Subsequently, it will be quite possible to have more whimsical and capricious species.