[TheCrabbyTabby]

My 10 gallon tank is looking empty what with its only occupants being the ADF and the MTS colony. I was thinking of stocking it with about 7-10 neon tetras. Is this a good idea?

 

[npbarca]

7-10 would be too much, maybe 3-4

 

[thekoimaiden]

With shoaling fish like tetra 6 is the minimum. Getting any less usually results in the fish hiding and showing pale colors. Getting 7 or 8 tetra sounds like a good idea to me if you want a little movement. Just be careful where you get them from. Neon tetra can be sickly.

 

[TheCrabbyTabby]

Is a major chain store like Petco okay, or is it known for sickly Neons? I've read about Neon Tetra Disease, and False Neon Tetra Disease. Is that what you mean by "sickly"?

 

[thekoimaiden]

Yup. It's the large box stores that will typically sell the sickly fish. Unless you have a good one that will cull fish showing signs of it. It's best to get them from another hobbyist who has bred them. Generally you will get pretty healthy fish that way.

 

[Fishfulthinking]

I sadly don't have any locally owned hobby petstores in my area so I'm forced to go to chain petstores and have honestly had the best luck with Petco. Petsmart sells awful quality fish..I bought a batch of neons from petco and a batch from petsmart and the Petco ones have gotten bigger and their color has flourished but the ones from petsmart are light in color and have stayed small and three were horribly disformed...one had a jaw hanging off...

 

[thekoimaiden]

It honestly depends on your area, and the people hired to work at the stores. I've heard people say they have a great petco/petsmart/ect because the head of the aquatics department really cares. In my case both of them stink like a dead fish tank (literally).