Neon Tetra and other species of Tetras are very popular among fish keepers. Neon is a very nice and gentle specie of the tetras, and they live in freshwater and make good aquarium fish for homes etc. Rainbow sharks are nice freshwater fish to keep too. Although they are semi aggressive, territorial and big. If you love these two fish and want to buy them and keep as pets in your home tank, you may be wondering if they could be able to coexist in a tank. If the above defines you, then you are in the right page because you will learn both their behaviors and if they could live together or not.
Can Rainbow Sharks live with Neon Tetras? Yes, Neon tetras are suitable tank mates to share a tank with rainbow sharks. Although rainbow sharks are territorial and will chase them out of their territories. They don’t bother the neons once they don’t intrude in their territories.
Rainbow sharks, being a shark do get pretty large.
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They can grow more than 20 inches.
Although they are semi aggressive and omnivores, but they can comfortably share a tank with neon tetras without harming them.
Before we continue, first, let’s look at the habitat and temperaments of both fish.
Rainbow Sharks Water Conditions and Temperament
This shark thrives in a freshwater with low current and substrates, plants.
So consider getting them a low powered filter and aquarium plants to replicate their natural habitats.
They live in a temperature of 75-80°F with a pH of 6-8.
Their water hardiness is 5-8dh, and they could get really big to occupy a 30 gallon or more per fish, depending on the size.
They’re semi aggressive and are voracious eaters, at the same time omnivores.
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They can eat anything edible including other fish, worms, shrimps, etc, but they love eating plants and vegetables, so add that to their meal on a regular basis.
They love chasing other fish and even their own species too.
Neon Tetras Water Conditions and Temperament
The Neon Tetras are well known Gene and cool specie of Tetra.
They are always timid and are always hiding in caves, pipes etc in the tank, especially when they have other tank mates.
Their ideal water temperature is between 70-80°F.
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Their suitable pH level is 6.0-7.0.
Water hardiness is less than 10dGH.
Although they are cool fish, but just like any other fish, they eat more of plants, vegetables and also flesh such as worms, shrimps etc.
They have zero level of aggression in them and could tolerate many other species of fish too.
Can Neon Tetras and Rainbow Sharks Share a Tank? Yes, Rainbow Sharks rarely disturb Neon tetras, but don’t allow the neons to cross their territories.
From the above data of the two fish, we can see that they share almost the same living conditions.
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They can live comfortably in the same water, eat almost the same food and everything, but the only thing that differentiate them is their temperament and size.
So from every indications, they can comfortably share a tank without the shark trying to eat the neon tetras.
Although Rainbow sharks are both territorial, semi aggressive ( especially the male) and also they’re omnivores, which mean they can eat both plants and animals.
The thing is, once the Tetras learn to stay out of their ways, then they will be fine because this shark rarely disturbs them.
Apart from Neon Tetras, Rainbow sharks could comfortably live with other species of the Tetras such as black skirt tetras, bloodfin tetras, Cardinal Tetras, Buenos aires, Colombian, white/black skirt, diamond etc.
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Although Rainbow sharks might chase them all over the tank, but this happens when they intrude in their territories.
So they will be fine once they learn to stay out of the shark’s ways and also once there are many hiding places in the tank for them to stay and avoid troubling the rainbows.
Other Suitable Tank Mates For Neon Tetras
Zebra Danios.
Guppies.
White Cloud Minnows.
Harlequin Rasbora.
Platies.
Corydoras.
Sword tails.
Mollies.
Rainbow Shark Suitable Tank Mates
Also you might be interested to know the types of fish that could possibly be kept with rainbow sharks in the same tank, here they are:
Zebra Danios.
Dwarf Gourami.
Honey gourami.
Boseman’s rainbowfish.
Congo Tetras.
Neon Tetras.
black skirt tetras,
bloodfin tetras,
Cardinal Tetras.
Buenos Aires.
Colombian.
White/black skirt.
Diamond.
Conclusion
Like I always advise, there is no guarantee that you will achieve 100% corporation keeping animals of different species etc.
So expect to see some aggression when you keep Neons and Rainbows in a tank, especially when the Tetras cross their boundaries, but they will be just fine with rainbow sharks.
This is to say you will need a much bigger tank, depending on how many fish you want.
And try to keep more female rainbows than male ones to curb aggression.