neon tetras

[dirtybass]

Newbie here. I am cycling my tank with fish (neons). They are doing fine, but i had a question about their behavior. They seem to prefer the bottom of the tank. The only time they really leave the bottom is to feed. And even then, they don't go very far up. Is this normal behavior for a neon? I can't find any info as to which part of the tank they prefer.


Dirtybass
20 gallon
6 x neon tetra

 

[crimsontsavo]

Ours mostly stayed in the middle/top areas.
But, they went all over the tank too.

Never had a neon that stayed on the bottom all the time. Maybe it's because they are stressed from using them to cycle the tank?

 

[TetraMon]

I think it's prolly stress.

 

[dirtybass]

Is there anything i can do to make it easier on them?

Dirtybass
20 gallon
6 x neons

 

[TempestBlayze]

All of my 9 neons stay around the bottom and swim all around the bottom of the tank.

 

[Spat_si]

I could be stress but what i found when i cycled my tank with my zebra danios is that they were all over but once i added more fish into the tank they stayed near the top... So many when your tank is cycled and you add more fish they will be swimming near the middle.

 

[Mustang5L5]

My tank is 24" tall, and most of the time my tetras tend to hang out about 8-10" below the surface of the water. There are times when they are at the bottom or the top as well, but usually when i walk in the room they are hanging dead center of the tank.

 

[FanOFish]

I have a tall tank and my neons have always stayed in the bottom half. They prefer to catch flakes as they float down rather than go to the top to eat.

They will be fine as long as you keep an eye on your water perameters. High ammonia or nitrite will kill them pretty quickly.

 

[Vam]

They may have ammonia poisoning, tetras are not great cycling fish.