Neon Tetras are small but lovely aquarium fish, they are easy to care for, that’s why many people do keep them in their home aquarium. They are schooling fish because they like being kept in a group. They are not aggressive but sometimes you will see them chase each other and maybe fight or nip at each other. This has led to many questions about these fish such as ‘ do they kill each other? etc. In this article, you will learn if they will kill each other or not and how to stop any perceived aggression from them.
Will Neon Tetras kill each other? Neon Tetras are peaceful fish and don’t hurt each other.
Although they are peaceful but when I say they don’t hurt nor kill each other, what I really mean is that the adults can’t hurt their fellow adults and the fry can’t hurt their fellow fry, but nevertheless, they are not good at parenting as the adults normally feast on the fry.
It is very rare to see a Neon kill another matured Neon, although they could only become aggressive and might start chasing each other or fight for some reason but they cannot inflict fatal damage on one another, so Neon Tetras don’t kill each other.
Can Neon Tetras Be Kept Together?
Neon Tetras are schooling fish that loves to stay in a group of their kind. 5 to 10 of them could be kept together in a tank because they seem to like it.
They can be kept together because it is not very nice to keep a single Neon in a tank without the presence of its kind.
Why Do Tetras Chase Each Other?
Sometimes you might notice that your Tetras of any type, maybe Neon Tetras, etc are chasing each other and you might be wondering why. Here are the reasons:
1. They chase each other to establish dominance in the tank.
Although some Tetras are very peaceful, especially Neons, they need to establish a hierarchy and this happens more if more males are in the tank.
So, if you see them chasing each other, it might be that they are trying to create a hierarchy and you have nothing to worry about as they will stop or reduce the chasing or aggression once they establish dominance.
2. They chase each other in order to mate.
It is very common to see male Tetras chasing the females in order to mate with them.
Also, the alpha male might decide to take the biggest female and will chase any other males that try to mate with his female mate.
3. One reason why they might become aggressive and start chasing each other, fighting, and nipping each other’s fin is when the environment is not suitable for them.
This could be as a result of toxins in the water, small tank size or overcrowded tank, a limited quantity of foods, etc.
All these could contribute to aggression in any fish, including Tetras, and that’s probably why yours are chasing and attacking each other.
How To Stop Neon Tetras From Fighting
If your Neon Tetras are aggressive and fight among themselves, then just know that the environment is not very conducive for them and this is how to stop them from doing so.
The key to stopping this is to find out the reason why they are aggressive and solve it accordingly, for instance, if they address doing so because the tank is small or they are overcrowded, then transfer them to a bigger tank or reduce their population by transferring some of them.
Test their water always with testing kits and once you detect a toxin like chlorine, ammonia, etc do a change of water per day, until it is zero.
Again keep less number of males and more number of females. This will reduce or eradicate any future aggression, as the males do establish hierarchy through fighting and chasing.
