Giving up on Neon Tetras?

[TomK2]

Well, the mortality has been rather high in my Neon Tetra tank. Out of 12 fish, purchased from two different stores in different weeks, I am down to one lonely neon again. 10 Gal Tank has been up and cycled for two months, pH 7.6, ammonia zero, nitrite zero, nitrate 5 - 10. Tank has anacharis, anubia, and crypt plants. Fish were fed fine flake food. Temp 79 degrees to 80 degrees.

My initial reading left me with the impression that neon tetras could adapt to the higher pH, and prefered higher temps. Due to my dismal failure, I am beginning to wonder if the pH and temp need to come down to have sucess with this fish. I sure hope it isn't something stupid, such as anacharis plants being poisonous to neons!

But I am not going to fight with my local water supply, and will just switch to different fish if Neons won't work. Any ideas?

 

[Jchillin]

Sorry to hear about your neons. I doubt if it is temp or ph related (and anacharis is innocent).

I could only think of rasboras or perhaps barbs if you are looking to maintain the vibrant colors...or perhaps a bosemani rainbow fish?

If it's not colors you're looking for, perhaps black phantom or black skirt tetras??

 

[Devilishturtles]

IMHO, it could be the pH affecting your fish. That seems to be the only possible explanation. As you already know, Neon Tetras prefer quite acidic water.

I'm a huge fan of the Harelquin Rasbora. A school of them would be almost as good as a school of neon tetras! 8)

Sorry to hear about your luck

 

[TomK2]

More detailed observation has revealed that the fish spend a half day to a full day swimming abnormally before turning up dead. My goal is to have about 69 or twelve small colorful schooling fish in the 10 gal planted tank. I thought neons would be perfect, but I am tiring of scooping dead ones out. A less colorful, but alive fish would work, since dead neons loose their colors fast.

 

[Acer]

A less colorful, but alive fish would work, since dead neons loose their colors fast.

that they do..

 

[Hrafnkel]

Black skirt tetras are very much alive. I got 6 for my 55 and they're always moving around. Fun fish to watch.

 

[patagonia]

ive had 7 neon tetras for about 6 months now...my pH is 7.6 and i havent had any problems with them...my tap water has chloramines if you remember...ive kept them with harlequin rasboras otos and platies and so far everybodys fine...except for this silly ich im battling right now :? but im winning

 

[jrp1588]

I had a school of neons for about a year, then within about 2 weeks they all died. Weird little fish.

 

[talloulou]

My goal is to have about 69 or twelve small colorful schooling fish in the 10 gal planted tank.

Did you mean 6,9, or 12 or did you actually mean 69? 8O

In my opinion neon tetras aren't the hardiest of fish. Whenever I have tried to have a school of about 10 I usually end up buying the first set, then replacing the ones that died 2-3 times before I have a healthy school.

 

[Hrafnkel]

We used to have them before I personally got into the hobby (dad used to keep a tank when he taught biology and stuff). Never had any luck with them, I wouldn't bother with 'em now, I don't think. Would rather go with hardier fish. That, and neons are just too... normal, for my tastes.

 

[Lepomis]

I think water hardness often plays a role in neon longevity. Mature tanks fair better also. I think the major problem is that many neons are junk that are sold at the local LFS. Wild caught are even more tempremental.

 

[TomK2]

Ah, I wish they were 'normal' and alive. I would like to best this challenge. I could always go out and buy another batch. Maybe instead of 6 at a time I should buy like 15, and hope 6 or 12 survive. Problem is that they are about $1.70 to $2.50 locally. and I feel like I am throwing money away. And my survival rate is so dismal, they just die off at a predictable rate of one a day until one is left. The last one seems to stick around until I buy another batch. The water hardness is "moderate" , about 6 degrees.

 

[Blucat]

cardinals?

 

[Guest]

I've never heard anything about neons being that hardy of a fish, and actuall I was wanting to try a school of about twenty, with 5 or 6 angels in a planted tank. The question is nothing youve tried so far has worked to keep the mortality high? I'm very curious as to why they died in you tank. This may sound dumb and I've never heard this from anybody I've talked to except for one individual a long time ago. He was telling me that if you have neons the ones that have two small yellow dots on the tail will certaintly die do to the fact that, it is supposed to mean that they have TB, and that any with TB will infect the others and kill them. Has anyone ever herd this before? The old guy always had good luck with them, so I dont know what to think at this point.

 

[severum mama]

lemonheadmech- I wouldn't keep neons in an angel tank, as they are the natural prey of angels. You could try some cardinals instead- they look extremely similar but are more colorful and a little larger. I bet they would be ok with angels.

TomK2- I too gave up on neons after a number of unsuccessful attempts at keeping them. I even gave up on cardinals too! If you want a beautiful school, try some green fire tetras. I love mine, and I've found them to be much more hardy than neons. I think there is a pic of them in my gallery. Rummy nose are stunning too, but also not known for being hardy. Strangely enough, though, I haven't had any trouble with mine and still have all my original 6. 8)

 

[DepotFish]

There have always been tetras at my parents house, where I live during the summer off of college, and I take care of them mostly. Possibly the heating is too much for them. I know tetras are recommended for a warmer tank but in my experience they do much better in a cool tank. We have a school of about 20 and maybe one or two babies survive but we haven't had a dead adult in a long time.

 

[fish_4_all]

I would agree that they aren't the hardiest fish. I started with 14 of them and I am left with 2 healthy ones out of 27 or so. The healthy ones are very healthy but it took a lot to get them to live very long. These two have been alive for 8 months or longer so once you find them they are good little fishies.

Oh, and my ph is always around 7.6.

 

[severum mama]

Oh, I forgot to mention... the pH of my tap water is 7.0, so I really expected the neons to do ok in my tank.

 

[mattrox]

I have terrible luck with neons, but seem to fare better with Cardinals....... even Rummynose. My sister has has success with neons though.. hmmmmmmmmmm

 

[fantasticaqua]

Yes, I have better luck with cardinals too. Neons like to have places to hide so dont forget to give them a place to get away from prowlers. It could be your supplier to...or your suppliers supplier. They do some serious stuff to fish nowadays to increase birthrates and growth rates. Since neons are somewhat hard to breed, for a profit, they use alot of chemicals