Neon Tetra Acting Odd In A New Tank

[luckyd]

Hello. We have four neon tetras in a 5-gallon tank that we bought two days ago. There are no other fish in the tank. Three of the fish are fine. But the smallest one has shown signs of distress since we added it to the tank. At first, it stayed near the top of the tank breathing rapidly and not joining the school. The next day it seemed to join the school off and on, but periodically it crashes to the bottom of the tank and rests. Just when we think it's near death, it will suddenly pop back up and start swimming with the school. Other times it appears to be skittish and stay away from the group. I haven't witnessed the feedings so it's hard to say whether it's getting enough to eat. Could all this be signs of stress due to being in a new tank? We're debating whether to separate the fish in case it's sick, or to give it time to get used to the new environment. Thank you.

 

[sparkycufc]

Conventional wisdom states that you shouldn't add Neon Tetra to a new tank, they need a mature tank to thrive.

Guess what, conventional wisdom is correct.

I was (mis)sold Neon Tetra as an ideal starter fish by a local fish store employee who no longer works there, they tend to get very stressed in a new set up and you need to give them lots of care. Care meaning plenty of plants to hide in so they don't feel quite as nervous. I gave my tetra plenty of places to hide and have gradually added more plants so they have more places.

They do however hide in caves also, or mine do, so long as there is a clear way in and out, and conventional wisdom says they don't generally do that.

My advice would be to dose appropriately with stress zyme type stuff and give them plenty of places to feel secure, keep a close eye on them and they should be ok. As to whether you should add a couple more I shall leave to more experienced fishkeepers than I. Personally I would make the shoal up to six as that is the minimum recommended amount if you are going to keep them however some may recommend you take them back to the fish shop and get something a little hardier, it really is up to you though.

 

[danb]

Conventional wisdom states that you shouldn't add Neon Tetra to a new tank, they need a mature tank to thrive.

Guess what, conventional wisdom is correct.

I was (mis)sold Neon Tetra as an ideal starter fish by a local fish store employee who no longer works there, they tend to get very stressed in a new set up and you need to give them lots of care. Care meaning plenty of plants to hide in so they don't feel quite as nervous. I gave my tetra plenty of places to hide and have gradually added more plants so they have more places.

They do however hide in caves also, or mine do, so long as there is a clear way in and out, and conventional wisdom says they don't generally do that.

My advice would be to dose appropriately with stress zyme type stuff and give them plenty of places to feel secure, keep a close eye on them and they should be ok. As to whether you should add a couple more I shall leave to more experienced fishkeepers than I. Personally I would make the shoal up to six as that is the minimum recommended amount if you are going to keep them however some may recommend you take them back to the fish shop and get something a little hardier, it really is up to you though.

I wouldnt take him out of the tank, i did that and my tetra died within 24hours. Also, i think giving them place to hide encourages bullying and is encouraging them to stay hidden away, wont get any food etc.

 

[Deleted member 55926]

I had a neon die this morning, and last night he was behaving in a similar fashion; sitting very still amongst some vallis, breathing rapidly, away from the rest of the shoal.

I would have thought my tank has enough live plants and branches of wood to provide many hiding places and a sense of security.

 

[waterdrop]

Hi luckyd and welcome to the beginners section,

You say that you bought the tank two days ago but I think we'll need more information about that. Is it a used tank and if so we'll need as much informaton as you have about how long the tank had been in operation with the previous owner and how long the fish had been in, including the neons in particular.

If the tank is new there are different things we'll need to know.

Without having necessary information I'm going to suggest that you perform a 50% water change using a gravel cleaning siphon and cleaning the gravel deeply as the water goes out. The return tap water needs to be "conditioned" (dosed at 1.5x the recommended instructions on a chemical that removes chlorine/chloramine from the water) and roughly temperature matched (your hand is good enough for this.)

Meanwhile I recommend that you try to be quickly finding and obtaining a good liquid-reagent test kit (many of us like and use the API Freshwater Master Test Kit.) Post up your tap and tank results when possible.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Assaye]

Hello. We have four neon tetras in a 5-gallon tank that we bought two days ago. There are no other fish in the tank. Three of the fish are fine. But the smallest one has shown signs of distress since we added it to the tank. At first, it stayed near the top of the tank breathing rapidly and not joining the school. The next day it seemed to join the school off and on, but periodically it crashes to the bottom of the tank and rests. Just when we think it's near death, it will suddenly pop back up and start swimming with the school. Other times it appears to be skittish and stay away from the group. I haven't witnessed the feedings so it's hard to say whether it's getting enough to eat. Could all this be signs of stress due to being in a new tank? We're debating whether to separate the fish in case it's sick, or to give it time to get used to the new environment. Thank you.

Have you had your water tested? Do you have a filter on the tank? Have you used water cionditioner?

In order for a fish tank to sustain healthy aquatic life it needs a massive population of good bacteria living in the filter which clean and process the water for you, keeping everything safe and fresh. In new tanks, these bacteria simply don't exist and you get a lot of highly toxic "invisible" waste building up in the form of clear chemicals called ammonia and nitrite. These chemicals come when the fish poo, wee and uneaten food decomposes in the tank.

In a 2 day old, 5 gallon tank with 4 neons I can pretty much promise that your ammonia at least is at very dangerous levels. When ammonia gets high, it burns the fish, stops them getting enough oxygen (by burning their gills) and causes a lot of internal damage. The fish can look fins and then suddenly die, maybe weeks after first being exposed to the chemicals. Other fish are too small or fragile to cope and will get sick very quickly.

In order to keep healthy fish, you need to do one of two things: return the fish to the shop and perform a "fishless cycle" which grows those very special bacteria without harming fish, OR keep the fish but test the water 2 or 3 times a day for ammonia and nitrites and do large water changes to keep the chemicals at undetectable levels. Any detectable level will harm the fish.

Both methods require you to have test kits fot ammonia and nitrite which can be purchased online or at a good local fish shop (LFS).

Without doing these things, the fish will die a very, very painful death. Maybe not today, maybe not for a few weeks but eventually the poisons they have been living in will catch up with them.

Beginners' Resource Centre

That link contains almost everything you need to get started and keep your fish happy and healthy. Fish keeping is a very technical hobby and requires a lot of understanding and fine tuning. Please have a read, especially the sections on cycling and setting up and maintaining a new aquarium.

In a more longterm sense, neon tetras are not suited to such a small tank. They get to over an inch long and are very nervous, active fish that require a lot of swimming space, large groups (6 is a minimum) and lots of plants to hide in. They are also one of the least suitable and most miss-sold small fish for a new tank.

I would advise researching tiny fish (such as green neon tetra - different to neon tetra - and micro rasboras) or consider getting a betta (siamese fighting fish) instead.

 

[luckyd]

Thank you all for your kind advice. Unfortunately, the little guy didn't make it. But I am taking your advice to heart and doing some research on the best way to create a healthy tank.