Neon Tetra "Trap"

[SparKy697]

Every once in a while my favorite LFS has those cute little neons on sale for $.50 each. People grab them like they are the last ones on the planet. They wisely house them in the tank right next to the $2.99 Cardinals and away they go.

It never fails that when I'm in there and somebody is buying them I hear "I don't know what happened to them, they just disappear.. Give me 6 more". It's amazing how many fish will eat other fish. Neons seem to be an especially tasty treat for some tanks. Even our tank at work, the Bala Sharks grab a neon from time to time. These sharks are only ~5 inches long.

I think that if you are going to buy neons, or any small fish for that matter, make sure that they are almost the biggest thing in the tank.

 

[MurfQ]

I have 5 little neons in with a dwarf gouramie. I've only had them for a few days. The neons are certainly small enough for the gouramie to eat. Are they known to do this?

 

[gu2high]

I have neons with 2 dwarf gouramie which is about 2 inches. I don't think they will eat neons.

 

[Pleco]

Angels will co-exsist with them so long as they are raised with them from a young age. However if you add more neons after they grow you can just call them all Lunch, or Dinner whatever you prefer

I had bad experiences with Dwarf Gouramies, i doubt i will have one in my tanks again unless its just 1 and there are bigger fish around that it wont pick on.

-Pleco

 

[MurfQ]

Ok so, one of my five neons has completely disappeared. There is no sign of it anywhere. I did a PWC tonight and carefully checked through all the plants and even lifted the drifwood in case there might be a body trapped under it. I don't see any explanation for this unless the dwarf gouramie did in fact eat it?

Apart from the neons and DG there is nothing else in this aquarium save for a few tiny ramshorn and pond snails that hitched a ride on my plants.

 

[tropicfishman]

I bet that big 6 inch bala I had ate my 2 zebra danios that disappeareds awhile back

 

[coldmachineUK]

Neons are also extremely sensitive to water params, and with continued inbreeding much in the same way as the popular livebearers, the quality of stock is very poor (bent spines a frequent sight).
It could well be that you will lose some through the transfer to your tank, or even within a month or so. Since they're so small you may never notice remains. Not all disappearances are due to a piscivore/neon-eating tankmate.

 

[pairustwo]

Consider this thread I posted when my Neon Tetras were disappearing one by one.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=91848&highlight=pairustwo

 

[MurfQ]

Consider this thread I posted when my Neon Tetras were disappearing one by one.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=91848&highlight=pairustwo

I did actually think of that because they are pretty tiny, but I checked my filter when he disappeared and found no trace of them. I don't think the little plastic impeller would be powerful enough to make mush of them, would it???

 

[kaz]

I have a bunch of fish get caught up either on the power head or filter like that too.