GloFish Danio
Likely compatible | minimum 20 gallons
- searched pair caution: GloFish Danio follows zebra danio care and can be a good active-community match with neon tetra when kept in a group and given swimming length.
Best Neon Tetra tank mates
Opens an editable 30 US gal example with one selected animal. Adjust capacity, numbers, and companions before using the results.
Discover the best compatible tank mates for Neon Tetra by troubleshooting community setups. Candidates are ranked by shared water parameters, aquarium swim zone pressure, temperament, and predator/prey safety.
Tank size assumptions
Results assume at least the larger listed minimum tank size, full adult size, a cycled aquarium, proper group sizes, and normal filtration. Shrimp and fry are treated more cautiously than adult fish.
Best matches
Rule-screened fish are shown first, followed by invertebrates. Check tank size, social groups and temperament before stocking; a green result is not a guarantee.
GloFish Tetra
Likely compatible | minimum 20 gallons
- searched pair caution: GloFish Tetra follows skirt tetra community guidance and can be a reasonable match with neon tetra when kept in a proper school and a tank large enough to spread activity.
Gold Gourami
Likely compatible | minimum 30 gallons
- searched pair caution: Gold Gourami can be a reasonable long-term community tankmate with neon tetra when the aquarium is large enough, planted, not overstocked, and the individual gourami is not bullying slower fish.
Caution matches
Amano Shrimp
Minimum 10 gallons before group size and layout adjustments.
- shrimp predation risk: Neon Tetra may eat shrimplets or stressed shrimp.
- schooling size issue: Neon Tetra should be kept in a group of at least 6, not as a single add-on.
- schooling size issue: Amano Shrimp should be kept in a group of at least 5, not as a single add-on.
Assassin Snail
Minimum 10 gallons before group size and layout adjustments.
- schooling size issue: Neon Tetra should be kept in a group of at least 6, not as a single add-on.
- searched pair caution: Caution: neon-tetra and assassin-snail is a high-intent searched pairing with documented source concerns (verified temperature overlap 1.80F; verified pH gap -0.50). It should not be treated as automatically safe; use careful planning and monitoring.
Babaulti Shrimp
Minimum 10 gallons before group size and layout adjustments.
- shrimp predation risk: Neon Tetra may eat shrimplets or stressed shrimp.
- schooling size issue: Neon Tetra should be kept in a group of at least 6, not as a single add-on.
- schooling size issue: Babaulti Shrimp should be kept in a group of at least 10, not as a single add-on.
Bee Shrimp
Minimum 10 gallons before group size and layout adjustments.
- shrimp predation risk: Neon Tetra may eat shrimplets or stressed shrimp.
- schooling size issue: Neon Tetra should be kept in a group of at least 6, not as a single add-on.
- schooling size issue: Bee Shrimp should be kept in a group of at least 10, not as a single add-on.
Betta
Minimum 10 gallons before group size and layout adjustments.
- schooling size issue: Neon Tetra should be kept in a group of at least 6, not as a single add-on.
Black King Kong Shrimp
Minimum 10 gallons before group size and layout adjustments.
- shrimp predation risk: Neon Tetra may eat shrimplets or stressed shrimp.
- schooling size issue: Neon Tetra should be kept in a group of at least 6, not as a single add-on.
- schooling size issue: Black King Kong Shrimp should be kept in a group of at least 10, not as a single add-on.
Black Rose Shrimp
Minimum 10 gallons before group size and layout adjustments.
- shrimp predation risk: Neon Tetra may eat shrimplets or stressed shrimp.
- schooling size issue: Neon Tetra should be kept in a group of at least 6, not as a single add-on.
- schooling size issue: Black Rose Shrimp should be kept in a group of at least 10, not as a single add-on.
Bladder Snail
Minimum 10 gallons before group size and layout adjustments.
- schooling size issue: Neon Tetra should be kept in a group of at least 6, not as a single add-on.
Avoid matches
Sulawesi Cardinal Shrimp
- temperature mismatch: The shared temperature window is narrow at 78-78F.
- pH mismatch: No shared pH range: Neon Tetra is 6-7.5 and Sulawesi Cardinal Shrimp is 7.8-8.4.
- shrimp predation risk: Neon Tetra may eat shrimplets or stressed shrimp.
German Blue Ram
- temperature mismatch: No shared temperature range: Neon Tetra is 72-78F and German Blue Ram is 80-86F.
- schooling size issue: Neon Tetra should be kept in a group of at least 6, not as a single add-on.
- specialist care: German Blue Ram has specialist care requirements; match stable parameters before choosing tank mates.
Pagoda Snail
- schooling size issue: Neon Tetra should be kept in a group of at least 6, not as a single add-on.
- schooling size issue: Pagoda Snail should be kept in a group of at least 3, not as a single add-on.
- specialist care: Pagoda Snail has specialist care requirements; match stable parameters before choosing tank mates.
Rabbit Snail
- schooling size issue: Neon Tetra should be kept in a group of at least 6, not as a single add-on.
- temperature no overlap: Verified Tier 1 incompatible: neon-tetra and rabbit-snail has no cited temperature overlap (temperature overlap 0.00F; pH gap 0.30).
Angelfish
- predator/prey risk: Neon Tetra is prey-sized compared with adult Angelfish.
- schooling size issue: Neon Tetra should be kept in a group of at least 6, not as a single add-on.
- predator/prey risk: Large adult angelfish may eat very small neons, especially if introduced as tiny fish.
Convict Cichlid
- predator/prey risk: Neon Tetra is prey-sized compared with adult Convict Cichlid.
- aggression risk: At least one species is highly territorial or aggressive; only attempt this in a carefully planned tank.
- schooling size issue: Neon Tetra should be kept in a group of at least 6, not as a single add-on.
Molly
- pH mismatch: The shared pH window is narrow at 7.5-7.5.
- water hardness mismatch: Neon Tetra and Molly have no shared GH range.
- schooling size issue: Neon Tetra should be kept in a group of at least 6, not as a single add-on.
Polar Blue Parrot Cichlid
- predator/prey risk: Polar Blue Parrot Cichlid may ignore some small fish while juvenile, but adult long-term planning should avoid neon tetra as a default pairing because small tankmates and shrimp can be harassed or eaten.
- aggression risk: Polar Blue Parrot Cichlid may ignore some small fish while juvenile, but adult long-term planning should avoid neon tetra as a default pairing because small tankmates and shrimp can be harassed or eaten.