Black neon Christmas.

[isaly]

Well, I did it.

I got back from Elmer’s Aquarium a couple of hours ago with a dozen black neon tetras. They had small and large in separate tanks so I chose from the large ones. The nice lady gave me fourteen instead of the dozen and charged me for the dozen. I'm glad I got the larger because, now that I see 'em in the tank, I'll probably cap the black neon school at 2 dozen plus. 55 gallons is decent sized but it's not that big. I’ll get the next dozen in a month or two; no hurry.

I also got five more longfin serpae tetras to plump out my small group to eight.

It's now 26 tetras in. We'll see how the tank handles the increased bio-load.

Since I have the next two weeks off I get to hang around and watch ‘em lots as they get used to their new home.

The black neons and whites are cruising around happily. I threw in a few tetra-min flakes and they went for ‘em. The serpae are a little more pensive but seem to be getting along fine.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and wishing a happy new year.

Edited December 27, 2021 by isaly

[Fish Folk]

That sounds like a nice tank! 55 gal. is a nice space for tetras to cruise. Do you have it planted up? Any photos to share?

[isaly]

On 12/27/2021 at 4:07 PM, Fish Folk said:

That sounds like a nice tank! 55 gal. is a nice space for tetras to cruise. Do you have it planted up? Any photos to share?

It is planted, not heavily but not too lightly either. I seem to be having better luck with the rooted rather than stem plants.

I'll be able to post photos routinely when I get either a new smartphone or camera.

[Fish Folk]

On 12/27/2021 at 4:19 PM, isaly said:

I seem to be having better luck with the rooted rather than stem plants.

I’ve experienced this with 55 gal tanks before. Stem plants struggle to get happy with that depth unless there’s the right lighting. Valisneria and Swords are my mainstays for tanks of that depth. Sometimes I get various Hygros to agree with me for awhile…

[isaly]

9 pm — I’m sitting, relaxing…enjoying the tank.

The black neons are schooling around. There’s a little synchronized swimming going on but most of the time it’s more casual. Their main hub is the large granite rock in the left center. The serpae like to hang in the plants on the right side near the filter intake, swimming around and returning when it suits ‘em.

I dropped in small amounts of flake and everyone ate enthusiastically, a good sign. Since I have to put in three to four times as much total now, rather than drop a whole mess in at once, I’m going to put in small amounts which they’ll need to finish before they get more, lather, rinse, repeat for a few minutes.

Now I have a dilemma concerning the aforementioned next and final dozen.

Elmer’s had some really nice glow light tetras. Feel me?

Edited December 28, 2021 by isaly

[CalmedByFish]

On 12/27/2021 at 8:10 PM, isaly said:

Now I have a dilemma concerning the aforementioned next and final dozen.

Elmer’s had some really nice glow light tetras. Feel me?

😂 Relatable. I'd say to pause and get the new bioload stabilized. Particularly so if you could get comparable fish later instead of never ever getting them.

[isaly]

On 12/27/2021 at 9:30 PM, CalmedByFish said:

😂 Relatable. I'd say to pause and get the new bioload stabilized. Particularly so if you could get comparable fish later instead of never ever getting them.

My thoughts egg-zactly.

[isaly]

On 12/27/2021 at 4:07 PM, Fish Folk said:

That sounds like a nice tank! 55 gal. is a nice space for tetras to cruise. Do you have it planted up? Any photos to share?

I shot a couple of mini movies but the site won't allow me to attach them. Here's a couple of photos.