Giving up on Neon Tetras?

[hashbaz]

Is this true: I heard that neons are raised overseas with tons of chemicals and medicine in the water to prevent sickness. Then, as soon as they are removed from this water, they start to die off in large numbers.

I was also told that if you buy them from a local breeder, you will usually have more success. Can anyone confirm this?

 

[Tiffi]

After reading all this I am not sure if I want any neons or cardinals anymore 8O 8O 8O . Sounds really like flushing your $$ down the toilet to me!

 

[TomK2]

It is a bummer. Other than my Angelfish fiasco many months ago, I had complete sucess in my tanks, until the neons. Still got one lonely little guy left. sigh.

 

[greenmaji]

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)

I agree.. harelquin rasbora would be near the top of my list for a school of fish.

 

[patagonia]

i agree with harlequin rasboras too...i love mine...they are beautiful active fish...pretty hardy too...i have both neons and rasboras and they all school together...

 

[jcarlilesiu]

speaking of schooling fish, i have 6 white clouds... very good schoolers, pretty and a minnow... very hardy

 

[greenmaji]

TomK2... Have you tried waiting them out at the LFS.. Im not sure how easy it is to accomplish in some situations (some LFS are hopeless to work with) but waiting untill the LFS has kept the fish several weeks can help prevent dieoff in your tank. just a thought..

 

[Big C]

I love my school of rummy nose tetras! They are very active and colorful and must be pretty hardy since I've had them for several months now and haven't lost one!

I tell you TomK, if i can keep them alive I'm sure you can do it too!!!

 

[TomK2]

TomK2... Have you tried waiting them out at the LFS

I have thought of this. What I have noticed is that the LFS's don't seem to have very many of them. They would have about 8 or 10, and I would buy 6 of them. Either they are selling fast, or I am buying the fish that just haven't died yet. Either way, hard to tell how long the neons have been in there, they all look so much alike. They could dump new ones in every week and you wouldn't know. Its hard to find a LFS that would admit such things.

 

[greenmaji]

thats what I was refering to when I said alot of LFS's are hard to work with.. Ive had some great LFS's that the owner would tell you such things. the one here localy knows how long he has had his fish in his tanks.. that is if you know who he is and catch him in there..

 

[xIHaKIx]

I got a tetra that was attacked by a gold fish and its tail is all messed up and the colors been low for a week or more but it still lives, I have no idea what your problem might be with your fish, maybe its the fish store water and change into yours?

 

[talloulou]

When I was a kid we almost always had neon tetras in every tank. I remember them as being very hardy. But over the last few years or so the neons seem weaker. Maybe it depends on where you live and where they come from. Or maybe my parents just replaced them frequently without my knowledge 8O All I know is once you get a good school going then they seem to be hardy. But lately getting that large school is harder harder. Seems like you have to constanly keep replacing them the first couple of months.

 

[FMJnaX]

I guess I have to (reluctantly) jump on the bandwagon here. I bought 5 neons (came home with 6) last thursday. I'm now down to 4. Water params are perfect, temp is steady, tank is cycled, etc. Mystery deaths....

The same as talloulou stated above, in every tank we had grown up, there were neons. The difference, however, is that I knew when new fish were added and when fish died. A death of a neon was a very rare occurence so I'm baffled why so many people (myself included) have problems with them now.

 

[sudz]

Diddo. I had 5, 2 died within a month, then a third developed a big tumor on its tummy and started swimming "sideways", so i put it to sleep in some ice water for over an hour Let the water warm up to make sure the fish was gone (it was) and gave it the one flush salute.

Does that seem to be the most humane way to put a fish to sleep?

I've had my current 2 neon tetra's for almost a year, and both are very healty. One is definately the alpha though. My mom used to buy them by the dozen when i was a kid. they were constantly getting stuck in the filter. so much so that my dad ended up putting plastic screening around it... and even THEN,t hey'd still get sick and stick to the mesh. I think once tetra's are established, they're quite hardy... but they don't like shocks.

... any one know what that tumor was? it was very silvery, and about half the size of the fish. It was in its tummy, towards the front of the fish, and off to the side slightly. I thought maybe it was pregnant, waited a week and couldn't bear to watch it suffer.

I still love neons though!

 

[Flutterby21782]

I gave uo on neons/tetras years ago, after I had cycled my tank, they all bellied up witnin a few weeks.

 

[iamurdad88]

This is my first time having a fish tank set up and i purchased 14 neons. and not one of them have died yet. Ive had the neons for a about 4 or 5 months now... idk y everyone seems to have a problem with them.. mine are doing fine.

 

[talloulou]

......probably not for long if they're in the tank you just added the puffer to 8O

 

[TomK2]

Well, I went to a third LFS. Saw a tank full of neons. I ask how long they have been in there, and am told "weeks." Right. I buy four, and have made it through the first 24 hours without a loss. Maybe this batch is gonna make it?

 

[Feeding_Frenzy]

well you can soften the water up

 

[patagonia]

good luck with these ones Tom!