Neon Tetras Behaviour Developing

The pattern of the day is becoming established for the little Neon Tetras. Fight in the morning, then accept food a little while after the lights have gone on. And they are seeming to take an interest in there is someone in the room with them.

The shoaling isn't as obvious - most of the day there's been at least 1 on it's own, usually never to be found. Only occasionally have all 5 made an appearance together, and then quite often that's in 2 or 3 groups.

Even with the addition of 5 Neon Tetras there's no ammonia or nitrate showing in the tank. Spoke to the manager of a pet shop and he said just to leave it a week then add in 5 or 6 fish - presumably very small ones at that number! But he recons that the plants are consuming most of the ammonia and anything that is being produced is cycling and the resulting nitrite being consumed.

So cycling could be a longer process than usual, but it's being done at very low levels, which is ideal for the fish. Another good sign is that the hardness of the water has come down, with the PH staying the same. So it does look as though the plants are cleaning the water. Given the tap water is harder and I have in the past detected nitrates in the tap water, then I'm best leaving the plants to it and changing only when I absolutely have to.