are all neon tetras unhealthy?

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gabysapha

Aquarium Advice FINatic
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Jul 21, 2011
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Hi,

I've tried keeping schools of neons three times, and each time I've had them come down with ich, just dying or not doing well. I love the look of neons but I have never had hardy ones! I have kept many species of fish and it's unusual for them to die on me; neons always have the greatest number of casualties.

Are there vendors out there who do sell hardy neons? Or are they just all inbred and sickly?

I would try Cardinal Tetras but I occasionally get lazy with water quality and they seem more finicky than neons.

Thanks!
 
gabysapha said:
Hi,

I've tried keeping schools of neons three times, and each time I've had them come down with ich, just dying or not doing well. I love the look of neons but I have never had hardy ones! I have kept many species of fish and it's unusual for them to die on me; neons always have the greatest number of casualties.

Are there vendors out there who do sell hardy neons? Or are they just all inbred and sickly?

I would try Cardinal Tetras but I occasionally get lazy with water quality and they seem more finicky than neons.

Thanks!

I have no luck with neons. Tried twice. I give up ! Lol
 
Haha! :)
Ok then.

Do you have suggestions for other tetras or small schooling fish that are not really finicky about water parameters? I have a peaceful 29 gal tank.
 
Yeah i always would lose neans, i had 7 for a few months so i decided to add 3 more, bad idea, within a week they were all dead. Between terrible breeding and being more likely to catch diseases i do not like neon tetras. Now i am trying Black Neon Tetras which are a little larger and less colorful, but i havent lost a single one and once they get used to the tank they are very fun to watch. With a black backround there silver line really pops.
Water quality is important, but fot the most part a little slacking wont bring the apocolypse to your tank. Plants are amazing when it comes to keeping your water cleaner. Hope this helps!
 
Water quality and fish success will go hand in hand. However, it does sound like the source of your fish may be suspect as well. You might try a different fish store and ask the current store where they get their fish from to make sure you aren't purchasing the same source at a different location. Alternately, if you can stomach the shipping fees, you can try an online supplier.
 
Thanks for the replies!I try my best with water quality, but as a busy student I have decided to go with a planted tank and letting myself spread out water changes a little more ;)

Yes, I saw black neon tetras in PEtsmart and they really are big! I was surprised! I was hoping to get a splash of blue somewhere in my tank; it's pretty much shades of green with red pops from the CRS and yellow dashes from my Endlers. If you have any suggestions for mid-swimmers that show blue please share!

I agree, now that I have started buying inverts for my tanks online I see a big difference between their quality and the quality found in my LFS. Thanks for the advice!
 
Well I have successfully acclimated and kept rummynose( so far going on over a month ) just no luck with neons lol and rummys are noted to be finicky. I've been told wild caught vs tank raised makes a huge difference.
There are blue tetras. I believe they are called kerri tetras :) they are nice and blue :))

You could try one of those powder blue gouramis but I'm not exactly sure about campitabilty

Or a blue betta. The last two being for the blue color of course :)
 
Yeah i always would lose neans, i had 7 for a few months so i decided to add 3 more, bad idea, within a week they were all dead. Between terrible breeding and being more likely to catch diseases i do not like neon tetras. Now i am trying Black Neon Tetras which are a little larger and less colorful, but i havent lost a single one and once they get used to the tank they are very fun to watch. With a black backround there silver line really pops.
Water quality is important, but fot the most part a little slacking wont bring the apocolypse to your tank. Plants are amazing when it comes to keeping your water cleaner. Hope this helps!

I bought a school of black neons (6), and 3 promptly died:confused: but the other 3 are still with me. They were extremely shy at first, never coming out from behind the plants in the back corner. I knew I needed to fill out their school, but I'm having a bout of ich so they'll have to wait. Oh I forgot to mention, they're still a little skittish, but they have adjusted well and come out all the time now. I can't wait to see how they act when they have a full school. My neon tetras are doing really well also. Sorry to hear about your experience with them.
 
Neons really are hit and miss for ppl. My grandma got some at the same store a couple weeks b4 I did and they are all alive and well. I thought it was bc I added salt to my tank but we added some to hers as well. Lol ... Im just not meant to have neons! Hahaha
 
Yes, I saw black neon tetras in PEtsmart and they really are big! I was surprised! I was hoping to get a splash of blue somewhere in my tank;...QUOTE]


I saw something I had never seen yesterday, blue platy's, kind of a powder blue like dwarf blue gouramis. I know nothing about platys, as I was looking for black neons, but it was a nice color blue. Good luck.
 
After collaborating on this forum I found that perhaps a good idea is to get a blue centerpiece fish, such as a gourami.

Well that solves my problem ;) No more neons!

I am still in need of a schooling fish! With my hard water I am afraid most tetras will not adjust. With a blue centerpiece fish a peaceful school of fish is a must. What are your favorites?
 
Yes, I saw black neon tetras in PEtsmart and they really are big! I was surprised! I was hoping to get a splash of blue somewhere in my tank;...QUOTE]


I saw something I had never seen yesterday, blue platy's, kind of a powder blue like dwarf blue gouramis. I know nothing about platys, as I was looking for black neons, but it was a nice color blue. Good luck.

I've seen some blue platies in Petco, they were powder blue with some green. On Aquabid I saw some BRILLIANT blue platies. After searching other auctions I realized that my LFS must get low quality platies because the online ones were amazing!!!
 
I've had a school of 20 in my Discus tank for about a year now, but then again it IS a discus tank, so the water quality is always spot on.
 
Blue tetras sound cool, I haven't seen those yet.
Is there a blue glo-fish?
Bettas can be temperamental but sometimes do well in a community,
Gouramis are top water and are very protective of it, fish in lower water space are good with them.

Sorry to hear about you BNT, sometimes all the stress from the store is to much for them. I have a school of seven and they are very active and love plants, 3 of them have very funny personalities, all in all a really good tetra :)
Hope the ich clears up soon!
 
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