I have a 15 gal tank that I am considering using for a school of neons. Any
suggestions for plants that would be most appropriate? How about tank mates
for cleanup? I'm looking for suggestions of what to put into this tank with
neons for a reasonably low maintenance tank that would highlight the neons.

"Leyf" wrote in message
le.rogers.com...
I have a 15 gal tank that I am considering using for a school of neons.
Any
suggestions for plants that would be most appropriate? How about tank
mates
for cleanup? I'm looking for suggestions of what to put into this tank
with
neons for a reasonably low maintenance tank that would highlight the
neons.

I keep Sunset hygrophilia in a Neon tank. All the offshoots have been
pushed into the substrate, so it's a ground cover, about 4" at its
tallest. The red/green leaves look nice under the Neon's red/blue. A
bit of red Myriophylium along the back finishes it off.

In a Cardinal tank, we have a mixture of plants, with a forest of small
Vals (Vallesneria spiralis) near the middle to a side. They like to
school back & forth circling the Vals periodically, and at any sign of
danger, they jump into them.

Since they are not a big bio-load, you can easily let a ground cover take
over the tank (my Neons rarely go under the groundcover, which is filled
with shrimp, Otos etc), saving you from gravel vacuuming. I wouldn't put
excessive amounts of bushy plants in the tank as the Neons might vanish
from sight.

Other ground crews might be Kuhlis, ADFs, small Corys and Pygmy Corys.

NetMax

Hi Leyf,

I have a 15 gal tank that I am considering using for a school of neons.
Any
suggestions for plants that would be most appropriate? How about tank
mates
for cleanup? I'm looking for suggestions of what to put into this tank
with
neons for a reasonably low maintenance tank that would highlight the
neons.

Chances are good the fish do have a preference for plant types but I just
select plants I visually like. Also different plants have different light
requirements and many will not grow if they don't have enough of it.

Tetra Neons are very beautiful fish and are very similar to Tetra Cardinals.
You may consider Cardinals as well. They are a bit pricier but the red color
underneath the blue florescent stripe covers the whole length of their body
not just a half as Tetra Neons. Cardinals also can grow a bit bigger then
Neons. Other than that they look the same and occasionally you may come
across an employee in a pet store who cannot tell them apart.

Beside a school of Neons (or Cardinals) I would put into a 15g aquarium some
algae eaters. Perhaps 3 Oto Catfish to take care of Green Dot algae growing
on the glass. A few Algae Eating Shrimps (Amano Shrimp) are fun to watch and
are very useful.

--
Regards,
Marvin Hlavac
Toronto, Canada