26 gallon bow stocking advice needed

senorh

Hi, I am planning on changing my 26 gallon bow aquarium into a Neon Tetra tank. I think it would be beautiful with a nice school of them swimming around. I am thinking about a school of 15. Does that sound about right? My tank currently is a shell dwellers tank and I will keep the filter that has been running for a few years on it I will replace the substrate and plants but the new substrate, wood and plants are in another aquarium with fish hopefully loaded with beneficial bacteria. I know I should add fish slowly. I may or may not have a pair of blue rams, or a trio of corys. I still haven't decided I am not sure If I want other fish. Any suggestions are appreciated
thanks

Angel079

Do you have the soft water they need?
In a established tank I see no issue stocking the neon's, but they don't do too well at all in new set ups.
Make sure first what you wanna add later. If you wanna indeed add Blue Ram, I'd only stock 10 Neons.
Personally I think a set up of some 15-20 Neons and a school of at least 6, rather 8 Cory would be nicer thou. Don't only get a trio, they don't do well if not kept in decent group sizes.

senorh

Angel.

Thank you for your reply. My neons in my other tank are thriving so I am pretty sure my water is medium to soft. I will have wood in the tank which also helps soften the water. my main concern is not stocking the tank to the maximum.

MOA

Hello,

In my experience the hardness is not a very big issue, but a mature system is definitely beneficial. As Angel stated, if you plan on getting other fish, then only 10 neons would be the suggested limit (depending on the stocking theory you subscribe to). That is my two cents. If you want to check out stocking in more detail, you can check out the link in my sig.

MOA

iamntbatman

Are you planning on moving the neons there from another tank? If not, and you're purchasing new fish, I would suggest cardinal tetras rather than neon tetras if you're also planning on keeping blue rams, as cardinals do better at the higher temperatures the rams prefer than neon tetras do.