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The side over the blue stripe is of a dark olive green shade. The Neon tetra is also decorated with a red stripe that runs from the middle of the body to the base of the caudal fin. A glistering blue line runs along each side of the body, from the nose and all the way to the adipose fin. Just like the other tetra species, the Neon tetra has a spindle shaped body and a blunt nose. Today, an introduced population of Neon Tetra is established in Singapore. The commercial bred Neon Tetras have often been adapted to conditions that are very different from those found in their native habitat. The flow through tropical regions and the water temperature stays around 20 – 26° C (), sometimes higher. The South American blackwater and clearwater streams and rivers have very soft and somewhat acidic water. (In Brazil, the name Rio Solimões is sometimes used even further upstream, but the name Rio Marañón is more common for those parts.) Rio Solimões is a name attributed to an upstream part of the great River Amazon a part that starts at the border of Brazil and Peru and ends when the river converges with Rio Negro.
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The Neon Tetras have bright colours and an iridescent stripe in order to be visible in dark blackwaters.Ī lot of Neon Tetras are caught from Rio Solimões. You can however not find Neon tetras in the whitewater rivers that run from the Andes. It is present in both blackwater and clearwater stream tributaries. The Neon tetra originates from westerns Brazil, south-eastern Colombia and eastern Peru and wild Neon Tetras can be found in the headwaters of the River Amazon, Tiger, Napo and Yarapa. The Neon Tetra is a pelagic freshwater fish native to tropical parts of northern South America. Wild caught Neon tetras from Brazil, Colombia and Peru are however also still available in the trade.
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If you purchase Neon tetras in the United States, the chance is high that they hail from Thailand, Singapore or Hong Kong.
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#Neon tetra eggs professional
Over 1.5 million Neon tetras are imported to the United States alone – each month! It can be tricky to breed in captivity for hobby aquarists, but professional breeders that produce immense quantities of Neon tetra exist in several countries world wide. The Neon tetra is an extremely popular aquarium fish, especially among beginner aquarists. They are often kept together in planted community aquariums with soft, acidic waters and tropical water temperatures. The less commonly kept Black Neon tetra ( Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi)is however a more distant relative since it belongs to another genus within the family Characidae the genus Hyphessobrycon.Īll members of the genus Paracheirodon are native to the Neotropic ecozone in northern South America and their bodies are decorated with a characteristic sparkling blue lateral line. This makes it closely related to other popular aquarium fishes like the Cardinal tetra ( Paracheirodon axelrodi) and the Green Neon tetra ( Paracheirodon simulans). The Neon tetras belongs to the genus Paracheirodon in the family Characidae.
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