Floaty Neons

[SkydiveSonic]

Hi everyone,
Just want an opinion on what could be going on..... I've noticed that for about 2 - 3 hours after feeding time, one of my 6 neon tetras gets very "floaty" and has trouble with buoyancy. If he doesn't swim in a downward direction, he will float towards the surface of the water. Any ideas why? he's been doing this for over a week now (and has always recovered after a few hours). I've tried breaking the flaked food up into smaller pieces, but it hasn't helped.

 

[juliehainsworth]

I think its a common problem in neons, previously (approx 10yrs) when I kept neons mine did exactly the same it put me off keeping them and so I turned to cardinals which are very similar in appearance but don't seem to have the boyancy problem like neons. Not quite sure why they have this problem I just put it down to them having dodgy swimbladders.

Sorry I can't answer your question as to why!

 

[Lateral Line]

Are you feeding flake food? If so, try soaking the food for a few minutes before feeding so that it sinks. Often fish gulping flakes at the surface take in excessive air and develop buoyancy problems, Neons are notorious for doing so.