Questions on schooling fish

[Jnam]

So my current stock of neon tetras started as a healthy school of 15 now i am down to 3... My LFS has informed me that they dont think that thier stock of Neons is all that to healthy (of course that was after my purchase and the death of 12 fish oh and they only have a 3 day gaurantee). So I am off to find a new LFS. My questioin is in everyones experience will the neons school with any other tetras? I was thinking glow lights or cardinals or even rummy nose.

They 3 i have seem stressed, they eat and swim and kind of school i know their numbers should be higher but i dont want another 30+ $ investment to die on me again. And i dont want to give these guys away nor do i want them not to feel safe in a school...

Opinions please.

 

[princessp714]

I have heard that neons really just don't last that long, they are pretty but die fast.
I can def. tell you that glow lights last, I have had mine(that started out as a feeder fish for albino clawed frogs) I don't have it in a school, but I do have 4 neons(yeah I am hoping for the best)3 black tetras (1 died- stuck to the filter ) 1 glo-light tetra I think i would go with a few glowlights or cardinals. GL let us know how it goes!

 

[jrp1588]

from my experience, about half of my neons die, and then the survivors live for quite a while. Only the strong survive I suppose. hah

 

[Menagerie]

I haven't heard good things about neons in a long time. My favorite small schooling fish are white cloud minnows. Of my original school--can't remember how many--I bought over three years ago, four are still with me--I have had two long distant moves in that time!

 

[Lager]

I have never had luck with neons. I like lemon tetras, rummy noses and harlequin rasboras.

 

[tomherndon]

Neons I have had have gone the distance (knock on wood) I had one a few months ago that I think got caught in the filter intake. His jaw was malformed and he started having infections near his caudal fin. I icebathed him after observing him for an additional week after the event.

There was an earlier post referencing overbreeding/inbreeding of this particular fish and I can believe it. I've noticed entire shifts of schools at the box fish store. You go in on wednesday to see a tank overloaded with them several dozen and notice on the following saturday that the tank is nearly empty with a few floaters and sinkers around the tank that hadn't been cleared by staff.

I don't know that the local I go to gets fish from same supplier and treats them better OR a different supplier, but the fish seem a lot healthier and I've had fewer mortalities on the fish I've purchased there.

When I picked up my rummy nose, I had read all sorts of 'need ten then buy twenty' posts about them. The original five I picked up are still schooling around like teenagers at the mall on friday.

Short of it. I think a lot depends on the skill/investment of the store.

 

[new2betas]

My lamp eye tetras are very hardy, although much bigger than the neons, I believe. I have five in my 29g tank (originally had 6, but one poor soul got eaten by the filter before I changed filter brands). The remaining five have been fine, although I only have had them a couple to three months at this point.

 

[Jnam]

thanks for the suggestions, I am pretty sure its gonna work out. Its funny to watch the tank the black skirt tetras are like piranah they cruise around eating anything floating in the water (watch out RCS here the come!!) I am assuming that they have been keeping the guppy fry in check... But they school so tightly there is 5 of them. The really sad part is i got them from walmart and they seem to be the healthiest fish i have purchased from a fish store. LMAO... Ive decided to go the glow light tetra and rummy nose schools. I am going to add 3-4 mollies question on that how do you tell the sexes? and can i intemix the breeds? And ill let the 3 remaining neons fend for them selves if they make it and the new bioload permits in a couple months ill try to up the school...

 

[Lager]

Male mollies have a long pointy anal fin, females have a pair of fins. The different color types will breed with each other.

Good luck with the new tetras, it should be a busy and colorful tank.